Feature Flag Deactivation

This guide outlines the process Tai teams should follow to assess, document, and escalate issues related to a production feature flag that may need to be turned off.

Step 1: Triage the Issue

Before escalating, you should gather basic evidence and evaluate impact.

Checklist:

Identify the affected feature.
Confirm that the issue is directly tied to the feature flag.
Reproduce the issue, if possible, in Beta.
Determine if there’s a workaround.

Step 2: Gather Key Impact Metrics

Fill out or submit the following key data points (can be logged in a ticket or Slack message):

Field	Description
Feature Flag ID	What is the ID of the feature flag?
Date enabled	When was the feature turned on in production?
Affected users/accounts	How many users and accounts are affected? Any strategic customers?
Support ticket volume	How many tickets or reports have been logged?
Severity	How disruptive is the issue? Complete outage, no workaround? Major impact, partial outage, limited workaround? Moderate issue, workaround available? Minor issue, cosmetic or low priority?
Workaround	Is there any temporary fix available for users?
Screenshots or logs	Attach if available for faster debugging.

Step 3: Score the Situation Using the Triage Matrix

Use this matrix to objectively evaluate whether a feature flag should be turned off. Each row is scored independently. Sum the values to guide the decision.

Criteria	Question	Scoring	Notes
User Impact	How many end users are affected? (Out of ~6,000)	0 = <10 users 1 = 10–100 2 = 100–500 3 = 500+	Based on feature usage
Account Impact	How many customer accounts are affected? (Out of ~400)	0 = 0 accounts 1 = 1–5 2 = 6–20 3 = 20+	Based on feature usage
Severity	How disruptive is the issue?	0 = Cosmetic, no impact 1 = Minor bug, easy workaround 2 = Partial failure or degraded performance 3 = Full outage, no workaround
Time Since Launch	How long has the feature been enabled in production?	0 = 3+ weeks 1 = 1–2 weeks 2 = <1 week 3 = <24 hours	Check in TMS Admin > Application Feature Flags and sort by "enabled" and last toggled.
Core Feature?	Is this tied to a Top 25 page or essential workflow?	0 = None 1 = Top 25 2 = Top 10 3 = Top 5	Check Top 25 Pages here
Mitigation Available?	Can the issue be resolved with a fix-forward approach?	0 = Patch already deployed 1 = Hotfix in progress 2 = Fix possible but not started 3 = No fix identified yet	Disabling may be necessary if no fix is feasible in short term.

If the score is 13 or higher: escalate immediately as High Priority and turn the feature flag off.
If the score is 8–12: escalate with full context for product team to decide.
If the score is 7 or lower: continue monitoring; no immediate action.

Step 4: Escalate to Product Team

If escalation is needed, notify the Product Team in #Product:

Support has flagged a potential issue with [Feature Name and ID] (enabled on [Date]).

Issue Score: [XX] / 18

Affected users: [summary]
Affected accounts: [summary]
Ticket count: [X]

Summary: [brief description of issue and impact]

Screenshots/logs: [link or upload]

Requesting evaluation for potential feature flag deactivation.

Step 5: Stay Aligned

After escalation:

Wait for product team to confirm next steps (disable, patch, monitor).
Update support tickets with the status and expected resolution.
Notify customers if needed.

Do Not:

Turn off a feature flag without product confirmation if score is 8–12.
Escalate without completing impact assessment.