[changelog] [Deprecation Notice] Removing support for anonymous users in Forge Feature Flags Client SDK #30

GUID: CHANGE-3416
pubDate: Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:57 GMT
Category: Deprecation Notice

What's changing

Atlassian is removing support for anonymous (unauthenticated) users from the Forge Feature Flags Client SDK (FeatureFlags in @forge/bridge). Starting December 1, 2026, the Client SDK will no longer evaluate feature flags when no authenticated user is present:

• Today, FeatureFlags.initialize() works even without a logged-in user (no accountId).
• After the change, initialize() only functions for authenticated users with a valid Atlassian account. Calling it without an accountId in the user's identifiers means the SDK will not return evaluated flag values and falls back to default values.
• Affects apps that use the Client SDK and allow anonymous access (e.g., unlicensedAccess enabled).
• Atlassian's recommended migrations: (A) skip initialize() and use hardcoded defaults when no accountId; (B) move flag logic to the server-side Feature Flags SDK in a resolver, which supports installContext (site-level) targeting without a user identity.
• 90-day deprecation window: existing behaviour keeps working until 2026-12-01 with deprecation warnings in the developer console.

Impact on forge-sim parity

Simulator area: shims (@forge/bridge). If/when forge-sim simulates the FeatureFlags client SDK:

• Post-cutover parity means the simulated FeatureFlags.initialize() must fall back to default flag values when the simulated context has no authenticated accountId (anonymous/unlicensed contexts), rather than evaluating flags.
• During the deprecation window (now → 2026-12-01), the real platform still works but emits deprecation warnings — a simulated warning would match that behavior.
• If forge-sim does not yet shim FeatureFlags, this defines the correct behavior to implement from day one: build the post-Dec-1 semantics, not the legacy anonymous-eval behavior.

Link: https://developer.atlassian.com/platform/forge/changelog/#CHANGE-3416

• forge-spec: update affected requirement rows (behavior change)