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Feature flag provider

As explained in Platform Engineering on Kubernetes

A feature flag provider is a service or component that stores feature-flag definitions and supplies or evaluates their values for applications.

A feature flag provider stores feature-flag definitions and supplies or evaluates their values for applications. OpenFeature standardizes this interaction so services can consume flags without coupling their code to a particular provider. section 7.3.4 section 7.3.5

A provider-based implementation separates application code from flag operations:

  • flagd hosts feature-flag definitions and watches a Kubernetes ConfigMap containing complex flag data. section 7.3.4
  • Services include the OpenFeature SDK, which standardizes flag consumption and evaluation, including flag types and enabled states. section 7.3.5
  • Changing the provider does not require changing application code, allowing platform teams to control storage, fetching, and management centrally. section 7.3.4 section 7.3.5

Conference application with flagd

A Go service uses the OpenFeature Go SDK to evaluate an eventsEnabled flag. The flag defines all, decisions-only, and none variants, while flagd supplies the definitions from a Kubernetes ConfigMap. section 7.3.4

How Platform Engineering on Kubernetes covers it

How deep it goes
Explains provider abstraction, ConfigMap-backed flagd integration, variants, and SDK evaluation without detailing provider internals.
Examples
Uses a Go Conference service, flagd, a Kubernetes ConfigMap, eventsEnabled variants, and OpenFeature SDK evaluation.
What you can do after
Apply via the OpenFeature SDK to evaluate flags and replace providers without modifying application code.
How it connects
Connects feature flags with OpenFeature, flagd, ConfigMap, Kubernetes, and platform engineering.
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Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Platform Engineering on Kubernetes. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.