feat: add VECTOR_SEARCH_ENABLED feature flag (Prompt 8)

Author: pmcfadin

README.md

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ Environment variables (all live in `.env`):
 | `ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN` | Token created in Astra UI |
 | `ASTRA_DB_KEYSPACE` | Keyspace name |
 | `SECRET_KEY` | JWT signing secret |
+| `VECTOR_SEARCH_ENABLED` | Toggle semantic vector search (true/false) |
 
 ---
 

app/core/config.py

@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ def parsed_cors_origins(self) -> list[str]:  # noqa: D401
 
     INLINE_METADATA_DISABLED: bool = False
     ENABLE_BACKGROUND_PROCESSING: bool = True
+    # Feature flag – enables semantic vector search endpoints
+    VECTOR_SEARCH_ENABLED: bool = False
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # YouTube integration
@@ -130,7 +132,11 @@ def parsed_cors_origins(self) -> list[str]:  # noqa: D401
     @model_validator(mode="before")
     @classmethod
     def _sanitize_bool_tokens(cls, data):  # type: ignore[return-value]
-        for key in ("INLINE_METADATA_DISABLED", "ENABLE_BACKGROUND_PROCESSING"):
+        for key in (
+            "INLINE_METADATA_DISABLED",
+            "ENABLE_BACKGROUND_PROCESSING",
+            "VECTOR_SEARCH_ENABLED",
+        ):
             if key in data and isinstance(data[key], str):
                 raw = data[key]
                 # Split at first whitespace or '#'

env.example

@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ SECRET_KEY=please-change-me-to-a-long-random-string
 # Access-token lifetime (minutes). 30 by default.
 # ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES=30
 
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Feature Flags
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Enable semantic vector search mode (true/false). Keep disabled until the
+# migrations & backfill jobs have run successfully.
+VECTOR_SEARCH_ENABLED=false
+
 #######################################################################
 # End of file
 #######################################################################