Audience-based releases

This topic explains how audience-based releases let you validate changes with lower-risk audiences first, with consistent rollout configuration and optional metric monitoring at each phase.

Audience-based releases let you roll out a feature or AgentControl config to specific audiences in a defined sequence. LaunchDarkly applies the same rollout configuration and optional metrics to each audience in order. If LaunchDarkly detects a regression in one audience, it can pause or roll back the release before the next audience begins.

How audience-based releases work

An audience-based release is composed of multiple phases. Each phase targets a different audience, and only one audience receives the release at a time. LaunchDarkly completes one phase before starting the next.

For example, a typical audience-based release might progress through the following phases:

1. Validate functionality with internal users.
2. Confirm behavior with beta customers.
3. Expand to a subset of production traffic with regional users.
4. Complete the release for all users.

Within each phase, LaunchDarkly gradually increases the percentage of contexts in that audience receiving the new variation according to the configured rollout steps. Each subsequent phase becomes active only after the previous one completes.

If you select a guarded rollout, all phases share the same rollout duration, steps, metrics, and rollback configuration. LaunchDarkly evaluates metrics for each phase as it runs. If LaunchDarkly detects a regression during a phase, it can pause or roll back the release based on your configuration.

You can define audiences using segments or targeting rules. Each audience is represented as a rule in the flag or AgentControl config targeting configuration. LaunchDarkly evaluates each audience using the same context kind you select for the rollout.

Rollout types for audience-based releases

LaunchDarkly uses the rollout type to manage traffic and evaluate performance for each audience in sequence:

• Guarded rollouts monitor metrics during each phase and can automatically pause or roll back the release if a regression is detected. Choose this option if you want LaunchDarkly to evaluate metric performance at each phase and take action if a regression occurs. To learn more, read Guarded rollouts.
• Progressive rollouts increase traffic to a variation automatically over time without metric monitoring or automated rollback. Choose this option if you want gradual exposure across audiences without metric-based decisions. To learn more, read Progressive rollouts.