How to get ConfigCat feature flag information in the results of a Jira work item search

[martin_kelly]

We use Jira Cloud and have ConfigCat as one of our integrated apps to enable us to manage feature flags. I can search for work items that have feature flags set by using JQL like this:

flagEnabled ~ "true" order by created DESC

From the "Search work items" page and I get matching work items. However, when I include the Development field as one of the columns in the search results, it does not include any information about ConfigCat feature flags (though it does include GitLab information like commits).

How can I get to see information about ConfigCat feature flags in these results. And please bear in mind that I know I can see such information via the Releases section of the Development panel in the individual work items but I want to see this information in a column in the search results without having to click through to individual work items.

My other related question is how can I access ConfigCat feature flag information in automation rules. I have been able to get GitLab information (commits, merge requests, builds etc) as smart values aas documented at https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-development/ . This documentation also mentions a {{flag}} smart value but it seems to be associated with LaunchDarkly and not ConfigCat. So is there an equivalent for ConfigCat?

Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

[Daniel Toth]

Hi  @martin_kelly,

I'm Daniel from ConfigCat.
As you experienced, the Jira "feature flags" feature has many limitations. These limitations affect us developers as well.

The "Search work items" column option for feature flags is a missing option from the dropdown. We don't have options to add our flags to the display.

The automation is also problematic. As a Connect app, we didn't have the proper option to add our automation solution. The {{flag}} smart value does not represent the value of the "Release" field from the Development panel. It is really confusing, if you ask me.

The good news is that we are working on our Forge app, and we will try to solve these problems. There are still some limitations with the "feature flags" feature in Forge, but we'll try to make the best of it.

I'm glad for your questions. This is a good opportunity to let Atlassian know that the users and some of the vendors want a better "feature flags" representation in Jira.

Ps: It would be nice if the smart values worked. Then we could make a workaround by copying the values to another field and showing that field in the "Search work items" results. Not a perfect solution, but it's something.