[opensourcedex]

Flipt is a free, open source application security project written in Go and released under a custom open-source licence. It has 4,902 GitHub stars, 308 forks and 42 open issues, and was last pushed 13 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #6 of 16 tracked projects in Application Security, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 6 stars over the last 6 tracked days.

What is Flipt?

What it is

Flipt is an open-source, Git-native feature management platform written in Go and distributed under a NOASSERTION license. It lives in the cloud-native and DevOps ecosystem, sitting alongside continuous delivery, GitOps, and developer tooling, and it exposes its functionality through gRPC and a gRPC-gateway HTTP interface. The project is self-hosted and enterprise-oriented, with a homepage at flipt.io and documentation at docs.flipt.io. Version 2 is the current line; version 1 remains available on the main branch with its own documentation set.

The concrete problem it solves is where feature flag state lives and who controls it. Traditional feature flag products keep flag definitions in a vendor database, which separates flag changes from the code they gate and from the review process around that code. Flipt v2 instead stores flags in the user's own Git repositories, so flag changes travel through the same branching, review, and merge workflow as application code. That removes the database dependency from the default deployment, gives every flag change full history and blame, and lets teams test flag changes in branches before merging them to production.

Key capabilities

  • Stores feature flags directly in Git repositories, with full history and blame for every flag change.
  • Maps environments to Git branches, to directories within one repository, or to separate repositories, with each environment holding its own namespaces, flags, and configurations.
  • Runs with zero infrastructure and no external dependencies by default, deploying as a single binary.
  • Streams flag updates to client-side SDKs through a Server-Sent Events API, avoiding polling.
  • Syncs with source control providers including GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, and Gitea.
  • Provides secrets management through file-based providers in the open-source build, with HashiCorp Vault and cloud secret managers available in Pro.
  • Supports OIDC, JWT, and OAuth authentication, plus audit trails recording who changed what and when.

Who uses it and how

  • Engineering teams practicing trunk-based development merge incomplete features behind flags without exposing them.
  • Platform teams implementing GitOps treat feature flags as code and deploy them through existing CI/CD pipelines alongside the application.
  • Organizations with security or compliance requirements self-host Flipt to keep sensitive flag data inside their own infrastructure.
  • Teams managing dev, staging, and production map each environment to a branch, directory, or repository to keep configurations isolated.
  • Reviewers use merge proposals, a Pro feature, to apply code review and approval workflows to flag changes, with GPG commit signing available for cryptographic verification.

Getting started

Flipt v2 deploys as a single binary with no database or external dependencies by default, and the project points to docs.flipt.io and flipt.io for installation and setup instructions. Source control sync is configured against a provider such as GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, or Gitea.

When to use it — and when not to

Flipt fits teams that already work in Git and want flag changes to follow the same review and deployment path as code, and it avoids the database operation that a self-hosted flag service would otherwise require. A self-hoster still operates the Flipt server itself, configures source control credentials, and chooses a secrets provider, since only file-based secrets are available in the open-source build. Two capabilities named in the README, GPG commit signing and merge proposals, are Pro features rather than open-source ones, so

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

The Git-native, enterprise-ready feature management platform that developers love


Flipt v2 Stable Go Report Card Mentioned in Awesome Go Discord Ask DeepWiki

Docs • Website • Blog • Contributing • Discord

[!NOTE]
Looking for Flipt v1? You can find the v1 code on the main branch and documentation at docs.flipt.io.

Why Flipt v2?

Finally, feature flags that work with your existing Git workflow.

Flipt v2 is the first truly Git-native feature management platform that treats your feature flags as code. Store your flags in your own Git repositories, use your existing branching strategy, and deploy flags alongside your code using the tools you already know and trust.

🚀 Git-Native by Design

  • Own your data: Store feature flags directly in your Git repositories
  • Version control: Full history and blame for every flag change
  • Branch and merge: Test flag changes in branches before merging to production
  • Deploy together: Feature flags deploy with your code using existing CI/CD pipelines

🌍 Multi-Environment with Git Flexibility

  • Environment per branch: Map environments to Git branches for seamless workflows
  • Environment per directory: Organize flags by microservice or team within a single repo
  • Environment per repository: Separate repos for different products or security domains
  • Complete isolation: Each environment has its own namespaces, flags, and configurations

⚡ Developer Experience First

  • Zero infrastructure: No databases, no external dependencies by default
  • GitOps ready: Works with existing Git-based deployment workflows
  • Real-time updates: Server-Sent Events (SSE) streaming API for instant flag propagation to client-side SDKs without polling
  • Modern UI: Intuitive interface with full Git integration and dark mode support

🔒 Enterprise Security & Control

  • Self-hosted: Keep sensitive flag data within your infrastructure
  • Secrets management: Secure storage and retrieval of sensitive configuration data (OSS)
  • GPG commit signing: Cryptographically sign all flag changes for enhanced security (Pro feature)
  • Merge proposals: Code review workflow for flag changes (Pro feature)
  • Audit trails: Complete history of who changed what and when
  • OIDC/JWT/OAuth: Enterprise authentication methods supported

Flipt v1 vs v2: What's New?

Feature Flipt v1 ✨ Flipt v2
Storage Database-centric (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite) Git-native with optional SCM sync (GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, Gitea, etc.)
Environments Single namespace model Multi-environment with Git flexibility
Branching Not supported Full Git branching with environment branches
Data Ownership Stored in a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite) Stored in your Git repositories alongside your code
GitOps Read-only Git integration Full read/write Git integration
Deployment Requires database setup Zero dependencies - single binary
Version Control Basic audit logs Full Git history and blame
Merge Process Direct flag changes Merge proposals with code review
Real-time Updates Polling required Server-Sent Events (SSE) streaming API for instant updates
Multi-tenancy Manual namespace management Environment-based isolation
Secrets Management None File-based providers available in OSS, HashiCorp Vault, cloud secrets management (AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager, Azure Key Vault) available in Pro

Use Cases

Perfect for engineering teams that want to:

  • Ship faster with confidence: Deploy flags with your code using existing Git workflows
  • Enable trunk-based development: Merge incomplete features behind flags without risk
  • Implement proper GitOps: Treat infrastructure and feature flags as code
  • Maintain security compliance: Keep sensitive flag data within your infrastructure
  • Scale with multiple environments: Manage flags across dev, staging, and production seamlessly
  • Enable team collaboration: Use familiar Git workflows for flag reviews and approvals

Quick Start

See our quickstart guide for more details.

Local

# Install Flipt
curl -fsSL https://get.flipt.io/v2 | sh

# Wizard-driven setup to get you started quickly
flipt quickstart

# Run Flipt server
flipt server

Docker

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 -p 9000:9000 -t docker.flipt.io/flipt/flipt:v2

Flipt UI will be available at http://127.0.0.1:8080/.

Nightly Builds

[!WARNING]
Nightly builds are automatically generated from the latest v2 branch and should not be considered stable for production use.

To run the latest nightly build:

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 -p 9000:9000 -t docker.flipt.io/flipt/flipt:v2-nightly

Nightly builds include the latest features and bug fixes but may contain untested changes. Use them for testing new features or verifying bug fixes before the next stable release.

Configuration Example

# config.yml - Git-native setup with secrets management
secrets:
  providers:
    # File-based secrets (OSS)
    file:
      enabled: true
      base_path: "/etc/flipt/secrets"
    # HashiCorp Vault (Pro feature)
    vault:
      enabled: true
      address: "https://vault.example.com"
      auth_method: "token"
      token: "hvs.your_token"
      mount: "secret"

storage:
  type: git
  git:
    repository: "https://github.com/your-org/feature-flags.git"
    ref: "main"
    poll_interval: "30s"
    signature:
      enabled: true
      type: "gpg"
      key_ref:
        provider: "vault"  # Requires Pro license
        path: "flipt/signing-key"
        key: "private_key"
      name: "Flipt Bot"
      email: "[email protected]"

environments:
  default:
    storage: git
  staging:
    storage: git
    directory: "staging"

For more setup options, see our configuration documentation.


Core Values

  • 🔒 Security - HTTPS, OIDC, JWT, OAuth, K8s Service Token, and API Token authentication methods supported out of the box
  • 🗝️ Secrets Management - Secure storage and retrieval of sensitive data with file-based providers (OSS) and HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager, Azure Key Vault (Pro features)
  • 🎛️ Control - Your data stays in your Git repositories within your infrastructure
  • 🚀 Speed - Co-located with your services, no external API calls required
  • ✅ Simplicity - Single binary with no external dependencies by default
  • 🔄 GitOps Ready - Native Git integration that works with your existing workflows
  • 👍 Compatibility - GRPC, REST, Redis, Prometheus, ClickHouse, OpenTelemetry, and more

Key Features

Git-Native Storage

  • Store flags directly in Git repositories alongside your code
  • Full version control with Git history, blame, and diff support
  • Integrates with your SCM (GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, Azure DevOps, Gitea, etc.)
  • GPG commit signing for cryptographic verification of changes

Multi-Environment Management

  • Environment

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is Flipt free to use?

Flipt is open source. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does Flipt do?

Git-native feature management for developers

What is Flipt written in?

Flipt is primarily written in Go. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/flipt-io/flipt, and it has 4,902 GitHub stars.