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manage-feature-flags.md

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title titleSuffix description services documentationcenter author editor ms.assetid ms.service ms.workload ms.devlang ms.topic ms.date ms.author ms.custom
Tutorial: Use Azure App Configuration to manage feature flags
Azure App Configuration
In this tutorial, you learn how to manage feature flags separately from your application by using Azure App Configuration.
azure-app-configuration
maud-lv
azure-app-configuration
tbd
csharp
tutorial
04/05/2022
malev
devx-track-csharp, mvc

Tutorial: Manage feature flags in Azure App Configuration

You can store all feature flags in Azure App Configuration and administer them from a single place. App Configuration has a portal UI named Feature Manager that's designed specifically for feature flags. App Configuration also natively supports the .NET Core feature-flag data schema.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

[!div class="checklist"]

  • Define and manage feature flags in App Configuration.
  • Access feature flags from your application.

Create feature flags

The Feature Manager in the Azure portal for App Configuration provides a UI for creating and managing the feature flags that you use in your applications.

To add a new feature flag:

  1. Open an Azure App Configuration store and from the Operations menu, select Feature Manager > +Add. :::image type="content" source="media/add-feature-flag.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the Azure platform. Add a feature flag." lightbox="media/add-feature-flag-expanded.png":::

  2. Check the box Enable feature flag to make the new feature flag active as soon as the flag has been created.

  3. Enter a Feature flag name. The feature flag name is the unique ID of the flag, and the name that should be used when referencing the flag in code.

  4. You can edit the key for your feature flag. The default value for this key is the name of your feature flag. You can change the key to add a prefix, which can be used to find specific feature flags when loading the feature flags in your application. For example, using the application's name as prefix such as appname:featureflagname.

  5. Optionally select an existing label or create a new one, and enter a description for the new feature flag.

  6. Leave the Use feature filter box unchecked and select Apply to create the feature flag. To learn more about feature filters, visit Use feature filters to enable conditional feature flags and Enable staged rollout of features for targeted audiences. :::image type="content" source="media/create-feature-flag.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the Azure platform. Feature flag creation form.":::

Update feature flags

To update a feature flag:

  1. From the Operations menu, select Feature Manager.

  2. Move to the right end of the feature flag you want to modify, select the More actions ellipsis (...). From this menu, you can edit the flag, create a label, lock or delete the feature flag. :::image type="content" source="media/edit-feature-flag.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the Azure platform. Edit a feature flag." lightbox="media/edit-feature-flag-expanded.png":::

  3. Select Edit and update the feature flag.

In the Feature manager, you can also change the state of a feature flag by checking or unchecking the Enable Feature flag checkbox.

Access feature flags

In the Operations menu, select Feature manager. You can select Edit Columns to add or remove columns, and change the column order. create a label, lock or delete the feature flag. :::image type="content" source="media/edit-columns-feature-flag.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the Azure platform. Edit feature flag columns." lightbox="media/edit-columns-feature-flag-expanded.png":::

Feature flags created with the Feature Manager are stored and retrieved as regular key-values. They're kept under a special namespace prefix .appconfig.featureflag.

To view the underlying key-values:

  1. In the Operations menu, open the Configuration explorer.

  2. Select Manage view > Settings.

  3. Select Include feature flags in the configuration explorer and Apply. :::image type="content" source="media/include-feature-flag-configuration-explorer.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the Azure platform. Include feature flags in Configuration explorer." lightbox="media/include-feature-flag-configuration-explorer.png":::

Your application can retrieve these values by using the App Configuration configuration providers, SDKs, command-line extensions, and REST APIs.

Next steps

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Enable staged rollout of features for targeted audiences