dora-metrics

name	dora-metrics
description	Computes DORA delivery-performance metrics from git and GitHub API. Use when assessing deployment frequency, lead time, or change failure rate.
alwaysApply	false
category	governance
tags	["dora","metrics","delivery","engineering-management","github"]
dependencies	[]
tools	[]
provides	{"governance":["dora-tier","delivery-bottleneck"],"reporting":["dora-report","tier-classification"]}
usage_patterns	["delivery-retro","agentic-pipeline-audit","release-health-input"]
complexity	intermediate
model_hint	standard
estimated_tokens	800
progressive_loading	true
modules	["modules/thresholds.md","modules/agentic-workflow-signals.md"]

DORA Metrics

Purpose

Compute the four DORA delivery-performance metrics (Deployment Frequency, Lead Time for Changes, Change Failure Rate, and Time to Restore Service) from local git history and the GitHub API. Classify each metric into Elite, High, Medium, or Low using thresholds from DORA's State of DevOps research, and surface the single weakest dimension as the next improvement target.

When To Use

• Engineering management retrospectives and quarterly reviews.
• Auditing whether agentic workflows (AI-assisted PRs, automated deploys) improve velocity and stability or quietly regress them.
• Feeding a tier signal into minister:release-health-gates.

When Not to Use

• Single-team velocity tracking that needs story-point burndowns rather than delivery-performance evidence.
• Repositories without a clear production branch or release cadence; DORA assumes one.

Workflow

1. Run the helper script with the desired window:

   python3 -m minister.dora_metrics --window 30 --branch main
   

2. Read the output: per-metric value, tier classification, and the bottleneck pointer.

3. For agentic-workflow audits, run the same window twice. Once filtering to AI-authored PRs (e.g., --failure-label ai-bug), once across all PRs. Compare the CFR delta. See modules/agentic-workflow-signals.md.

4. Optionally pipe --json into the tracker so trend data persists alongside release-health-gates snapshots.

5. Optionally render trend charts with kuva when reviewing multiple windows or comparing before/after an agentic-workflow change:

   # Collect weekly snapshots into a TSV, then plot all four metrics
   # week<TAB>metric<TAB>value
   kuva line trends.tsv --x week --y value --color-by metric \
       --title "DORA trends (30-day windows)" -o dora-trends.svg
   
   # Quick terminal preview without writing a file
   kuva line trends.tsv --x week --y value --color-by metric --terminal
   

   kuva reads TSV/CSV from stdin or a file path. Install once: cargo install kuva --features cli. No project source changes required. See kuva for the full plot-type reference.

Inputs