--- slug: release-discipline created: 2026-05-12 updated: 2026-06-13 --- # Release Discipline and Feature Flags Chromium ships through a [Four-Channel Pipeline](four-channel-pipeline.md) — Canary (daily, ~1% of users), Dev (weekly, ~1%), Beta (four weeks before stable, ~5%), Stable (four-week cadence, general population). Canary catches regressions quickly; Dev enables developer preview of upcoming features; Beta gives enterprise IT and downstream vendors a window to test; Stable is the trust boundary for the general user population. Every new feature is gated behind a feature flag from the moment its code lands, not activated by default until it has cleared the Intent to Ship gate. The [Finch Variations](finch-variations.md) infrastructure layers on top: a server-side configuration system that can enable, disable, or parametrize a feature for a population percentage without shipping a new browser binary. Two stable-channel users may have different feature states. Operationally, that fact matters every time an enterprise IT administrator tries to reproduce a bug report. The patterns and concepts in this section name the mechanisms that turn the four-channel pipeline into a predictable release discipline. [Feature Flag Guarding](feature-flag-guarding.md) prescribes the `base::Feature` declaration pattern and the `base::FeatureList::IsEnabled()` call-site discipline that prevents unfinished code from leaking into Canary. [Origin Trial Token Deployment](origin-trial-tokens.md) names the operational pattern site operators follow to participate in upstream trials — token registration, the `Origin-Trial` HTTP header or `` element, the third-party token mechanism for embedded libraries. [Stable as Trust Boundary](stable-trust-boundary.md) is the concept that explains the asymmetry between landing on Canary (low bar) and reaching Stable (high bar). The [Zombie Origin Trial](zombie-origin-trial.md) antipattern catches the failure mode where a trial that was supposed to end becomes a feature without ever clearing the Intent to Ship gate. Enterprise IT administrators evaluating a Chromium-based deployment, web developers participating in upstream origin trials, and engineering executives deciding whether to build their product on a trial-stage feature use this section to choose channels, deploy tokens correctly, and understand what "Stable" does and does not guarantee. --- - [Next: Four-Channel Pipeline](four-channel-pipeline.md) - [Previous: Supply-Chain Vulnerability Lag](supply-chain-lag.md)