Feature Flags with Laravel Pennant: Safe Deployments and A/B Testing

Why Feature Flags?

Feature flags decouple deployment from release. You can deploy code to production without enabling it for users, then gradually roll out features to specific segments. This reduces risk and enables experimentation.

Getting Started with Pennant

composer require laravel/pennant
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Pennant\PennantServiceProvider"
php artisan migrate

Defining Features

// app/Features/NewCheckoutFlow.php
class NewCheckoutFlow
{
    public function resolve(User $user): bool
    {
        // Enable for beta testers
        if ($user->is_beta_tester) {
            return true;
        }

        // Gradual rollout: 20% of users
        return $user->id % 100 < 20;
    }
}

Checking Features

// In controllers
if (Feature::active(NewCheckoutFlow::class)) {
    return view('checkout.new');
}
return view('checkout.legacy');

// In Blade
@feature('new-checkout-flow')
    
@else
    
@endfeature

Percentage Rollouts

class NewDashboard
{
    public function resolve(User $user): bool
    {
        // Use lottery for consistent percentage
        return Feature::lottery([
            50 => true,  // 50% get the feature
            50 => false, // 50% don't
        ]);
    }
}

A/B Testing

class CheckoutButtonColor
{
    public function resolve(User $user): string
    {
        return Feature::lottery([
            33 => 'blue',
            33 => 'green',
            34 => 'orange',
        ]);
    }
}

// Usage
$color = Feature::value(CheckoutButtonColor::class);
Checkout

Scoping to Teams/Organizations

// Check feature for a team
Feature::for($team)->active(NewBillingSystem::class);

// Default scope
Feature::define('new-billing', function (Team $team) {
    return $team->plan === 'enterprise';
});

Activating/Deactivating

// Manually activate for specific users
Feature::for($user)->activate(NewCheckoutFlow::class);

// Deactivate
Feature::for($user)->deactivate(NewCheckoutFlow::class);

// Activate for everyone
Feature::activateForEveryone(NewCheckoutFlow::class);

Conclusion

Feature flags transform how you deploy and release software. Start using Pennant for safer deployments and data-driven feature decisions.