managing-launchdarkly

name	managing-launchdarkly
description	Use when working with Launchdarkly — launchDarkly feature flag management, targeting rules, environments, experimentation, and audit logging. Covers flag lifecycle, user targeting, percentage rollouts, prerequisite flags, flag scheduling, and SDK connection status. Use when managing feature flags, reviewing targeting rules, analyzing flag usage, auditing changes, or monitoring SDK connections in LaunchDarkly.
connection_type	launchdarkly
preload	false

LaunchDarkly Management Skill

Manage and analyze feature flags, targeting rules, environments, and experiments in LaunchDarkly.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use the Authorization: $LAUNCHDARKLY_API_KEY header. Never hardcode tokens.

Base URL

https://app.launchdarkly.com/api/v2

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

ld_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: $LAUNCHDARKLY_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://app.launchdarkly.com/api/v2${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: $LAUNCHDARKLY_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://app.launchdarkly.com/api/v2${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Extract only needed fields with jq
• Target <=50 lines per script output
• Never dump full API responses

Discovery Phase

List Projects and Environments

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Projects ==="
ld_api GET "/projects" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.key)\t\(.name)\t\(.environments | length) envs"' | column -t

echo ""
PROJECT_KEY="${1:-default}"
echo "=== Environments ==="
ld_api GET "/projects/${PROJECT_KEY}" \
    | jq -r '.environments[] | "\(.key)\t\(.name)\t\(.color)"' | column -t

List Feature Flags

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_KEY="${1:-default}"

echo "=== Feature Flags ==="
ld_api GET "/flags/${PROJECT_KEY}?limit=25&sort=creationDate" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.kind)\t\(.key)\t\(.name[0:40])\t\(.archived)"' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Flag Summary ==="
ld_api GET "/flags/${PROJECT_KEY}?limit=100" \
    | jq '{total: .totalCount, by_kind: (.items | group_by(.kind) | map({(.[0].kind): length}) | add), archived: ([.items[] | select(.archived)] | length)}'

Analysis Phase

Flag Status by Environment

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_KEY="${1:-default}"
ENV_KEY="${2:-production}"

echo "=== Flag Status in ${ENV_KEY} ==="
ld_api GET "/flags/${PROJECT_KEY}?limit=25&env=${ENV_KEY}" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.key)\t\(.environments["'"${ENV_KEY}"'"].on)\t\(.environments["'"${ENV_KEY}"'"].rules | length) rules"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Stale Flags (not evaluated in 7 days) ==="
ld_api GET "/flags/${PROJECT_KEY}?limit=50&env=${ENV_KEY}&filter=query:\"state:live,stale\"" \
    | jq -r '.items[0:10][] | "\(.key)\t\(.name[0:40])"' | column -t

Audit Log

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Recent Changes ==="
ld_api GET "/auditlog?limit=20" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.date | todate | .[0:16])\t\(.member.email // "api")\t\(.kind)\t\(.name[0:40])"' \
    | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Changes by Type ==="
ld_api GET "/auditlog?limit=50" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | .kind' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10

Output Format

• Use tab-separated columns with column -t
• Limit lists to 15-25 items
• Show summaries before details

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• No Bearer prefix: Auth header is just the API key, not Bearer $KEY
• Project-scoped flags: Flag endpoints require the project key in the path
• Environment-specific state: Flag on/off state and rules are per-environment
• Semantic patching: Updates use JSON Patch format or semantic patch operations
• Flag kinds: boolean or multivariate (string, number, JSON)
• Rate limits: 10 requests per second for standard API
• Pagination: Use limit and offset, max 20 items per page by default