Overview
Feature flags let you build, test, and ship new features faster — and with greater confidence. By decoupling feature releases from code deployments, you can deliver continuously without increasing risk.
Problem
Without feature flags, feature releases are tightly coupled to code deployments. This creates several challenges:
Slow rollbacks: Reverting a broken feature requires a fresh deployment.
Bundled risk: Rolling back one change rolls back the entire bundle, affecting unrelated work.
Wider blast radius: Features launch to all users at once, increasing risk and impact.
Slower delivery: To reduce risk, teams deploy less often — slowing everyone down.
No production testing: You can’t safely validate features in the real environment pre-launch.
Painful PRs: Long-lived “feature branches” grow large, conflict with
main, and hide bugs.Limited collaboration: It’s hard to grant controlled access to works-in-progress across teams.
No beta testing: Testing with select external users is cumbersome.
No access control: You can’t easily choose who sees what.
Engineering bottlenecks: Non-engineers wait on engineering to toggle access for users.
No experimentation: You can’t run A/B tests to measure impact or prevent regressions.
Poor visibility: Error spikes are hard to attribute when features ship in big bundles.
Solution
When starting work on a new feature, create a feature flag and place new code behind it. Merge small PRs to main and deploy to production continuously — while the feature stays hidden by default.
if (hypertune.showNewEditor({ fallback: false })) {
// Work-in-progress code is merged to main
// and deployed behind a feature flag.
}Roll out the feature progressively:
Developers only: Hidden for everyone else; developers validate changes directly in production.
Collaborators: Add product managers and designers for early feedback.
QA: Enable once an initial version is ready.
Alpha / beta users: Test with a small external cohort.
Gradual rollout: Start with a small percentage, then ramp as confidence grows.
Targeted access: Enable for specific users or accounts when needed.
Experimentation: Run A/B tests to measure impact on key metrics and prevent regressions.
Kill switch: If issues appear, turn the feature off instantly — no redeploy required.
Benefits
Instant mitigation: Turn off problematic features without shipping new code.
Progressive rollouts: Reduce blast radius with progressive rollouts.
Faster delivery: Lower risk enables more frequent deployments and releases.
Production validation: Safely test in the environment that matters.
Smaller PRs: Incremental merges are easier to review and less error-prone.
Cross-team collaboration: Give stakeholders controlled access during development.
Real-user feedback: Beta test with select users before broad release.
Granular control: Decide exactly who sees what.
Self-serve toggles: Non-engineering teams can manage access without waiting on engineers.
Built-in experimentation: A/B test to catch regressions and prove impact.
Clear attribution: Tie errors and metrics to specific features.
ROI
These outcomes help teams:
Ship more with the same headcount.
Improve reliability for users.
Protect key business metrics from regressions.
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