cloudthinker-ai Feature Flag Cleanup Skill
Audit and clean up stale feature flags in {{ repository }} using {{ flag_system }}.
Workflow
Phase 1 — Flag Inventory
FEATURE FLAG CATALOG
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[ ] Total feature flags: ___
[ ] Flags by status:
- Fully rolled out (100% on): ___
- Partially rolled out: ___
- Disabled (0% on): ___
- Kill switches (permanent): ___
- Experiment flags: ___
[ ] Flags by age:
- < 30 days: ___
- 30-90 days: ___
- 90-180 days: ___
- > 180 days: ___
[ ] Flags without owner: ___
Phase 2 — Staleness Analysis
STALE FLAG IDENTIFICATION
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Staleness criteria (flag is stale if ANY apply):
[ ] Fully rolled out for > {{ staleness_threshold }} days
[ ] Disabled for > {{ staleness_threshold }} days
[ ] No configuration changes in > {{ staleness_threshold }} days
[ ] Associated feature/experiment completed
STALE FLAGS FOR REMOVAL
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Flag Name | Status | Age | Owner | Action
_______________________|_________|________|_________|________
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
FLAGS TO KEEP (with justification)
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Flag Name | Reason to Keep
_______________________|_______________________
|
|
Phase 3 — Dependency Analysis
CODE REFERENCES
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For each stale flag:
[ ] Code references identified (grep/search):
- Source files: ___
- Test files: ___
- Configuration files: ___
[ ] Conditional branches mapped:
- if (flag) branches to keep: ___
- else branches to remove: ___
[ ] No external dependencies on flag value
[ ] No A/B test data collection dependencies
Phase 4 — Safe Removal
REMOVAL WORKFLOW (per flag)
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[ ] 1. Confirm flag is fully rolled out or fully disabled
[ ] 2. Remove flag checks from code:
- Replace if(flag) blocks with the winning branch
- Remove else/fallback branches
[ ] 3. Remove flag from configuration/flag system
[ ] 4. Remove flag-specific tests
[ ] 5. Update documentation
[ ] 6. Create PR with clear description of removal
[ ] 7. Review and merge
[ ] 8. Deploy and verify no regressions
Phase 5 — Verification
POST-CLEANUP VALIDATION
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[ ] All tests pass after flag removal
[ ] No runtime errors referencing removed flags
[ ] Flag removed from flag management system
[ ] Code review confirmed clean removal
[ ] Monitoring shows no impact on:
- Error rates
- Performance metrics
- User-facing behavior
[ ] Flags removed in this cleanup: ___
[ ] Remaining flags: ___
[ ] Next cleanup scheduled: ___
Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |
Output Format
Produce a feature flag cleanup report with:
- Inventory summary (total flags, stale count, categorization)
- Flags removed (list with justification for each)
- Flags retained (list with justification for keeping)
- Code changes (files modified, lines removed)
- Recommendations (process improvements, cleanup cadence)