Swift (iOS) SDK Reference
Getting Started
1. Add the ConfigCat SDK to your project
- CocoaPods
- Carthage
- Swift Package Manager
target '<YOUR TARGET>' do
pod 'ConfigCat'
end
Then, run the following command to install your dependencies:
pod install
github "configcat/swift-sdk"
Then, run the carthage update command and then follow the Carthage integration steps to link the framework with your project.
Add the SDK to your Package.swift
.
dependencies: [
.package(
url: "https://github.com/configcat/swift-sdk",
from: "11.0.1"
)
]
2. Import the ConfigCat SDK
- Swift
- Objective-C
import ConfigCat
@import ConfigCat;
3. Create the ConfigCat client with your SDK Key
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#")
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
options:NULL];
4. Get your setting value
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.getValue(for: "isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled", defaultValue: false) { isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled in
if isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled {
doTheNewThing()
} else {
doTheOldThing()
}
}
// Or with async/await
let isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled = await client.getValue(for: "isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled", defaultValue: false)
if isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled {
doTheNewThing()
} else {
doTheOldThing()
}
[client getBoolValueFor:@"isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled"
defaultValue:false
user:NULL
completion:^(BOOL isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled) {
if (isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled) {
// do the new thing
} else {
// do the old thing
}
}];
5. Close ConfigCat client
You can safely shut down all clients at once or individually and release all associated resources on application exit.
- Swift
- Objective-C
ConfigCatClient.closeAll() // closes all clients
client.close() // closes the specific client
[ConfigCatClient closeAll]; // closes all clients
[client close]; // closes the specific client
Supported platform versions
The following device platform versions are supported:
Platform | Version |
---|---|
iOS | >= 12.0 |
watchOS | >= 4.0 |
tvOS | >= 12.0 |
macOS | >= 10.13 |
visionOS | >= 1.0 |
Creating the ConfigCat Client
ConfigCat Client is responsible for:
- managing the communication between your application and ConfigCat servers.
- caching your setting values and feature flags.
- serving values quickly in a failsafe way.
ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: <sdkKey>)
returns a client with default options.
Customizing the ConfigCat Client
To customize the SDK's behavior, you can pass an additional (ConfigCatOptions) -> ()
parameter to the get()
static
factory method where the ConfigCatOptions
class is used to set up the ConfigCat Client.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.pollingMode = PollingModes.manualPoll()
options.logLevel = .info
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.pollingMode = [PollingModes manualPoll];
options.logLevel = LogLevelInfo;
}];
These are the available options on the ConfigCatOptions
class:
Arguments | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
dataGovernance | DataGovernance | Optional, defaults to global . Describes the location of your feature flag and setting data within the ConfigCat CDN. This parameter needs to be in sync with your Data Governance preferences. More about Data Governance. Available options: global , euOnly . |
configCache | ConfigCache? | Optional, sets a custom cache implementation for the client. More about cache. |
pollingMode | PollingMode | Optional, sets the polling mode for the client. More about polling modes. |
sessionConfiguration | URLSessionConfiguration | Optional, sets a custom URLSessionConfiguration used by the HTTP calls. |
baseUrl | String | Optional, sets the CDN base url (forward proxy, dedicated subscription) from where the sdk will download the config JSON. |
flagOverrides | OverrideDataSource? | Optional, sets the local feature flag & setting overrides. More about feature flag overrides. |
logLevel | LogLevel | Optional, sets the internal log level. More about logging.. |
defaultUser | ConfigCatUser? | Optional, sets the default user. More about default user. |
logger | ConfigCatLogger | Optional, sets the logger implementation used by the SDK. More about logging |
offline | Bool | Optional, defaults to false . Indicates whether the SDK should be initialized in offline mode. More about offline mode. |
hooks | Hooks | Optional, used to subscribe events that the SDK sends in specific scenarios. More about hooks. |
We strongly recommend you to use the ConfigCatClient
as a Singleton object in your application.
The ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: <sdkKey>)
static factory method constructs singleton client instances for your SDK keys.
These clients can be closed all at once with the ConfigCatClient.closeAll()
method or individually with client.close()
.
Anatomy of getValue()
Parameters | Description |
---|---|
key | REQUIRED. Setting-specific key. Set on ConfigCat Dashboard for each setting. |
defaultValue | REQUIRED. This value will be returned in case of an error. |
user | Optional, User Object. Essential when using Targeting. Read more about Targeting. |
completion | REQUIRED. Callback function to call, when the result is ready. |
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.getValue(
for: "keyOfMySetting", // Setting Key
defaultValue: false, // Default value
user: ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#") // Optional User Object
) { isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled in
if isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled {
doTheNewThing()
} else {
doTheOldThing()
}
}
// Or with async/await
let isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled = await client.getValue(
for: "keyOfMySetting", // Setting Key
defaultValue: false, // Default value
user: ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#") // Optional User Object
if isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled {
doTheNewThing()
} else {
doTheOldThing()
}
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:NULL country:NULL custom:NULL];
[client getBoolValueFor:@"keyOfMySetting" // Setting Key
defaultValue:false // Default value
user:user // Optional User Object
completion:^(BOOL isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled) {
if (isMyAwesomeFeatureEnabled) {
// do the new thing
} else {
// do the old thing
}
}];
The following is only related to the SDK's generic-typed API which's only accessible from Swift.
It is important to provide an argument for the defaultValue
parameter, specifically for the Value
generic type parameter,
that matches the type of the feature flag or setting you are evaluating. Please refer to the following table for the corresponding types.
Setting type mapping
Setting Kind | Type parameter Value |
---|---|
On/Off Toggle | Bool / Bool? |
Text | String / String? |
Whole Number | Int / Int? |
Decimal Number | Double / Double? |
In addition to the types mentioned above, you also have the option to provide Any
or Any?
for the type parameter (or to use the getAnyValue
method) regardless of the setting kind.
If you provide any other type for the type parameter, or if you specify an allowed type but it mismatches the setting kind, an error message will be logged and defaultValue
will be returned.
When relying on type inference, be mindful of potential type mismatch issues, especially with number types.
For example, await client.getValue(for: "keyOfMyDecimalSetting", defaultValue: 0)
will return defaultValue
(0
) instead of the actual value of the decimal setting because
the compiler infers the type as Int
instead of Double
.
To correctly evaluate a decimal setting, you should use:
let value = await client.getValue(for: "keyOfMyDecimalSetting", defaultValue: 0.0);
Anatomy of getValueDetails()
getValueDetails()
is similar to getValue()
but instead of returning the evaluated value only, it gives more detailed information about the evaluation result.
Parameters | Description |
---|---|
key | REQUIRED. Setting-specific key. Set on ConfigCat Dashboard for each setting. |
defaultValue | REQUIRED. This value will be returned in case of an error. |
user | Optional, User Object. Essential when using Targeting. Read more about Targeting. |
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.getValueDetails(
for: "keyOfMySetting", // Setting Key
defaultValue: false, // Default value
user: ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#") // Optional User Object
) { details in
// Use the details result
}
// Or with async/await
let details = await client.getValueDetails(
for: "keyOfMySetting", // Setting Key
defaultValue: false, // Default value
user: ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#") // Optional User Object
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:NULL country:NULL custom:NULL];
[client getBoolValueDetailsFor:@"keyOfMySetting" // Setting Key
defaultValue:false // Default value
user:user // Optional User Object
completion:^(BoolEvaluationDetails* details) {
// Use the details result
}];
The following is only related to the SDK's generic-typed API which's only accessible from Swift.
It is important to provide an argument for the defaultValue
parameter, specifically for the Value
generic type parameter,
that matches the type of the feature flag or setting you are evaluating. Please refer to this table for the corresponding types.
The details result contains the following information:
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
value | Bool / String / Int / Double | The evaluated value of the feature flag or setting. |
key | String | The key of the evaluated feature flag or setting. |
isDefaultValue | Bool | True when the default value passed to getValueDetails() is returned due to an error. |
error | String? | In case of an error, this property contains the error message. |
user | ConfigCatUser? | The User Object that was used for evaluation. |
matchedPercentageOption | PercentageOption? | The Percentage Option (if any) that was used to select the evaluated value. |
matchedTargetingRule | TargetingRule? | The Targeting Rule (if any) that matched during the evaluation and was used to return the evaluated value. |
fetchTime | Date | The last download time of the current config. |
Snapshots and synchronous feature flag evaluation
The ConfigCat client provides only asynchronous methods for evaluating feature flags and settings because these operations may involve network communication (downloading config data from the ConfigCat CDN servers), which is necessarily an asynchronous operation.
However, there may be use cases where synchronous evaluation is preferable, thus, since v10.0.0
, the Swift SDK provides a way
to synchronously evaluate feature flags and settings via Snapshots.
Using the snapshot()
method, you can capture the current state of the ConfigCat client (including the latest downloaded config data)
and you can use the resulting snapshot object to synchronously evaluate feature flags and settings based on the captured state:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let snapshot = configCatClient.snapshot()
let isMyFeatureEnabled = snapshot.getValue(for: "isMyFeatureEnabled", defaultValue: false)
ConfigCatSnapshot* snapshot = [client snapshot];
BOOL isMyFeatureEnabled = [snapshot getBoolValueFor:@"isMyFeatureEnabled"
defaultValue:false
user:NULL];
Snapshots are created from the actual state of the SDK; therefore it's crucial to know whether the SDK has valid feature flag data to work on. To determine whether it's safe to create snapshots, the SDK provides an onClientReady
hook. It accepts a state enum parameter to give details about the SDK's initialization state.
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.hooks.addOnReady { state in
// the state parameter tells what is the SDK's initialization state
}
[client.hooks addOnReadyWithHandler:^(enum ClientReadyState state) {
// the state parameter tells what is the SDK's initialization state
}];
The possible state
values:
noFlagData
: The SDK has no feature flag data to work on (it didn't get anything from the cache or from the network)hasLocalOverrideFlagDataOnly
: The SDK was initialized withlocalOnly
flag overrides.hasCachedFlagDataOnly
: The SDK has feature flag data only from the cache. This can happen when the SDK is configured withmanualPoll()
and there wasn't aclient.forceRefresh()
call yet. Another example could be an SDK configured withautoPoll()
, but it can't reach the ConfigCat CDN so it falls back to the cache.hasUpToDateFlagData
: The SDK is initialized with up-to-date feature flag data.
The SDK's state is also accessible via the waitForReady()
awaitable method, which asynchronously waits for the onClientReady
hook to fire and returns with the SDK's initialization state.
let state = await client.waitForReady()
User Object
The User Object is essential if you'd like to use ConfigCat's Targeting feature.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#")
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
- Swift
- Objective-C
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]")
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
Arguments | Description |
---|---|
identifier | REQUIRED. Unique identifier of a user in your application. Can be any value, even an email address. |
email | Optional parameter for easier Targeting Rule definitions. |
country | Optional parameter for easier Targeting Rule definitions. |
custom | Optional dictionary for custom attributes of a user for advanced Targeting Rule definitions. e.g. User role, Subscription type. |
- Swift
- Objective-C
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#",
email: "[email protected]",
country: "United Kingdom",
custom: ["SubscriptionType":"Pro", "UserRole":"Admin"])
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:@"[email protected]"
country:@"United Kingdom"
custom:@{@"SubscriptionType": @"Pro", @"UserRole": @"Admin"}];
The custom
map also allows attribute values other than String
values:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ"
let registeredAt = dateFormatter.date(from:"2023-03-31T23:59:59.999Z")!
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#",
email: "[email protected]",
country: "United Kingdom",
custom: ["Rating":4.5, "RegisteredAt":registeredAt, "Roles": ["Role1", "Role2"]])
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ"];
NSDate *registeredAt = [dateFormatter dateFromString: @"2023-03-31T23:59:59.999Z"];
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:@"[email protected]"
country:@"United Kingdom"
custom:@{@"Rating": @4.5,
@"RegisteredAt": registeredAt,
@"Roles":@[@"Role1", @"Role2"]}];
User Object Attribute Types
All comparators support String
values as User Object attribute (in some cases they need to be provided in a specific format though, see below),
but some of them also support other types of values. It depends on the comparator how the values will be handled. The following rules apply:
Text-based comparators (EQUALS, IS ONE OF, etc.)
- accept
String
values, - all other values are automatically converted to
String
(a warning will be logged but evaluation will continue as normal).
SemVer-based comparators (IS ONE OF, <, >=, etc.)
- accept
String
values containing a properly formatted, valid semver value, - all other values are considered invalid (a warning will be logged and the currently evaluated targeting rule will be skipped).
Number-based comparators (=, <, >=, etc.)
- accept
Int
,UInt
,Double
, orFloat
values, - accept
String
values containing a properly formatted, validDouble
value, - all other values are considered invalid (a warning will be logged and the currently evaluated targeting rule will be skipped).
Date time-based comparators (BEFORE / AFTER)
- accept
Date
values, which are automatically converted to a second-based Unix timestamp, - accept
Int
,UInt
,Double
, orFloat
values representing a second-based Unix timestamp, - accept
String
values containing a properly formatted, validDouble
value, - all other values are considered invalid (a warning will be logged and the currently evaluated targeting rule will be skipped).
String array-based comparators (ARRAY CONTAINS ANY OF / ARRAY NOT CONTAINS ANY OF)
- accept arrays of
String
, - accept
String
values containing a valid JSON string which can be deserialized to an array ofString
, - all other values are considered invalid (a warning will be logged and the currently evaluated targeting rule will be skipped).
Default user
There's an option to set a default User Object that will be used at feature flag and setting evaluation. It can be useful when your application has a single user only, or rarely switches users.
You can set the default User Object either on SDK initialization:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.defaultUser = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]")
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.defaultUser = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
}];
or with the setDefaultUser()
method of the ConfigCat client.
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.setDefaultUser(user: ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]"))
[client setDefaultUserWithUser:[[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL]];
Whenever the getValue()
, getValueDetails()
, getAllValues()
, or getAllVariationIds()
methods are called without an explicit user
parameter, the SDK will automatically use the default user as a User Object.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]")
client.setDefaultUser(user)
// The default user will be used at the evaluation process.
let value = await client.getValue(for: "keyOfMySetting", defaultValue: false)
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
[client setDefaultUserWithUser:user];
// The default user will be used at the evaluation process.
[client getBoolValueFor:@"keyOfMySetting"
defaultValue:false
user:NULL
completion:^(BOOL value) {
// You can use the evaluation's result here.
}];
When the user
parameter is specified on the requesting method, it takes precedence over the default user.
- Swift
- Objective-C
et user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]")
client.setDefaultUser(user)
let otherUser = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "[email protected]")
// otherUser will be used at the evaluation process.
let value = await client.getValue(for: 'keyOfMySetting', defaultValue: false, user: otherUser)
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
[client setDefaultUserWithUser:user];
ConfigCatUser* otherUser = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"[email protected]"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
// otherUser will be used at the evaluation process.
[client getBoolValueFor:@"keyOfMySetting"
defaultValue:false
user:otherUser
completion:^(BOOL value) {
// You can use the evaluation's result here.
}];
For deleting the default user, you can do the following:
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.clearDefaultUser()
[client clearDefaultUser];
getAllKeys()
You can get all the setting keys from your config JSON by calling the getAllKeys()
method of the ConfigCatClient
.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#")
// Completion callback
client.getAllKeys() { keys in
// use keys
}
// Async/await
let keys = await client.getAllKeys()
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#" options:NULL];
[client getAllKeysWithCompletion:^(NSArray<NSString*>* keys) {
// use keys
}];
getAllValues()
Evaluates and returns the values of all feature flags and settings. Passing a User Object is optional.
Parameters | Description |
---|---|
user | Optional, User Object. Essential when using Targeting. Read more about Targeting. |
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#")
let user = ConfigCatUser(identifier: "#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#")
// Completion callback
client.getAllValues(
user: user// Optional User Object
) { allValues in
// use allValues
}
// Async/await
let allValues = await client.getAllValues(
user: user // Optional User Object
)
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#" options:NULL];
ConfigCatUser* user = [[ConfigCatUser alloc]initWithIdentifier:@"#UNIQUE-USER-IDENTIFIER#"
email:NULL
country:NULL
custom:NULL];
[client getAllValuesWithUser:user completion:^(NSDictionary<NSString*,id>* values) {
// use values
}];
Polling Modes
The ConfigCat SDK supports 3 different polling mechanisms to acquire the setting values from ConfigCat. After latest setting values are downloaded, they are stored in the internal cache, then all getValue()
calls are served from there. With the following polling modes, you can customize the SDK to best fit to your application's lifecycle.
More about polling modes.
Auto polling (default)
The ConfigCat SDK downloads the latest values and stores them automatically every 60 seconds.
Use the the autoPollIntervalInSeconds
option parameter of the PollingModes.autoPoll()
to change the polling interval.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.pollingMode = PollingModes.autoPoll(autoPollIntervalInSeconds: 120 /* polling interval in seconds */)
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.pollingMode = [PollingModes autoPollWithAutoPollIntervalInSeconds:120 maxInitWaitTimeInSeconds:5];
}];
Available options:
Option Parameter | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
autoPollIntervalInSeconds | Polling interval. | 60 |
maxInitWaitTimeInSeconds | Maximum waiting time between the client initialization and the first config acquisition in secconds. | 5 |
Lazy loading
When calling getValue()
, the ConfigCat SDK downloads the latest setting values if they are not present or expired in the cache. In this case getValue()
will return the setting value after the cache is updated.
Use the cacheRefreshIntervalInSeconds
option parameter of the PollingModes.lazyLoad()
to set cache lifetime.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.pollingMode = PollingModes.lazyLoad(cacheRefreshIntervalInSeconds: 120 /* the cache will expire in 120 seconds */)
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.pollingMode = [PollingModes lazyLoadWithCacheRefreshIntervalInSeconds:120];
}];
Available options:
Option Parameter | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
cacheRefreshIntervalInSeconds | Cache TTL. | 60 |
Manual polling
Manual polling gives you full control over when the config JSON
(with the setting values) is downloaded. ConfigCat SDK will not update them automatically. Calling refresh()
is your application's responsibility.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.pollingMode = PollingModes.manualPoll()
}
// Completion callback
client.forceRefresh() { _ in
// The client uses the latest config JSON
}
// Async/await
await client.forceRefresh()
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.pollingMode = [PollingModes manualPoll];
}];
[client forceRefreshWithCompletion:^(RefreshResult* result) {
// The client uses the latest config JSON
}];
getValue()
returnsdefaultValue
if the cache is empty. Callrefresh()
to update the cache.
Hooks
With the following hooks you can subscribe to particular events fired by the SDK:
-
onClientReady()
: This event is sent when the SDK reaches the ready state. If the SDK is initialized with lazy load or manual polling it's considered ready right after instantiation. If it's using auto polling, the ready state is reached when the SDK has a valid config JSON loaded into memory either from cache or from HTTP. If the config couldn't be loaded neither from cache nor from HTTP theonClientReady
event fires when the auto polling'smaxInitWaitTimeInSeconds
is reached. -
onConfigChanged([String: Setting])
: This event is sent when the SDK loads a valid config JSON into memory from cache, and each subsequent time when the loaded config JSON changes via HTTP. -
onFlagEvaluated(EvaluationDetails)
: This event is sent each time when the SDK evaluates a feature flag or setting. The event sends the same evaluation details that you would get fromgetValueDetails()
. -
onError(String)
: This event is sent when an error occurs within the ConfigCat SDK.
You can subscribe to these events either on SDK initialization:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.hooks.addOnFlagEvaluated { details in
/* handle the event */
}
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
[options.hooks addOnFlagEvaluatedWithHandler:^(EvaluationDetails* details) {
/* handle the event */
}];
}];
or with the hooks
property of the ConfigCat client:
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.hooks.addOnFlagEvaluated { details in
/* handle the event */
}
[client.hooks addOnFlagEvaluatedWithHandler:^(EvaluationDetails* details) {
/* handle the event */
}];
Online / Offline mode
In cases when you'd want to prevent the SDK from making HTTP calls, you can put it in offline mode:
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.setOffline()
[client setOffline];
In offline mode, the SDK won't initiate HTTP requests and will work only from its cache.
To put the SDK back in online mode, you can do the following:
- Swift
- Objective-C
client.setOnline()
[client setOnline];
With
client.isOffline
you can check whether the SDK is in offline mode.
Flag Overrides
With flag overrides you can overwrite the feature flags & settings downloaded from the ConfigCat CDN with local values. Moreover, you can specify how the overrides should apply over the downloaded values. The following 3 behaviours are supported:
-
Local only (
OverrideBehaviour.localOnly
): When evaluating values, the SDK will not use feature flags & settings from the ConfigCat CDN, but it will use all feature flags & settings that are loaded from local-override sources. -
Local over remote (
OverrideBehaviour.localOverRemote
): When evaluating values, the SDK will use all feature flags & settings that are downloaded from the ConfigCat CDN, plus all feature flags & settings that are loaded from local-override sources. If a feature flag or a setting is defined both in the downloaded and the local-override source then the local-override version will take precedence. -
Remote over local (
OverrideBehaviour.remoteOverLocal
): When evaluating values, the SDK will use all feature flags & settings that are downloaded from the ConfigCat CDN, plus all feature flags & settings that are loaded from local-override sources. If a feature flag or a setting is defined both in the downloaded and the local-override source then the downloaded version will take precedence.
You can set up the SDK to load your feature flag & setting overrides from a [String: Any]
dictionary.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let dictionary:[String: Any] = [
"enabledFeature": true,
"disabledFeature": false,
"intSetting": 5,
"doubleSetting": 3.14,
"stringSetting": "test"
]
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.flagOverrides = LocalDictionaryDataSource(source: dictionary, behaviour: .localOnly)
}
NSDictionary<NSString*,id>* dictionary = @{
@"enabledFeature": @true,
@"disabledFeature": @false,
@"intSetting": @5,
@"doubleSetting": @3.14,
@"stringSetting": @"test"
};
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.flagOverrides = [[LocalDictionaryDataSource alloc]initWithSource:dictionary
behaviour:OverrideBehaviourLocalOnly];
}];
Cache
The SDK uses UserDefaults
as the default cache to store the downloaded config JSON
.
If you want to turn off the default behavior, you can set the SDK's cache to nil
or to your own cache implementation.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.configCache = nil
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.configCache = NULL;
}];
Custom cache
You have the option to inject your custom cache implementation into the client. All you have to do is to conform the ConfigCache
protocol:
- Swift
- Objective-C
@import ConfigCat
public class MyCustomCache: ConfigCache {
public func read(key: String) throws -> String {
// here you have to return with the cached value
}
public func write(key: String, value: String) throws {
// here you have to store the new value in the cache
}
}
@import Foundation;
@import ConfigCat;
@interface MyCustomCache: NSObject <ConfigCache>
@end
#import "MyCustomCache.h"
@implementation MyCustomCache
- (NSString *)readFor:(NSString *)key error:(NSError * __autoreleasing *)error {
// here you have to return with the cached value
}
- (BOOL)writeFor:(NSString *)key value:(NSString *)value error:(NSError * __autoreleasing *)error {
// here you have to store the new value in the cache
}
@end
Then you can use your custom cache implementation at the SDK's initialization:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.configCache = MyCustomCache()
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.configCache = [MyCustomCache alloc];
}];
The Swift SDK supports shared caching. You can read more about this feature and the required minimum SDK versions here.
Force refresh
Call the forceRefresh()
method on the client to download the latest config JSON and update the cache.
Using ConfigCat behind a proxy
Provide your own network credentials (username/password), and proxy server settings (proxy server/port) by adding a ProxyDictionary to the ConfigCat's URLSessionConfiguration
.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let proxyHost = "127.0.0.1"
let proxyPort = 8080
let proxyUser = "user"
let proxyPassword = "password"
let sessionConfiguration = URLSessionConfiguration.default
sessionConfiguration.connectionProxyDictionary = [
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPEnable: true,
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPProxy: proxyHost,
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPPort: proxyPort,
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSEnable: true,
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSProxy: proxyHost,
kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSPort: proxyPort,
kCFProxyUsernameKey: proxyUser, // Optional
kCFProxyPasswordKey: proxyPassword // Optional
]
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.sessionConfiguration = sessionConfiguration
}
NSString* proxyHost = @"127.0.0.1";
NSNumber* proxyPort = @8080;
NSString* proxyUser = @"user";
NSString* proxyPassword = @"password";
NSURLSessionConfiguration* sessionConfiguration = [NSURLSessionConfiguration defaultSessionConfiguration];
sessionConfiguration.connectionProxyDictionary = @{
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPEnable: @true,
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPProxy: proxyHost,
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPPort: proxyPort,
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSEnable: @true,
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSProxy: proxyHost,
(NSString *)kCFNetworkProxiesHTTPSPort: proxyPort,
(NSString *)kCFProxyUsernameKey: proxyUser, // Optional
(NSString *)kCFProxyPasswordKey: proxyPassword // Optional
};
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.sessionConfiguration = sessionConfiguration;
}];
Changing the default HTTP timeout
Set the maximum wait time for a ConfigCat HTTP response by changing the timeoutIntervalForRequest of the ConfigCat's URLSessionConfiguration
.
The default timeoutIntervalForRequest is 60 seconds.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let sessionConfiguration = URLSessionConfiguration.default
sessionConfiguration.timeoutIntervalForRequest = 10 // Timeout in seconds
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.sessionConfiguration = sessionConfiguration
}
NSURLSessionConfiguration* sessionConfiguration = [NSURLSessionConfiguration defaultSessionConfiguration];
sessionConfiguration.timeoutIntervalForRequest = 10; // Timeout in seconds
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.sessionConfiguration = sessionConfiguration;
}];
Logging
The default logger used by the SDK is using the Unified Logging System. For more information about Unified Logging please visit Apple's developer page or check Session 721 - Unified Logging and Activity Tracing from WWDC 2016.
You can override the default logger with your custom implementation via the logger
client option. The custom implementation must conform the ConfigCatLogger
protocol.
- Swift
- Objective-C
@import ConfigCat
class MyCustomLogger: ConfigCatLogger {
func debug(message: String) {
// write the debug logs
}
func info(message: String) {
// write the info logs
}
func warning(message: String) {
// write the warning logs
}
func error(message: String) {
// write the error logs
}
}
@import Foundation;
@import ConfigCat;
@interface MyCustomLogger: NSObject <ConfigCatLogger>
@end
#import "MyCustomLogger.h"
@implementation MyCustomLogger
- (void)debugWithMessage:(NSString * _Nonnull)message {
// write the debug logs
}
- (void)infoWithMessage:(NSString * _Nonnull)message {
// write the info logs
}
- (void)warningWithMessage:(NSString * _Nonnull)message {
// write the warning logs
}
- (void)errorWithMessage:(NSString * _Nonnull)message {
// write the error logs
}
@end
Then you can use your custom logger implementation at the SDK's initialization:
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.logger = MyCustomLogger()
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.logger = [MyCustomLogger alloc];
}];
Log level
You can change the verbosity of the logs by setting the logLevel
option.
- Swift
- Objective-C
let client = ConfigCatClient.get(sdkKey: "#YOUR-SDK-KEY#") { options in
options.logLevel = .info
}
ConfigCatClient* client = [ConfigCatClient getWithSdkKey:@"#YOUR-SDK-KEY#"
configurator:^(ConfigCatOptions* options) {
options.logLevel = ConfigCatLogLevelInfo;
}];
Available log levels:
- Swift
- Objective-C
Level | Description |
---|---|
.nolog | Turn the ConfigCat logging off. |
.error | Only error level events are logged. |
.warning | Default. Errors and Warnings are logged. |
.info | Errors, Warnings and feature flag evaluation is logged. |
.debug | All of the above plus debug info is logged. Debug logs can be different for other SDKs. |
Level | Description |
---|---|
ConfigCatLogLevelNolog | Turn the ConfigCat logging off. |
ConfigCatLogLevelError | Only error level events are logged. |
ConfigCatLogLevelWarning | Default. Errors and Warnings are logged. |
ConfigCatLogLevelInfo | Errors, Warnings and feature flag evaluation is logged. |
ConfigCatLogLevelDebug | All of the above plus debug info is logged. Debug logs can be different for other SDKs. |
Info level logging helps to inspect the feature flag evaluation process.
Example log entries:
[5000] Evaluating 'isPOCFeatureEnabled' for User '{"Identifier":"<SOME USERID>","version":"1.0.0","Email":"[email protected]","Country":"CountryID"}'
Evaluating targeting rules and applying the first match if any:
- IF User.Email CONTAINS ANY OF ['@something.com'] THEN 'false' => no match
- IF User.Email CONTAINS ANY OF ['@example.com'] THEN 'true' => MATCH, applying rule
Returning 'true'.
Sensitive information handling
The frontend/mobile SDKs are running in your users' browsers/devices. The SDK is downloading a config JSON file from ConfigCat's CDN servers. The URL path for this config JSON file contains your SDK key, so the SDK key and the content of your config JSON file (feature flag keys, feature flag values, Targeting Rules, % rules) can be visible to your users. In ConfigCat, all SDK keys are read-only. They only allow downloading your config JSON files, but nobody can make any changes with them in your ConfigCat account.
If you do not want to expose the SDK key or the content of the config JSON file, we recommend using the SDK in your backend components only. You can always create a backend endpoint using the ConfigCat SDK that can evaluate feature flags for a specific user, and call that backend endpoint from your frontend/mobile applications.
Also, we recommend using confidential targeting comparators in the Targeting Rules of those feature flags that are used in the frontend/mobile SDKs.
Sample App
Check out our Sample Application how they use the ConfigCat SDK