Create and manage flags in the UI

Feature flags enable development teams to progressively toggle features on and off for specific user segments. Flags are defined as Boolean, number, or string types. You can create flags in either the UI or in your application code.

This page describes how to create, edit, and delete feature flags using the CloudBees platform UI. To view and assess the health or activity of existing flags, refer to Flag health.

Flag settings

Flag names are case-sensitive and must exactly match in both your source code and the platform UI. Each flag requires a type and a unique name. These values cannot be changed after creation. Flags are scoped to the application in which they are created and are not shared across applications.

Table 1. Flag settings apply to a flag in all environments.
Flag setting	Definition	Required?	Editable?
Name	The flag name. Refer to Namespaces and labels.
Description	Any descriptive information about the flag.
Type	The flag type: Boolean, string, or number.
Variation (string or number flags only)	One or more possible predefined flag values. Each value must be the appropriate type. For example, the string value `test` is a variation for a string flag, and `234` is a variation for a number flag.
Label	A way of organizing flags. For example, tag all flags administered by a specific developer team with the same label. Refer to Namespaces and labels.
Mark as permanent	Set a flag, for example, a timeout or URL flag, to permanent status to ignore its impression data.

Refer to update flag settings for details on editing flag settings.

Access the Flags overview page

Flags are managed at the application level. Each application is linked to one or more environments.

To view a list of flags for an application:

Select Feature management.
View the default landing page, Flags listing all flags in the linked environments, for the selected application.

Figure 1. Flags overview page

If the list appears empty, it may mean:

No flags have been created for the selected application.
A different application or environment is selected.

Display options

The Flags overview page includes filters, column options, and status indicators that help you analyze flag activity across environments.

Refer to flag-health.adoc#_access_the_flag_overview_page for details on available filters, environment columns, and icon meanings.

Locate and copy your SDK key

Use the Connect your configuration as code (CasC) link to integrate with GitHub and manage flags declaratively.

Figure 2. Copy your SDK key

Once connected, select to copy the environment-specific SDK key for use in your application code.

Your SDK key identifies a specific environment within an application and is required to evaluate flags at runtime. Refer to learn-about-feature-flags.adoc#_how_flags_relate_to_environments for more information.

Filter flag lists

Filter flags in an environment according to the following criteria:

Table 2. Feature flag filters
Filter	Possible options	Reference
Configuration status	Off On	configure-feature-flags.adoc#status
Flag type	Boolean Number String	Create a flag in the UI
Label	Any existing label	flag settings, Namespaces and labels
Namespace	Any existing namespace	create-and-manage-flags-in-code.adoc#_register_the_container_class_of_feature_flags_and_set_up_the_sdk_key, Namespaces and labels
Activity status	Setup Active Inactive Stale Permanent	flag-health.adoc#statuses

To filter flags:

Select Filter.
Apply one or more filters by selecting an option.
Filter by environment when the application is linked to multiple environments. Or, select All environments to filter across all linked environments.
Search by flag name.

For details on how flag statuses are determined and what each status means, see flag-health.adoc#statuses.

Create a flag in the UI

You can create feature flags directly in the UI to control how features are released across environments. After a flag is created, it’s automatically available in all environments linked to the application. The flag’s name and data type cannot be changed later.

To create a flag:

Select Feature management.
Select Create flag.
Enter a flag Name.
Enter a Description.
Select a Type from the options.
1. Enter a value of the appropriate data type for your flag.
2. For string and number type flags, define variations:
3. Select Define variations.
  - When Define variations is selected, Add variation becomes available.
  - The Add variation option allows the flag to toggle between multiple values, not just true or false.
4. Select Add variation to enter another value.
  
  You may enter unlimited variations.
  
  Figure 3. Creating a flag, with variations highlighted
(Optional) Enter Labels. Refer to namespace and labels for more information.
Select Permanent flag if appropriate.
- The Permanent flags option ignores impression data and is excluded from cleanup filters. This is useful for flags that serve a static purpose, such as enabling logs or setting timeouts.
- Examples include timeout flags, URLs, or logging levels. Permanent flags are always intended to remain enabled or disabled, not used for A/B tests or gradual rollouts.
Select Save.

Once created, the flag appears in the Flags overview page.
Enable the flag configuration by turning the configure-feature-flags.adoc#status to On.

Create a flag in code

Create a flag in your source code and run your application. Your newly created flag appears in the CloudBees platform feature management flag list.

Refer to Create flags in code to learn more.

Update flag settings

Add to, remove, or edit any flag setting.

To update flag settings:

Select Feature management.
Select next to the flag you want to edit.
Select Edit flag settings.

Update the Description, Type, Labels, or mark or unmark a flag as permanent.

Select next to a variation to remove it, or delete all variations at once by toggling Define variations to off.
Remove a label from a flag by selecting the "X" next to the label name.

Select Update.

The flag settings are updated accordingly.

Delete a flag

To delete a feature flag, you must first turn off its configuration in all environments. A deleted flag is completely removed from the CloudBees platform, including all environments, and deletion is irreversible.

Flags marked as stale or inactive are often good candidates for deletion. Refer to flag-health.adoc#stale and cleanup recommendations for guidance.

To delete a flag:

Select Feature management.
Select next to the flag you want to delete.
Select Delete.
Select the toggle next to the flag to disable the flag configuration for all environments.
Select Delete.

The selected flag is deleted and removed from the flag list.