During which stage can feature flags be used to deploy applications?

Feature flags are a powerful technique used in software development to enable or disable features in a live application without deploying new code. They facilitate incremental feature rollouts, testing, and experimentation without risking the stability of the entire application. The most appropriate stage for deploying applications with feature flags is the release stage.

In the release phase, features can be turned on or off for specific user segments or environments. This allows teams to manage risk effectively by controlling how and when new features are made available to users. By using feature flags during the release stage, teams can gather feedback, observe behavior in real-time, and make quick adjustments as necessary based on user interaction with the new features.

Using feature flags during other stages such as configure, secure, or verify is less effective since those stages focus on configurations, security checks, and testing, respectively. While feature flags may play a role in configurations and might be considered during verification, their main utility is recognized predominantly during the release phase, where they have the most significant impact on user experience and production systems.