Cycle Time
Pull Request Lifecycle
hours
Measures the overall duration from first commit to merge for pull requests.
💡 Like measuring how long it takes a package to go from the warehouse to the customer, cycle time captures your full code delivery pipeline.
What It Measures
Measures the overall duration from first commit to merge for pull requests.
Why It Matters
Evaluating how long changes take to ship
Understanding end-to-end PR delivery time
How It's Calculated
Calculates the median hours between the first commit and when the PR was merged.
MEDIAN(hours(first_commit, merged_at))Concrete Example
If your median cycle time is 18 hours, code is typically going from first commit to merge within a business day, a healthy flow.
What Does a Healthy Score Look Like?
Lower is better, short cycle times mean fast, predictable delivery.
Healthy
Under 24 hours
Watch Out
24–72 hours (1–3 days)
Needs Attention
Over 72 hours, code is sitting in review for days
What Moves This Metric?
Goes up when…
Slow first review response allowing code to sit idle
Multiple review cycles adding time
Large PRs taking longer to review and revise
Goes down when…
Smaller PRs that are easier to review and merge quickly
Fast reviewer response times
Automated CI/CD that does not block merges
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