mcpbeat

Feature Flag Patterns

vibeeval/feature-flag-patterns

Gradual rollout strategies, kill switches, A/B testing integration, flag lifecycle management, and technical debt prevention.

2k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
521
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/vibeeval/vibecosystem --skill feature-flag-patterns

The instruction itself

8 sections, as written by the author

Feature Flag Patterns

Feature flag strategies for safe deployments, experimentation, and operational control.

Flag Types and Structure

interface FeatureFlag {
  key: string
  type: 'boolean' | 'percentage' | 'variant' | 'segment'
  enabled: boolean
  description: string
  owner: string              // Team/person responsible
  createdAt: Date
  expiresAt?: Date           // Auto-cleanup reminder
  tags: string[]             // 'release', 'experiment', 'ops', 'permission'
}

// Flag categories by lifecycle
enum FlagCategory {
  RELEASE = 'release',       // Temporary: ship behind flag, remove after rollout
  EXPERIMENT = 'experiment', // Temporary: A/B test, remove after analysis
  OPS = 'ops',               // Long-lived: kill switches, circuit breakers
  PERMISSION = 'permission', // Long-lived: premium features, entitlements
}

// Flag configuration
const FLAGS: Record<string, FeatureFlag> = {
  'new-checkout-flow': {
    key: 'new-checkout-flow',
    type: 'percentage',
    enabled: true,
    description: 'Redesigned checkout with fewer steps',
    owner: 'checkout-team',
    createdAt: new Date('2025-01-15'),
    expiresAt: new Date('2025-04-15'),   // 3 month max
    tags: ['release'],
  },
  'emergency-read-only': {
    key: 'emergency-read-only',
    type: 'boolean',
    enabled: false,
    description: 'Kill switch: disable all write operations',
    owner: 'platform-team',
    createdAt: new Date('2024-06-01'),
    tags: ['ops'],
  },
}

Gradual Rollout

class FeatureFlagService {
  constructor(private store: FlagStore) {}

  // Percentage-based rollout using consistent hashing
  isEnabled(flagKey: string, userId: string): boolean {
    const flag = this.store.getFlag(flagKey)
    if (!flag || !flag.enabled) return false

    switch (flag.type) {
      case 'boolean':
        return flag.enabled

      case 'percentage': {
        // Consistent: same user always gets same result for same flag
        const hash = this.consistentHash(flagKey, userId)
        return hash < (flag.percentage ?? 0)
      }

      case 'segment':
        return this.isInSegment(userId, flag.segments ?? [])

      case 'variant':
        return true  // Use getVariant() instead
    }
  }

  // Deterministic hash: user always gets same bucket for same flag
  private consistentHash(flagKey: string, userId: string): number {
    const input = `${flagKey}:${userId}`
    let hash = 0
    for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++) {
      const char = input.charCodeAt(i)
      hash = ((hash << 5) - hash) + char
      hash = hash & hash  // Convert to 32-bit integer
    }
    return Math.abs(hash) % 100  // 0-99
  }

  // Multi-variant for A/B/C testing
  getVariant(flagKey: string, userId: string): string {
    const flag = this.store.getFlag(flagKey)
    if (!flag?.enabled || !flag.variants) return 'control'

    const hash = this.consistentHash(flagKey, userId)
    let cumulative = 0
    for (const variant of flag.variants) {
      cumulative += variant.weight
      if (hash < cumulative) return variant.name
    }
    return 'control'
  }

  // Segment-based targeting
  private isInSegment(userId: string, segments: Segment[]): boolean {
    const user = this.store.getUser(userId)
    return segments.some(segment => {
      switch (segment.type) {
        case 'user_list': return segment.userIds.includes(userId)
        case 'attribute': return user?.[segment.attribute] === segment.value
        case 'percentage': return this.consistentHash(segment.id, userId) < segment.value
      }
    })
  }
}

Kill Switch Pattern

// Operational flags: immediately disable features under load
class KillSwitch {
  private cache = new Map<string, { value: boolean; expiry: number }>()
  private pollInterval: NodeJS.Timeout

  constructor(private store: FlagStore, pollMs: number = 5000) {
    // Poll every 5s for kill switch changes (fast response)
    this.pollInterval = setInterval(() => this.refresh(), pollMs)
  }

  isKilled(switchKey: string): boolean {
    const cached = this.cache.get(switchKey)
    if (cached && cached.expiry > Date.now()) {
      return cached.value
    }
    // Fallback: if cache miss, assume NOT killed (fail open)
    return false
  }

  private async refresh(): Promise<void> {
    try {
      const switches = await this.store.getKillSwitches()
      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(switches)) {
        this.cache.set(key, { value, expiry: Date.now() + 10_000 })
      }
    } catch {
      // On error, extend existing cache TTL (don't flip switches on failure)
    }
  }

  destroy(): void {
    clearInterval(this.pollInterval)
  }
}

// Usage in request handler
async function handleCheckout(req: Request, res: Response) {
  if (killSwitch.isKilled('checkout-disabled')) {
    return res.status(503).json({
      error: 'Checkout temporarily unavailable',
      retryAfter: 300,
    })
  }
  // ... normal checkout logic
}

A/B Testing Integration

// Track experiment exposure and outcomes
interface ExperimentEvent {
  experimentKey: string
  variant: string
  userId: string
  timestamp: Date
  eventType: 'exposure' | 'conversion'
  metadata?: Record<string, unknown>
}

class ExperimentTracker {
  constructor(private analytics: AnalyticsClient) {}

  trackExposure(flagKey: string, variant: string, userId: string): void {
    this.analytics.track({
      experimentKey: flagKey,
      variant,
      userId,
      timestamp: new Date(),
      eventType: 'exposure',
    })
  }

  trackConversion(flagKey: string, userId: string, value?: number): void {
    this.analytics.track({
      experimentKey: flagKey,
      variant: featureFlags.getVariant(flagKey, userId),
      userId,
      timestamp: new Date(),
      eventType: 'conversion',
      metadata: { value },
    })
  }
}

// Usage: checkout experiment
function CheckoutPage({ user }: { user: User }) {
  const variant = featureFlags.getVariant('checkout-redesign', user.id)
  experimentTracker.trackExposure('checkout-redesign', variant, user.id)

  if (variant === 'new') {
    return <NewCheckout onComplete={() => {
      experimentTracker.trackConversion('checkout-redesign', user.id)
    }} />
  }
  return <OldCheckout onComplete={() => {
    experimentTracker.trackConversion('checkout-redesign', user.id)
  }} />
}

Flag Lifecycle and Cleanup

// Prevent flag debt: enforce expiration dates
async function auditFlags(): Promise<FlagAuditReport> {
  const flags = await flagStore.getAllFlags()
  const now = new Date()

  const report: FlagAuditReport = {
    total: flags.length,
    expired: [],
    noOwner: [],
    stale: [],
    permanent: [],
  }

  for (const flag of flags) {
    // Expired flags: should have been removed
    if (flag.expiresAt && flag.expiresAt < now) {
      report.expired.push(flag.key)
    }

    // No owner: nobody responsible for cleanup
    if (!flag.owner) {
      report.noOwner.push(flag.key)
    }

    // Stale: 100% rollout for > 2 weeks (just remove the flag)
    if (flag.type === 'percentage' && flag.percentage === 100) {
      const twoWeeksAgo = new Date(now.getTime() - 14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)
      if (flag.lastModified && flag.lastModified < twoWeeksAgo) {
        report.stale.push(flag.key)
      }
    }

    // Permanent flags without ops/permission tag
    if (!flag.expiresAt && !flag.tags.includes('ops') && !flag.tags.includes('permission')) {
      report.permanent.push(flag.key)
    }
  }

  return report
}

// Run weekly: flag cleanup report
// Slack alert for expired/stale flags

Checklist

  • [ ] Every release flag has an expiration date (max 3 months)
  • [ ] Every flag has an owner (team or person)
  • [ ] Consistent hashing for percentage rollout (same user, same result)
  • [ ] Kill switches poll every 5-10 seconds (fast disable)
  • [ ] A/B test exposure tracked before showing variant
  • [ ] Flag audit runs weekly (detect expired, stale, ownerless flags)
  • [ ] Remove flag code after full rollout (not just set to 100%)
  • [ ] Default to safe value when flag service is unavailable (fail open/closed per flag)

Anti-Patterns

  • Flags without expiration dates: accumulate as permanent technical debt
  • Nested flag checks: if flagA && flagB && !flagC becomes unmaintainable
  • Flag evaluation in hot loops: cache the result per request
  • Not tracking experiment exposure: biased results, no statistical power
  • Removing flag from config but leaving dead code branches
  • Using flags for authorization (use proper RBAC/permissions instead)

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take vibeeval/feature-flag-patterns from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.