[FF] orbit_mcp_command_tools -- Rollout the Feature flag
Summary
Roll out the orbit_mcp_command_tools feature flag on production. This flag gates Orbit MCP tools/list discovery between legacy direct tools and command wrapper tools. It was originally a gitlab_com_derisk flag, graduated to beta for GA readiness in MR !245620 (merged).
Related to #600633 (GA cleanup tracker) Related to !234925 (merged) (introducing MR)
- DRI: TBD (group::knowledge graph)
- Team Slack channel:
#g_knowledge_graph
Note
Process and guidance live in the docs — this issue is just the commands and a place to track the rollout. "Rolling out" means incrementally enabling the flag on GitLab.com to validate stability — it is not the same as releasing the feature, which happens when the flag is removed. Feature flag controls · Feature flag lifecycle
Follow-up: removal plan
This flag was graduated from gitlab_com_derisk to beta as an interim GA safety switch. It should not live as a permanent beta flag. Once command tools are confirmed stable on all environments, the planned cleanup under #600633 is:
- Remove the
orbit_mcp_command_toolsfeature flag entirely - Delete the
LEGACY_TOOL_NAMEScode branch (the legacy direct tools path)
What could go wrong?
Rollout
Run all production /chatops in #production and cross-post the results to #g_knowledge_graph. Background: incremental rollout process, feature actors.
Non-production
/chatops gitlab run feature set orbit_mcp_command_tools 50 --actors --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
/chatops gitlab run feature set orbit_mcp_command_tools true --dev --pre --staging --staging-refProduction — percentage rollout (wait ≥15 min between steps, watch dashboards):
/chatops gitlab run feature set orbit_mcp_command_tools <percentage> --actorsOr target specific actors instead:
/chatops gitlab run feature set --project=gitlab-org/gitlab,gitlab-org/gitlab-foss orbit_mcp_command_tools true
/chatops gitlab run feature set --group=gitlab-org,gitlab-com orbit_mcp_command_tools true
/chatops gitlab run feature set --user=<gitlab-username-of-dri> orbit_mcp_command_tools trueBefore global rollout
Confirm the relevant gotchas before going to 100% — see enabling a feature for GitLab.com:
- Docs + version history updated
- Breaking changes announced, if any
- Change management issue opened, if required
- External API consumers handled with a fail-open mechanism, if applicable
Cleanup
Remove the flag once deemed stable — see cleaning up. Track it here, or open a follow-up Feature Flag Cleanup issue. Remove the flag and its YAML definition from the codebase, then:
/chatops gitlab run release check <merge-request-url> <milestone>
/chatops gitlab run feature delete orbit_mcp_command_tools --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --productionRollback
/chatops gitlab run feature set orbit_mcp_command_tools false # production
/chatops gitlab run feature set orbit_mcp_command_tools false --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref # non-production
/chatops gitlab run feature delete orbit_mcp_command_tools --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production # remove entirely