[PhilipTrauner]

there are some upcoming features that we'd like to deploy, but not yet make available by default.
...feature flags to the rescue!

this introduces a debug menu that be accessed by tapping 10 times quickly and repeatedly.
it allows toggling feature flags that can be detected in a csr context, through css queries, and during ssr.
flags are persisted as a cookie so they are modifiable and observable from both contexts.

it also introduces the concept of shareable feature enablement URLs that encode which set of features should be enabled as query parameters.
these override the set of currently configured features so complicated "tap 10 times, then enable a + b + c" instructions aren't required when asking someone to test a feature

debug.menu.mov

getting the global Astro context is a bit gnarly, and requires a middleware and some AsyncLocalStorage trickery

frontend/src/utilities/feature.ts

Lines 48 to 61 in a874380

	/**
	* astro global is only available in `.astro` files and middlewares.
	* page rendering happens in middleware callback chain
	* → introduce global thunk that is set with {@link featureRenderInstall} in ssr context
	*
	* thunk is eventually populated with help of {@link AsyncLocalStorage}
	*/
	let renderer: (() => FeatureCookieJar | undefined) | undefined;
	/** allows setting {@link renderer} */
	export const featureRenderInstall = (
	resolve: () => FeatureCookieJar | undefined,
	) => {
	renderer = resolve;
	};

frontend/src/middleware.ts

Lines 31 to 40 in a874380

	// applies enablement from `?feature=` query parameters and provides render context
	const feature = defineMiddleware((context, next) => {
	if (context.isPrerendered) {
	return next();
	}
	featureParamApply(context);
	return scopeFeature.run(context.cookies, next);
	});

ideally this one goes in after being rebased on a feature that needs gating, while also removing the placeholder "foo" feature

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[pierosavi]

Replaced the tap gesture with a no index, not linked /debug page for better accessibility

[pierosavi]

Found a cache bug: the route cache keys on the URL only, but SSR output now depends on the feature cookie. Cached pages (/, /browse, devices, /surveys) served whichever flag state rendered first, both ways. Middleware can't prevent it because the lookup runs before it, and astro dev hides it because the cache is a no-op there.

Fixed in 2cc49f9 with a custom cache provider (src/io/feature-cache.ts). It wraps the memory cache and skips it for requests with the feature cookie or ?feature=, so everyone else is still cached.

Removed the in-process cache, so caching is now left to the CDN (Cloudflare in prod, Netlify in previews). Pages only send Cache-Control headers (src/io/cache-provider.ts), and requests with cookies, auth or ?feature= get no-store. Also removed the Astro.cache.set in SearchBox, which was overriding every page's TTL.