Flow Metrics

Actionable Metrics

Extract Flow Metrics from Jira. Visualize your team’s delivery performance.

Actionable Metrics connects to your Jira instance and exports work item data in ActionableAgile format, giving you instant visibility into cycle time, throughput, work item age, and more. Run it as a simple containerized tool with zero cloud dependencies.


Why Actionable Metrics?


Quick Start

Prerequisites

Before continuing, ensure you have completed the following from the main installation guide:

  1. Git installed and configured
  2. Docker or Podman installed and running
  3. Repository cloned via git clone

If you haven’t completed these steps, return to the main page and follow the Requirements and Getting Started sections first.

cd actionable-metrics

2. Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and configure the required settings:

# Container image link (required)
IMAGE_NAME=registry.gitlab.com/tomasz-feliksik/flow-metrics-base

# Container image version (optional, defaults to 'latest')
RELEASE=latest

# Authentication token (required for accessing the registry)
ACCESS_TOKEN=glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Optional settings:

3. Run the Container

Linux/macOS:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh

Windows:

run_actionable_metrics_image.cmd

This creates:

4. Set Up Jira Credentials

Edit credentials.yaml:

server: https://your-company.atlassian.net
user: your.email@company.com
auth_method: basic_auth
pass: your-jira-api-token

Generate your Jira API token at your Atlassian account

5. Generate Configuration

Run the configuration generator:

Linux/macOS:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh read-jira board

Windows:

run_actionable_metrics_image.cmd read-jira board

Or start an interactive session and run it inside:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh
# Inside the container:
read-jira board

Enter your board number (from URL: rapidView=XX). A configuration file will be created in configurations/new_generated/.

6. Configure Your Workflow

Edit the generated YAML file:

  1. Map all statuses to workflow columns
  2. Add (!!! arrival_column !!!) in the first “in progress” column
  3. Keep (!!! departure_column !!!) in the “done” column
  4. Save to configurations/your_project.yaml

Example:

Workflow:
  Backlog:
    - Inbox
    - Prioritized
  In Progress:
    - (!!! arrival_column !!!)
    - In Progress
  Done:
    - (!!! departure_column !!!)
    - Done

calculation_window: 30

7. Process Data

Run the data export:

Linux/macOS:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh make-flow-data

Windows:

run_actionable_metrics_image.cmd make-flow-data

Or start an interactive session and run it inside:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh
# Inside the container:
make-flow-data

Output files will be saved to ./output/.


Available Commands

You can run commands in two ways:

  1. Direct execution (recommended): Pass the command as an argument to the runner script

    ./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh <command>
  2. Interactive session: Start an interactive bash session and run commands inside

    ./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh
    # Then run commands inside the container
Command Description
make-flow-data Export Jira data to ActionableAgile format
read-jira Read and display Jira data
configurations-runner Generate configuration from a Jira board
workflow-viewer Visualize your workflow configuration

Run any command with --help for detailed options.


Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Docker permission errors on Linux Add your user to the docker group
Cannot pull container image Verify IMAGE_NAME and ACCESS_TOKEN in .env
IMAGE_NAME is not set error Set IMAGE_NAME in your .env file
Connection failures Check internet connectivity and firewall settings
Container won’t start Ensure Docker or Podman is running

Resources