BE-030 — Implement Feature Flag & Configuration Management Service
📚 Overview
The Feature Flag & Configuration Management Service provides centralized control over runtime configuration and feature availability across the TruthBounty backend.
Rather than deploying new code for every behavioural change, administrators should be able to enable, disable, or gradually roll out functionality using configurable feature flags and environment-backed settings.
This service enables safer deployments, controlled experimentation, staged rollouts, emergency feature disabling, and operational flexibility while maintaining full auditability.
🧠 Background
TruthBounty is expected to evolve continuously as new protocol capabilities, governance mechanisms, AI services, integrations, and operational tools are introduced.
Without centralized configuration management:
- every configuration change requires deployment
- emergency rollbacks become slow
- feature testing becomes risky
- environment consistency becomes difficult
- administrators lose operational flexibility
A dedicated configuration service allows production systems to evolve safely while reducing deployment risk.
🎯 Objectives
Implement a centralized configuration service that:
- manages feature flags
- manages runtime configuration
- supports gradual rollouts
- supports environment overrides
- tracks configuration history
- exposes administrative APIs
- provides audit logging
- enables safe production deployments
🧩 Technical Scope
1. Feature Flags
Implement feature flags supporting:
- boolean flags
- percentage rollouts
- user-specific flags
- role-based flags
- environment-specific flags
- time-based activation
Examples include:
- AI Assistant
- Governance V2
- Advanced Reputation Engine
- New Verification Algorithm
- Experimental APIs
2. Configuration Registry
Implement centralized storage for:
- application settings
- security settings
- protocol parameters
- API limits
- cache settings
- notification settings
- worker configuration
- integration settings
3. Environment Management
Support independent configuration for:
- Development
- Testing
- Staging
- Production
Environment isolation must be enforced.
4. Runtime Updates
Allow administrators to:
- update configuration
- enable features
- disable features
- schedule activation
- rollback configuration
- preview pending changes
Configuration updates should not require application restarts where possible.
5. Rollout Strategies
Support rollout strategies including:
- global rollout
- percentage rollout
- user whitelist
- organisation rollout
- geographic rollout
- staged deployment
6. Versioning
Maintain configuration history including:
- version number
- author
- timestamp
- previous values
- change reason
- rollback target
Every configuration change must be traceable.
7. Audit Logging
Record:
- configuration changes
- feature activation
- feature deactivation
- rollback events
- administrative actions
- approval history
Integrate with the Audit Logging Service.
8. Administrative API
Expose secure endpoints for:
- listing feature flags
- updating configuration
- enabling/disabling features
- retrieving history
- performing rollbacks
- validating configuration
Only authorised administrators may perform write operations.
9. Monitoring
Expose metrics including:
- active feature flags
- configuration updates
- failed updates
- rollout progress
- rollback frequency
- configuration cache health
10. Performance
Optimise for:
- low-latency reads
- cached configuration
- distributed deployments
- high availability
- minimal runtime overhead
11. Future Extensibility
Design the architecture to support:
- multi-tenant configuration
- AI-driven rollout recommendations
- A/B testing
- experimentation framework
- dynamic protocol tuning
- remote configuration SDKs
✅ Acceptance Criteria
- Feature flags can be created.
- Runtime configuration can be updated.
- Environment isolation works correctly.
- Rollout strategies function correctly.
- Rollbacks restore previous configurations.
- Audit logs are generated.
- Administrative APIs are secured.
- Monitoring metrics are available.
🧪 Testing Requirements
Implement tests covering:
- feature flag evaluation
- configuration updates
- environment isolation
- rollout strategies
- rollback operations
- permission enforcement
- audit logging
- concurrent updates
- cache invalidation
- monitoring metrics
Coverage target: 90%+
📚 Documentation
Update:
- Backend Architecture
- Configuration Management Guide
- Operations Manual
- Security Documentation
- OpenAPI Specification
- Developer Guide
🔗 Dependencies
Depends on:
- BE-001 — Implement Backend Authentication Gateway
- BE-006 — Implement Role-Based Access Control
- BE-022 — Implement Audit Logging & Compliance API
Blocks:
- AI Assistant
- Governance Features
- Experimental APIs
- Backend Services
- Administration Console
- Mobile Applications
🏷 Labels
- backend
- architecture
- devops
- protocol-critical
- complexity-medium
- stellar-wave
📊 Complexity
Medium
Although the implementation is not algorithmically complex, this service becomes a critical operational component that affects nearly every backend module. Incorrect configuration handling could impact production stability, making reliability, auditing, and rollback capabilities essential.
⏱ Estimated Effort
5–7 days
🚀 Definition of Done
- Feature flag engine implemented.
- Configuration registry operational.
- Runtime updates supported.
- Rollout strategies functioning.
- Rollbacks implemented.
- Audit logging integrated.
- Administrative APIs secured.
- Monitoring metrics exposed.
- Tests passing.
- Documentation updated.
- Ready for integration with all backend services and future protocol modules.
BE-030 — Implement Feature Flag & Configuration Management Service
📚 Overview
The Feature Flag & Configuration Management Service provides centralized control over runtime configuration and feature availability across the TruthBounty backend.
Rather than deploying new code for every behavioural change, administrators should be able to enable, disable, or gradually roll out functionality using configurable feature flags and environment-backed settings.
This service enables safer deployments, controlled experimentation, staged rollouts, emergency feature disabling, and operational flexibility while maintaining full auditability.
🧠 Background
TruthBounty is expected to evolve continuously as new protocol capabilities, governance mechanisms, AI services, integrations, and operational tools are introduced.
Without centralized configuration management:
A dedicated configuration service allows production systems to evolve safely while reducing deployment risk.
🎯 Objectives
Implement a centralized configuration service that:
🧩 Technical Scope
1. Feature Flags
Implement feature flags supporting:
Examples include:
2. Configuration Registry
Implement centralized storage for:
3. Environment Management
Support independent configuration for:
Environment isolation must be enforced.
4. Runtime Updates
Allow administrators to:
Configuration updates should not require application restarts where possible.
5. Rollout Strategies
Support rollout strategies including:
6. Versioning
Maintain configuration history including:
Every configuration change must be traceable.
7. Audit Logging
Record:
Integrate with the Audit Logging Service.
8. Administrative API
Expose secure endpoints for:
Only authorised administrators may perform write operations.
9. Monitoring
Expose metrics including:
10. Performance
Optimise for:
11. Future Extensibility
Design the architecture to support:
✅ Acceptance Criteria
🧪 Testing Requirements
Implement tests covering:
Coverage target: 90%+
📚 Documentation
Update:
🔗 Dependencies
Depends on:
Blocks:
🏷 Labels
📊 Complexity
Medium
Although the implementation is not algorithmically complex, this service becomes a critical operational component that affects nearly every backend module. Incorrect configuration handling could impact production stability, making reliability, auditing, and rollback capabilities essential.
⏱ Estimated Effort
5–7 days
🚀 Definition of Done