Flag links capability

Overview

This topic explains how to use the flag links integration framework capability.

Using flag links

Flag links let you associate feature flags with resources contained in external services, such as Slack messages and Jira issues. To learn more about the feature, read Flag links.

Here is an image of a flag link:

The flagLink capability is used to apply custom formatting and metadata to flag links that originate from your integration service. For complete examples, read the Slack App manifest and the Jira integration manifest.

The flagLink capability has the following properties:

• header
• metadata
• uiBlocks
• emptyState

The header property

This property string specifies the sentence-cased title to show for all flag links for the integration, for example, "Jira issue" or "Slack conversation."

The metadata property

The metadata object specifies the shape of the data for the flag link POST body and API response. Additionally, the metadata can be referenced in the visual representation of the flag link and may be indexed for search purposes. In the integration manifest, the metadata object is a mapping of a metadata key to a metadata value object that specifies the format of the metadata item.

For example, the Jira integration has the following metadata object:

"metadata": {
  "creator": {
    "type": "string"
  },
  "iconUrl": {
    "type": "uri"
  },
  "issueKey": {
    "type": "string"
  },
  "issueTitle": {
    "type": "string"
  }
},
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The UI blocks property

The uiBlocks object specifies the look and feel of the integration's flag links in the LaunchDarkly UI.

Any combination of the following properties can be specified:

• image: An object specifying the icon or avatar used to represent the link. Handlebars templating can be utilized in the sourceUrl field to reference metadata submitted by the integration when the link is created.
• title: An object specifying the flag link title. UI block elements are used to provide design flexibility.
• context: An object specifying additional information about the flag link. UI block elements are used to shape the message.

UI block elements

The title and context UI blocks take advantage of UI block elements to provide flexible formatting.

A UI block element is an object comprised of a required text field and may contain one or more of the following properties:

• isBold (boolean): Whether or not the text should be rendered in bold face
• isTimestamp (boolean): Whether or not the text should be converted from Unix milliseconds to a human-readable format
• url (string): If you provide this, the block element will link to the rendered URL

Both the text and url properties can include Handlebars template variables to reference metadata submitted by the integration when the link is created.

For example, the Slack App integration specifies the context UI block as follows:

"context": {
  "elements": [
    { "text": "Posted in" },
    { "text": "#{{{metadata.channelName}}}", "isBold": true },
    { "text": "View message", "url": "{{{deepLink}}}" }
  ]
}
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The empty state property

This emptyState object specifies the message used to assist members when there have not been any flag links created for the integration.

The emptyState object contains two properties:

• title: The title heading of the empty state message.
• leadText: Text or markup content detailing how members can create flag links for this integration.

For example, the Jira integration specifies the emptyState object as follows:

"emptyState": {
  "title": "There are no Jira issues that link to this flag.",
  "leadText": "Jira issues connected to this feature flag will automatically appear here."
}
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