Configuring LaunchDarkly plugin

Introduction

The LaunchDarkly plugin allows you to view feature flags on an entity page in Backstage.

This page explains how to configure it in Roadie Backstage.

At a Glance

Prerequisites

1. You must be an admin in Roadie. Learn how to designate certain users as admins here.
2. You must have the correct permissions assigned in LaunchDarkly to be able to create a read only API token

Step 1: Create a LaunchDarkly API token

Roadie requires an API token to be able to connect to LaunchDarkly.

You can learn how to generate an API token for your user by visiting https://docs.launchdarkly.com/home/account/api

Step 2: Configure Roadie with your LaunchDarkly API token

Visit the secrets page in Roadie at /administration/secrets and enter the API token you generated for LaunchDarkly in the secret called LAUNCHDARKLY_API_KEY

Step 3: Add the UI elements

The LaunchDarkly plugin provides a card that can be displayed on an entity page.

The EntityLaunchdarklyOverviewCard displays the feature flags for the entities LaunchDarkly context. This card can be added to component dashboards.

Step 4: Modify your catalog files to contain references to the LaunchDarkly context

The LaunchDarkly plugin uses three annotations to determine the project, environment and context to display the feature flags. Those annotations are shown below.

// catalog-info.yaml
metadata:
  annotations:
    launchdarkly.com/context: '{"kind":"tenant","key":"roadie","name":"roadie"}'
    launchdarkly.com/project-key: default
    launchdarkly.com/environment-key: production