---
title: "Hand flags to a new owner when people · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-owner-handover
id: ENG-46
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-22
tokens: 586
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Hand flags to a new owner when people leave

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Feature flags](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-22.

- ID: ENG-46
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Feature flags](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags.md)
- Rule: Every flag owner in the register is a current member of the team. When a person leaves, their flags move to a named person in the same week.
- Check: A build step compares every owner in the flag register with the current team list, such as the code owners file. It fails on an owner missing from it.
- How: A flag without an owner stays forever, because nobody dares to remove it. Make flag handover a line in the leaving checklist, next to the account removal in [Protect the accounts that can change the code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/version-control-and-review/code-host-accounts.md). Name a person as owner, not a team, so one person gets the reminder. The [flag register](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-register.md) holds the owner field.

## Related rules

- ENG-20 [Protect the accounts that can change the code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/version-control-and-review/code-host-accounts.md) in Engineering
- ENG-45 [Keep every flag in one register](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-register.md) in Engineering

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-owner-handover">Agent Wranglers engineering playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Keep every flag in one register](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-register.md)
- Next: [Keep serving when the flag service is down](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags/flag-service-outage.md)
- [Feature flags](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/feature-flags.md)