[Feature Flags] Use cases: kill switches, dynamic config, progressive rollouts by annabfenske · Pull Request #36920 · DataDog/documentation

annabfenske · 2026-05-21T17:04:29Z

What does this PR do? What is the motivation?

Adds the Feature Flags Use Cases section: Kill Switches, Dynamic Configuration, and Progressive Rollouts & Canaries. Updates navigation and root overview links.

Stack: PR 5 of 5 — based on master (independent of the concepts PR stack). Cross-links to concept pages that land in PRs 1–4.

Merge instructions

Merge readiness:

Ready for merge

Additional notes

Can merge independently of PRs 1–4. Concept page links resolve after those PRs merge.

github-actions · 2026-05-21T17:08:55Z

Preview links (active after the `build_preview` check completes)

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https://docs-staging.datadoghq.com/anna.fenske/feature-flags-docs-use-cases/feature_flags/

Adds use cases index plus kill switches, dynamic configuration, and progressive rollouts and canaries pages. Updates navigation and overview links. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

datadog-official · 2026-07-14T19:19:51Z

✨ Fix all issues with BitsAI

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…e rollouts, dynamic configuration Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

annabfenske · 2026-07-14T21:58:17Z

/review

github-actions

🤖 Automated review by Claude. AI-generated; verify before acting.

Reviewed the new Feature Flags Use Cases section. A few style-guide nits and a minor list-rendering issue — no blockers.

_{Reviewed 9db9a156b27d009a400f61ce5d95811d6609a184 — workflow run}

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+
+## Next steps
+
+Once your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:


Style: Per the style guide, replace "Once" with "After".

Suggested change

Once your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:

After your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+### Configure a progressive rollout
+
+1. Navigate to your feature flag and open **Targeting Rules & Rollouts** for the target environment.
+2. Click **Add Targeting Rule** and select **Add Rollout Steps** to create a multistep rollout


Style: Missing period at the end of the sentence.

Suggested change

2. Click **Add Targeting Rule** and select **Add Rollout Steps** to create a multistep rollout

2. Click **Add Targeting Rule** and select **Add Rollout Steps** to create a multistep rollout.

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+
+{{< img src="feature_flags/kill_switch_make_default.png" alt="The Variants section of the create flag form, showing Boolean variants with Make Default highlighted next to the True variant." style="width:90%;" >}}
+
+5. Save the flag.


Issue: The image shortcode between items 4 and 5 breaks the ordered list — many Markdown renderers restart the numbering at 1 for 5. Save the flag.. Indent the image inside item 4 (four spaces) so it becomes a continuation of that list item, and the numbering stays continuous.

For example:

4. In the **Variants** section, click **Make Default** next to the **True** variant. This sets `true` as the value served to all subjects by default. {{< img src="feature_flags/kill_switch_make_default.png" alt="..." style="width:90%;" >}} 5. Save the flag.

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+
+- Use a fallback of `true` so the feature stays enabled if the flag is unavailable — you don't want the feature to accidentally turn off due to a connectivity issue.
+- Mark the flag as **Permanent**. Kill switches are intended to be long-lived, and marking them permanent prevents them from being flagged as [stale][2].
+- Test the kill switch in Staging before relying on it in Production.


Style: Environment names should be lowercase in prose (this matches the lowercase "production" on line 74).

Suggested change

- Test the kill switch in Staging before relying on it in Production.

- Test the kill switch in staging before relying on it in production.

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+
+{{< img src="getting_started/feature_flags/start-progressive-rollout.png" alt="Multistep progressive rollout display." style="width:100%;" >}}
+
+


Style: Extra blank line — collapse to a single blank line between the image and the next paragraph.

github-actions · 2026-07-14T22:02:39Z

+
+Use a kill switch when you need to turn off risky or broken functionality in seconds from Datadog, without waiting for a deploy. During incidents, that gives operations and engineering a fast path to stop customer impact while the rest of the application keeps running.
+
+


Style: Double blank line between the intro paragraph and the ## Set up a kill switch heading — collapse to a single blank line.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

github-actions Bot added the Architecture Everything related to the Doc backend label May 21, 2026

annabfenske force-pushed the anna.fenske/feature-flags-docs-pr-4 branch from 9be7985 to f996749 Compare May 21, 2026 17:21

annabfenske force-pushed the anna.fenske/feature-flags-docs-use-cases branch from 07cb5eb to 60a7539 Compare May 21, 2026 17:21

annabfenske changed the base branch from anna.fenske/feature-flags-docs-pr-4 to master May 22, 2026 18:43

annabfenske changed the title ~~[Feature Flags] Use cases: kill switches, dynamic config, progressive rollouts (PR 5/5)~~ [Feature Flags] Use cases: kill switches, dynamic config, progressive rollouts May 22, 2026

Add Feature Flags use case documentation

e95070b

Adds use cases index plus kill switches, dynamic configuration, and progressive rollouts and canaries pages. Updates navigation and overview links. Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

annabfenske force-pushed the anna.fenske/feature-flags-docs-use-cases branch from 60a7539 to e95070b Compare May 22, 2026 19:00

annabfenske added 2 commits May 22, 2026 16:26

Apply editorial fixes to use case pages

8078172

update screenshots

edab5f9

github-actions Bot added the Images Images are added/removed with this PR label May 26, 2026

Merge master into feature-flags-docs-use-cases

c1f1db1

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

[DOCS-14455] Update feature flag use cases: kill switches, progressiv…

9db9a15

…e rollouts, dynamic configuration Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

github-actions Bot reviewed Jul 14, 2026

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[Feature Flags] Use cases: kill switches, dynamic config, progressive rollouts#36920

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		## Next steps

		Once your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:

	Once your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:
	After your flag is set up, you can use it as a foundation for more advanced workflows:

	2. Click Add Targeting Rule and select Add Rollout Steps to create a multistep rollout
	2. Click Add Targeting Rule and select Add Rollout Steps to create a multistep rollout.


		{{< img src="feature_flags/kill_switch_make_default.png" alt="The Variants section of the create flag form, showing Boolean variants with Make Default highlighted next to the True variant." style="width:90%;" >}}

		5. Save the flag.

	- Test the kill switch in Staging before relying on it in Production.
	- Test the kill switch in staging before relying on it in production.


		{{< img src="getting_started/feature_flags/start-progressive-rollout.png" alt="Multistep progressive rollout display." style="width:100%;" >}}


		Use a kill switch when you need to turn off risky or broken functionality in seconds from Datadog, without waiting for a deploy. During incidents, that gives operations and engineering a fast path to stop customer impact while the rest of the application keeps running.

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annabfenske commented May 21, 2026 •

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