FeatureToggle

FeatureToggle allows us to hide features behind a flag. Using this we can safely release partial features, hold back new UI until users have been prepared, and selectively activate features for testing with specific users. These feature toggles are managed in our appeals-deployment repository in features-config.yml.

Enabling a feature in production

1. Either find your flag or add it under features_config -> certification -> prod in features-config.yml.
2. You can add which users or regional offices the feature should be enabled for by adding users' css_ids or regional office codes
3. Create a PR (example) with your changes and grab a fellow caseflower to review.
4. Either wait for the standard deployment at 10:45a EST or manually run the enable feature script in jenkins
5. Look for a successful deploy in slack

Usage on the back end

Global

FeatureToggle.enable!(:foo)

Regional Office Specific

FeatureToggle.enable!(:bar, regional_offices: ["RO01", "RO02"])

User Specific

FeatureToggle.disable!(:bar, users: ["CSS_ID_1", "CSS_ID_2"])

Only use current_user for a feature flag where current_user is in scope

Depending on where the feature flag is used in the backend, the current_user method may or may not be in scope. However, because the StubbableUser module includes a current_user method, tests will pass even if current_user is used out of scope. As a result, incorrectly using current_user for the user parameter of a feature toggle could introduce a bug that won’t break tests.

To avoid this situation, be sure to only use current_user where it is in scope. To test the scenario where current_user is out of scope, you can mock the current_user method to throw an error.

Meta

Development Environment

Set all FeatureFlags to active in dev

scripts/enable_features_dev.rb

(NOTE this is run automatically as part of make reset.)

Individual global features can be adjusted on the user selection page

Getting a FeatureFlag State

FeatureToggle.details_for(:foo)

• You must specify the scope at which you're checking the feature state: if you check enabled? without specifying a user, the result will be false if the feature is only enabled for specific user/regional office.

FeatureToggle.enabled?(:bar, user: current_user)

NB: State checking methods receive User objects, not Arrays

Getting the current FeatureFlags

FeatureToggle.features

=> [:appeals_status, :certification_v2, :reader]

Usage on the front end

In many parts of the caseflow application, we use the following pattern to pass feature flags to and check if they are enabled on the front end.

FeatureToggles are passed to a specific application through its index.html.erb file. This gives us the ability to check these feature toggles in specific components.

Currently Implemented Toggles

Toggle Name	Description	Related Epic/Tickets	Sprint Team	Created	Released	Paused	State	Notes
alert_duplicate_veterans
api_v3
appeal_viz
attorney_fees
automatic_ramp_rollback
bgs_forward_proxy
cavc_remand	Controls the JMR & JMPR CAVC Remand flow access	JMR/JMPR CAVC Remand Entry & JMR/JMPR Task & Routing Logic	:dolphin: Echo	Dec 2020	Feb 16, 2021
mdr_cavc_remand	Controls the MDR CAVC Remand flow access. Requires cavc_remand enabled		:dolphin: Echo	Jan 2021
reversal_cavc_remand	Controls the Straight Reversal CAVC Remand flow access. Requires cavc_remand enabled		:dolphin: Echo	Jan 2021
dismissal_cavc_remand	Controls the Death Dismissal CAVC Remand flow access. Requires cavc_remand enabled		:dolphin: Echo	Jan 2021
contestable_rating_decisions
correct_claim_reviews
covid_timeliness_exemption
detect_contention_exam
disability_issue_test
disable_claim_establishment
docket_switch	Related to work around enabling ClerkOfTheBoard users to initiate a docket switch	#13978	:fox_face: Foxtrot
edit_contention_text
inbox
judge_admin_scm	Related to work around allowing judge teams to have admins that are neither attorneys or judges	#11801	:dolphin: Echo				PLANNED ROLLBACK	Was scrapped by board and has a planned rollback in #13991
legacy_das_deprecation
overtime_revamp	Determines whether judges can mark cases as overtime in caseflow #13418	#13418	:dolphin: Echo	5/23/2020			READY FOR PILOT	Will remove once enabled for all judges
priority_acd	Determines whether the requested case distribution for a judge should use the updated distribution logic described in #14538	#14538	:dolphin: Echo	6/29/2020			IN DEV	Will remove once enabled for all judges
ramp_intake
ratings_at_issue
release_db_connections
restrict_appeal_intakes
review_motion_to_vacate
schedule_virtual_hearings	Enables a dropdown in Hearing Details page to allow hearing coordinators to switch a video hearing to a virtual hearing	#11132	:dancer: Tango	10/25/2019	05/19/2020		IN PROD	It's been enabled for all hearing coordinators (#14282) and will be removed
schedule_virtual_hearings_for_central	Enables a dropdown in Hearing Details page to allow hearing coordinators to switch a central hearing to a virtual hearing	#13804	:dancer: Tango				WIP	It's being worked on in #13832
scm_view_judge_assign_queue	Gives members of the Case Movement team access to Judge Assign queues	#12423	:dolphin: Echo					Might be ready to be removed?
send_original_dta_contentions
set_no_cache_headers
show_future_ratings
special_issues_revamp	Controls whether the four new contentions & validation applies for Queue (Atty Checkout and Judge Checkout)	#13423	:dolphin: Echo		8/3/2020		FULLY RELEASED	To be removed after epic is user tested and fully released
special_issues_revamp_dispatch	Controls whether the four new contentions & validation applies for Caseflow Dispatch	#13423	:dolphin: Echo				OBE	Feature to be removed from Caseflow Dispatch completely
unidentified_issue_decision_date
use_ama_activation_date
use_poa_claimants
user_queue_pagination	Determines whether or not a user's queue is paginated on the back end	#14142	:dolphin: Echo		7/30/2020		FULLY RELEASED	To be removed after epic is user tested
vbms_forward_proxy
vbms_pagination
verify_unidentified_issue
vso_claimant_representative
window_slider