🔥🚩 Feature Flag Bonfire

Gather around the bonfire of feature flags! Light up fresh experiments, extinguish stale toggles, and keep the fire of continuous delivery burning bright.
45–60 min
4-12 people
Based on: Start, Stop, Continue
🔥🚩 Feature Flag Bonfire

Template Columns

🔥 Ignite New Flags

Identify new flag experiments to spark progress.

Base column: Start
🚫 Burn Outdated Flags

Pinpoint flags that should be retired to avoid clutter.

Base column: Stop
⚙️ Keep the Flame Alive

Maintain successful flag practices that fuel continuous delivery.

Base column: Continue

About this template

A focused retrospective to review feature flag experiments, retire unused toggles, and reinforce flag practices for smoother continuous delivery.

When to use this template

Use when your team frequently creates feature flags or notices flag debt building up, especially after a release cycle.

How to facilitate

1

Set the stage by reminding the team of the purpose of feature flags and the agenda for the session.

2

In the Ignite New Flags column, ask each participant to propose any new flag experiments they started since the last retro, noting the goal and expected impact.

3

Discuss each proposed flag, capture quick votes on whether to keep it active, iterate, or pause, and add any required follow‑up actions.

4

Move to the Burn Outdated Flags column, have the team list flags that are no longer needed or have become stale, and decide on retirement steps and cleanup owners.

5

In the Keep the Flame Alive column, identify flag practices that worked well, record the habits to continue, and assign owners to maintain them.

Pro Tips

Limit the number of flags discussed to those changed in the last sprint to keep the conversation focused.

Use a shared dashboard that shows flag status and metrics so decisions are data‑driven.

Assign a “flag champion” each sprint to track retirement tasks and prevent accumulation of dead toggles.

FAQ

What if a flag is still in use but the team wants to retire it?

Check the flag’s usage metrics; if it’s still gating critical functionality, schedule a dedicated cleanup sprint rather than retiring immediately.

How often should we run the Feature Flag Bonfire?

Run it at the end of each release cycle or every two sprints, whichever aligns with your deployment cadence, to keep flag debt manageable.

What if the team can’t agree on a flag’s status?

Use a simple majority vote, and if the tie persists, assign the decision to the product owner or a designated flag champion for a follow‑up review.

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At a glance

  • Duration

    45–60 min

  • Team Size

    4-12 people

  • Columns

    3 columns

  • Base Format

    Start, Stop, Continue

Tags

feature flags
continuous delivery
technical debt
process improvement
team health

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective