Flipt — Git-Native Open-Source Feature Flag Management

What it is

Flipt is a self-hosted, open-source feature flag platform that stores flag configuration in Git. It supports boolean and multi-variate flags with percentage rollouts, segment targeting, and real-time evaluation. Client SDKs are available for Go, Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, and other languages.

Flipt targets engineering teams who want feature flag management without SaaS vendor lock-in. Storing flags in Git means your feature flag configuration goes through the same review and versioning process as your application code.

How it saves time or tokens

Flipt replaces ad-hoc feature toggles (environment variables, config files, database flags) with a structured system. The Git-native approach means flag changes are reviewed in pull requests, audited in commit history, and rolled back with git revert. Percentage rollouts let you gradually release features to users without code changes. The evaluation engine runs locally, so flag checks add no network latency.

How to use

1. Install and start Flipt:

curl -fsSL https://get.flipt.io/install | bash
flipt
# Open http://localhost:8080

1. Create a flag via the UI or CLI:

flipt flag create --key my-feature --name 'My Feature' --enabled

1. Evaluate flags in your application:

from flipt import FliptClient

client = FliptClient(url='http://localhost:8080')
result = client.evaluation.boolean(
    flag_key='my-feature',
    entity_id='user-123',
    context={'plan': 'pro'}
)
if result.enabled:
    # Show new feature
    pass

Example

# .flipt.yml - Git-native flag definition
flags:
  - key: new-dashboard
    name: New Dashboard
    type: BOOLEAN_FLAG_TYPE
    enabled: true
    rules:
      - segment: beta-users
        distributions:
          - rollout: 100

segments:
  - key: beta-users
    name: Beta Users
    match_type: ANY_MATCH_TYPE
    constraints:
      - type: STRING_COMPARISON_TYPE
        property: plan
        operator: eq
        value: enterprise

Related on TokRepo

• DevOps Tools — Feature management and deployment tools
• AI Tools for Testing — Feature flag driven testing

This tool integrates with standard development workflows and requires minimal configuration to get started. It is available as open-source software with documentation and community support through the official repository. The project follows semantic versioning for stable releases.

For teams evaluating this tool, the key advantage is reducing manual work in repetitive tasks. The automation provided by the built-in features means less custom code to maintain and fewer integration points to manage. This translates directly to lower maintenance costs and faster iteration cycles.

Common pitfalls

• Git-native mode requires a Git repository for flag storage; ensure the repository is accessible to all Flipt instances in your deployment.
• Flag evaluation is local by default (no network calls), but segment targeting requires the entity context to be passed with each evaluation request.
• Flipt does not provide analytics on flag usage out of the box; integrate with your observability stack to track flag evaluation metrics.