OpenFeature .NET SDK

Quick start

Requirements

• .NET 6+
• .NET Core 6+
• .NET Framework 4.6.2+

Note that the packages will aim to support all current .NET versions. Refer to the currently supported versions .NET and .NET Framework excluding .NET Framework 3.5

Install

Use the following to initialize your project:

dotnet new console

and install OpenFeature:

dotnet add package OpenFeature

Usage

public async Task Example()
{
    // Register your feature flag provider
    await Api.Instance.SetProvider(new InMemoryProvider());

    // Create a new client
    FeatureClient client = Api.Instance.GetClient();

    // Evaluate your feature flag
    bool v2Enabled = await client.GetBooleanValue("v2_enabled", false);

    if ( v2Enabled )
    {
        //Do some work
    }
}

Features

Status	Features	Description
✅	Providers	Integrate with a commercial, open source, or in-house feature management tool.
✅	Targeting	Contextually-aware flag evaluation using evaluation context.
✅	Hooks	Add functionality to various stages of the flag evaluation life-cycle.
✅	Logging	Integrate with popular logging packages.
✅	Named clients	Utilize multiple providers in a single application.
✅	Eventing	React to state changes in the provider or flag management system.
✅	Shutdown	Gracefully clean up a provider during application shutdown.
✅	Extending	Extend OpenFeature with custom providers and hooks.

Implemented: ✅ | In-progress: ⚠️ | Not implemented yet: ❌

Providers

Providers are an abstraction between a flag management system and the OpenFeature SDK. Here is a complete list of available providers.

If the provider you're looking for hasn't been created yet, see the develop a provider section to learn how to build it yourself.

Once you've added a provider as a dependency, it can be registered with OpenFeature like this:

await Api.Instance.SetProvider(new MyProvider());

In some situations, it may be beneficial to register multiple providers in the same application. This is possible using named clients, which is covered in more detail below.

Targeting

Sometimes, the value of a flag must consider some dynamic criteria about the application or user such as the user's location, IP, email address, or the server's location. In OpenFeature, we refer to this as targeting. If the flag management system you're using supports targeting, you can provide the input data using the evaluation context.

// set a value to the global context
EvaluationContextBuilder builder = EvaluationContext.Builder();
builder.Set("region", "us-east-1");
EvaluationContext apiCtx = builder.Build();
Api.Instance.SetContext(apiCtx);

// set a value to the client context
builder = EvaluationContext.Builder();
builder.Set("region", "us-east-1");
EvaluationContext clientCtx = builder.Build();
var client = Api.Instance.GetClient();
client.SetContext(clientCtx);

// set a value to the invocation context
builder = EvaluationContext.Builder();
builder.Set("region", "us-east-1");
EvaluationContext reqCtx = builder.Build();

bool flagValue = await client.GetBooleanValue("some-flag", false, reqCtx);

Hooks

Hooks allow for custom logic to be added at well-defined points of the flag evaluation life-cycle. Look here for a complete list of available hooks. If the hook you're looking for hasn't been created yet, see the develop a hook section to learn how to build it yourself.

Once you've added a hook as a dependency, it can be registered at the global, client, or flag invocation level.

// add a hook globally, to run on all evaluations
Api.Instance.AddHooks(new ExampleGlobalHook());

// add a hook on this client, to run on all evaluations made by this client
var client = Api.Instance.GetClient();
client.AddHooks(new ExampleClientHook());

// add a hook for this evaluation only
var value = await client.GetBooleanValue("boolFlag", false, context, new FlagEvaluationOptions(new ExampleInvocationHook()));

Logging

The .NET SDK uses Microsoft.Extensions.Logging. See the manual for complete documentation.

Named clients

Clients can be given a name. A name is a logical identifier that can be used to associate clients with a particular provider. If a name has no associated provider, the global provider is used.

// registering the default provider
await Api.Instance.SetProvider(new LocalProvider());

// registering a named provider
await Api.Instance.SetProvider("clientForCache", new CachedProvider());

// a client backed by default provider
FeatureClient clientDefault = Api.Instance.GetClient();

// a client backed by CachedProvider
FeatureClient clientNamed = Api.Instance.GetClient("clientForCache");

Eventing

Events allow you to react to state changes in the provider or underlying flag management system, such as flag definition changes, provider readiness, or error conditions. Initialization events (PROVIDER_READY on success, PROVIDER_ERROR on failure) are dispatched for every provider. Some providers support additional events, such as PROVIDER_CONFIGURATION_CHANGED.

Please refer to the documentation of the provider you're using to see what events are supported.

Example usage of an Event handler:

public static void EventHandler(ProviderEventPayload eventDetails)
{
    Console.WriteLine(eventDetails.Type);
}

EventHandlerDelegate callback = EventHandler;
// add an implementation of the EventHandlerDelegate for the PROVIDER_READY event
Api.Instance.AddHandler(ProviderEventTypes.ProviderReady, callback);

It is also possible to register an event handler for a specific client, as in the following example:

EventHandlerDelegate callback = EventHandler;

var myClient = Api.Instance.GetClient("my-client");

var provider = new ExampleProvider();
await Api.Instance.SetProvider(myClient.GetMetadata().Name, provider);

myClient.AddHandler(ProviderEventTypes.ProviderReady, callback);

Shutdown

The OpenFeature API provides a close function to perform a cleanup of all registered providers. This should only be called when your application is in the process of shutting down.

// Shut down all providers
await Api.Instance.Shutdown();

Extending

Develop a provider

To develop a provider, you need to create a new project and include the OpenFeature SDK as a dependency. This can be a new repository or included in the existing contrib repository available under the OpenFeature organization. You’ll then need to write the provider by implementing the FeatureProvider interface exported by the OpenFeature SDK.

public class MyProvider : FeatureProvider
{
    public override Metadata GetMetadata()
    {
        return new Metadata("My Provider");
    }

    public override Task<ResolutionDetails<bool>> ResolveBooleanValue(string flagKey, bool defaultValue, EvaluationContext context = null)
    {
        // resolve a boolean flag value
    }

    public override Task<ResolutionDetails<double>> ResolveDoubleValue(string flagKey, double defaultValue, EvaluationContext context = null)
    {
        // resolve a double flag value
    }

    public override Task<ResolutionDetails<int>> ResolveIntegerValue(string flagKey, int defaultValue, EvaluationContext context = null)
    {
        // resolve an int flag value
    }

    public override Task<ResolutionDetails<string>> ResolveStringValue(string flagKey, string defaultValue, EvaluationContext context = null)
    {
        // resolve a string flag value
    }

    public override Task<ResolutionDetails<Value>> ResolveStructureValue(string flagKey, Value defaultValue, EvaluationContext context = null)
    {
        // resolve an object flag value
    }
}

Develop a hook

To develop a hook, you need to create a new project and include the OpenFeature SDK as a dependency. This can be a new repository or included in the existing contrib repository available under the OpenFeature organization. Implement your own hook by conforming to the Hook interface. To satisfy the interface, all methods (Before/After/Finally/Error) need to be defined.

public class MyHook : Hook
{
  public Task<EvaluationContext> Before<T>(HookContext<T> context,
      IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> hints = null)
  {
    // code to run before flag evaluation
  }

  public virtual Task After<T>(HookContext<T> context, FlagEvaluationDetails<T> details,
      IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> hints = null)
  {
    // code to run after successful flag evaluation
  }

  public virtual Task Error<T>(HookContext<T> context, Exception error,
      IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> hints = null)
  {
    // code to run if there's an error during before hooks or during flag evaluation
  }

  public virtual Task Finally<T>(HookContext<T> context, IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> hints = null)
  {
    // code to run after all other stages, regardless of success/failure
  }
}

Built a new hook? Let us know so we can add it to the docs!