Hooks

Read time: 6 minutes

Last edited: May 30, 2024

Overview

This topic explains how to define and add hooks to LaunchDarkly SDKs. Hooks are collections of developer-defined callbacks. They contain methods that the SDK executes at various points of interest.

In LaunchDarkly SDKs, hooks provide entry points to observe or modify aspects of SDK operation. For example, when you enable OpenTelemetry in a server-side SDK, you add a tracing hook, provided by LaunchDarkly, that surfaces telemetry data. You might also write your own hook, for instance to support logging or reporting errors.

Hooks define an "evaluation" series, which is composed of two stages: beforeEvaluation and afterEvaluation. When you include a hook in your SDK configuration, the SDK executes these two stages before and after the evaluation of a feature flag.

Details about how to add hooks to each SDK are available in the SDK-specific sections below.

Server-side SDKs
Client-side SDKs

Server-side SDKs

This feature is available in the following SDKs:

.NET (server-side)
Go
Java
Node.js (server-side)
Python
Ruby

.NET (server-side)

Expand .NET (server-side) code sample

To use hook functionality with the .NET (server-side) SDK, first import the LaunchDarkly.Sdk.Server.Hooks namespace. Then, define a new hook. This class must derive from the Hook class and override its methods. Finally, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

using LaunchDarkly.Sdk.Server.Hooks;
public class ExampleHook : Hook {
  // Implement at least one of `BeforeEvaluation`, `AfterEvaluation`
  // `BeforeEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // before the flag value has been determined
  // `AfterEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // after the flag value has been determined
}
var exampleHook = new ExampleHook();
var config = Configuration.Builder("sdk-key-123abc")
  .Hooks(Components.Hooks()
    .Add(exampleHook)
  ).Build();
var client = new LdClient(config);

To learn more, read Hooks.

Go

Expand Go code sample

To use hook functionality with the Go SDK, first import the ldhooks package. Then, define a new hook. It must implement the Hook interface. Finally, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

import (
  ld "github.com/launchdarkly/go-server-sdk/v7"
  "github.com/launchdarkly/go-server-sdk/v7/ldhooks"
)
type exampleHook struct {
  ldhooks.Unimplemented
  metadata ldhooks.Metadata
}
func (e exampleHook) Metadata() ldhooks.Metadata {
  return e.metadata
}
// Implement at least one of `BeforeEvaluation`, `AfterEvaluation`
// `BeforeEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
// before the flag value has been determined
// `AfterEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
// after the flag value has been determined
func newExampleHook() exampleHook {}
var config ld.Config
client, _ = ld.MakeCustomClient("sdk-key-123abc",
  ld.Config{
    Hooks: []ldhooks.Hook{newExampleHook()},
  }, 5*time.Second)

To learn more, read Hook.

Java

Expand Java code sample

To use hook functionality with the Java SDK, first define a new hook. This class must implement the Hook abstract class. Then, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

import com.launchdarkly.sdk.server.integrations.Hook;
class ExampleHook extends Hook {
  public ExampleHook(String name) {
    super(name);
  }
  // Implement at least one of `beforeEvaluation`, `afterEvaluation`
  // `beforeEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // before the flag value has been determined
  // `afterEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // after the flag value has been determined
}
ExampleHook exampleHook = new ExampleHook();
LDConfig config = new LDConfig.Builder()
    .hooks(
        Components.hooks().setHooks(Collections.singletonList(exampleHook)))
    .build();
LDClient client = new LDClient("sdk-key-123abc", config);

To learn more, read Hook.

Node.js (server-side)

Expand Node.js (server-side) code sample

To use hook functionality with the Node.js (server-side) SDK, first define a new hook. This class must extend the Hook interface. Then, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

export class ExampleHook implements integrations.Hook {
  getMetadata() {
    return { name: 'Example hook'}
  }
  // Implement at least one of `beforeEvaluation`, `afterEvaluation`
  // `beforeEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // before the flag value has been determined
  // `afterEvaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  // after the flag value has been determined
}
const options: ld.LDOptions = {
  hooks: [new ExampleHook()]
};
const client = ld.init('sdk-key-123abc', options);

You can also add a hook to an existing client using the addHook method:

const client = ld.init('sdk-key-123abc', options);
client.addHook(new ExampleHook());

To learn more, read Hook.

Python

Expand Python code sample

To use hook functionality with the Python SDK, first define a new hook. This class must inherit from ldclient.hook.Hook. Then, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

import ldclient
from ldclient import Config
from ldclient.hook import Hook, Metadata
class ExampleHook(Hook):
    @property
    def metadata(self) -> Metadata:
        return Metadata(name="example-hook")
    # Implement at least one of `before_evaluation`, `before_evaluation`
    # `before_evaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
    # before the flag value has been determined
    # `after_evaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
    # after the flag value has been determined
example_hook = ExampleHook()
config = Config("sdk-key-123abc", hooks=[example_hook])
ldclient.set_config(config=config)
client = ldclient.get()

You can also add a hook to an existing client using the add_hook method:

ldclient.set_config(config=config)
client = ldclient.get()
client.add_hook(example_hook)

To learn more, read ldclient.hook.

Ruby

Expand Ruby code sample

To use hook functionality with the Ruby SDK, first define a new hook. This class must include the Hooks mixin. Then, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

require 'ldclient-rb'
class ExampleHook
  include LaunchDarkly::Interfaces::Hooks::Hook
  def metadata
    LaunchDarkly::Interfaces::Hooks::Metadata.new('example-hook')
  end
  # Implement at least one of `before_evaluation`, `after_evaluation`
  # `before_evaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  # before the flag value has been determined
  # `after_evaluation` is called during the execution of a variation method
  # after the flag value has been determined
end
example_hook = ExampleHook.new
config = LaunchDarkly::Config.new(hooks: [example_hook])
client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new("sdk-key-123abc", config)

You can also add a hook to an existing client using the add_hook method:

client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new("sdk-key-123abc", config)
client.add_hook(example_hook)

To learn more, read Hooks.

Client-side SDKs

This feature is available in the following SDKs:

iOS

Expand iOS code sample

To use hook functionality with the iOS SDK, first define a new hook. This class must use the Hook protocol. Then, reference the hook in the configuration options when you initialize the SDK client.

Here's how:

import LaunchDarkly
class ExampleHook: Hook {
    func metadata() -> Metadata {
        return Metadata(name: "example-hook")
    }
    /// Implement at least one of `beforeEvaluation`, `afterEvaluation`
    /// beforeEvaluation is called during the execution of a variation method
    /// before the flag value has been determined
    /// afterEvaluation is called during the execution of a variation method
    /// after the flag value has been determined
}
let exampleHook = ExampleHook()
var config = LDConfig(
  mobileKey: "mobile-key-123abc",
  autoEnvAttributes: .enabled
)
config.hooks = [exampleHook]
let context = try! LDContextBuilder(key: "context-key-123abc").build().get()
LDClient.start(config: config, context: context, startWaitSeconds: 5) { timedOut in
    if timedOut {
        /// Client may not have the most recent flags for the configured context
    } else {
        /// Client has received flags for the configured context
    }
}

To learn more, read Hook.

Hooks

Read time: 6 minutes

Last edited: May 30, 2024

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Server-side SDKs

.NET (server-side)

Go

Java

Node.js (server-side)

Python

Ruby

Client-side SDKs

iOS

Overview