Introduction to FlagShark

FlagShark is an automated feature flag management system that integrates with GitHub to detect, track, and help clean up feature flags throughout their lifecycle. It works by analyzing your pull requests to identify when flags are added or removed from your codebase.

What is FlagShark?

Feature flags are powerful tools for controlling feature rollouts, but they come with a hidden cost: technical debt. Studies show that 73% of feature flags are never removed after they've served their purpose, leading to code complexity, slower builds, and confused developers.

FlagShark solves this problem by:

• Automatically detecting feature flags when they're added in pull requests
• Tracking the lifecycle of each flag from creation to removal
• Alerting your team when flags become stale
• Creating cleanup PRs to help you remove dead code

How It Works

FlagShark integrates with your GitHub repositories through a GitHub App. When you open a pull request, FlagShark:

1. Analyzes the diff to find any feature flag additions or removals
2. Posts a comment on the PR summarizing what it found
3. Updates its database to track the flag's lifecycle
4. Monitors for staleness based on your configured thresholds

When a flag has been in production long enough (typically 30+ days), FlagShark can automatically create a cleanup PR to remove it.

Key Concepts

Feature Flags

A feature flag (also called a feature toggle) is a technique that allows you to enable or disable features in your application without deploying new code. Common use cases include:

• Gradual rollouts - Release features to a percentage of users
• A/B testing - Test different variations with different users
• Kill switches - Quickly disable features if issues arise
• Environment toggles - Enable features only in certain environments

Flag Lifecycle

Every feature flag goes through a lifecycle:

1. Created - The flag is added to the codebase
2. Active - The flag is being used to control a feature
3. Stale - The flag hasn't been modified recently and may be ready for cleanup
4. Removed - The flag and its associated code have been cleaned up

FlagShark tracks this entire lifecycle automatically.

Supported Providers

FlagShark works with popular feature flag providers including:

• LaunchDarkly
• Unleash
• Split
• Flagsmith
• Custom implementations (via configuration)

Why Automated Management Matters

Manual feature flag management doesn't scale. As your codebase grows, keeping track of which flags are still needed becomes increasingly difficult. The result?

• Code complexity - Nested conditionals and dead code paths
• Slower onboarding - New developers struggle to understand what's active
• Testing overhead - More code paths mean more test cases
• Performance impact - Unused flag checks still execute

FlagShark automates the tedious parts of flag management so your team can focus on building features, not maintaining flags.

Next Steps

Ready to get started? Here's what to do next:

• Install the GitHub App - Connect FlagShark to your repositories
• 5-Minute Quickstart - Get your first flag detected
• Configure your settings - Customize FlagShark for your workflow