Vitess Flags Migration Verification Checklist

Pre-Migration Checklist

• Analyze current flag usage with help text files
• Group flags by function/component
• Identify high-impact flags (used by multiple binaries)
• Plan migration order

Per-Group Migration Checklist

For Each Flag Group:

1. Code Changes

   • Add vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/utils import where needed
   • Replace flag definition with appropriate utils.SetFlag*Var function
   • Ensure flag name uses dashes, not underscores
   • DO NOT manually add deprecation/hiding - utils functions handle this automatically
   • For cobra-based commands, use utils functions with Root.PersistentFlags() or cmd.Flags()

2. Testing

   • Run unit tests for modified packages
   • Verify both flag formats work (--flag-name and --flag_name)
   • Check that underscore version shows deprecation warning
   • Ensure help text shows dashed version as primary

3. Documentation

   • Update CLAUDE.md with completed migrations
   • Note any special cases or exceptions found
   • Record test results

Completed Migrations

✅ Timeout Flags Group (2 flags)

Date: 2025-09-05 Files Modified:

• /go/vt/vtctld/action_repository.go
• /go/cmd/vtctlclient/main.go
• /go/cmd/vtctldclient/command/root.go
• /go/vt/vtgate/tabletgateway.go

Flags Migrated:

• action_timeout → action-timeout
• gateway_initial_tablet_timeout → gateway-initial-tablet-timeout

Tests Run:

• ✅ go test ./go/vt/vtctld - PASS
• ✅ go test ./go/vt/vtgate - PASS
• ✅ Help text verification - Shows dashed version

Pending Migrations

Backup/Restore Flags (5 flags)

• allow_first_backup
• file_backup_storage_root
• initial_backup
• min_backup_interval
• restart_before_backup

Database Flags (20 flags)

• Various mysql_auth_* flags
• mysql_bind_host
• mysql_timeout
• etc.

Stats/Monitoring Flags (2 flags)

• statsd_address
• statsd_sample_rate

Final Verification

• All underscore flags replaced with dash versions
• Backward compatibility maintained
• All tests passing
• Documentation updated
• PR created and reviewed

Notes

• Glog flags (log_dir, log_backtrace_at) come from Go standard library - may not need migration
• Some tests use GetFlagVariantForTestsByVersion - DO NOT modify these
• Utils functions automatically handle deprecation and hiding - no manual work needed
• Utils functions work with both pflag.FlagSet and cobra's Flags()/PersistentFlags()

Key Pattern to Follow:

// Before:
fs.StringVar(&variable, "flag_with_underscore", defaultValue, "description")

// After:
utils.SetFlagStringVar(fs, &variable, "flag-with-dashes", defaultValue, "description")