Actionable Metrics (retired)

This product is retired and no longer receives updates. It has been replaced by two tools that split its job:

• Flow Metrics Server — for looking at your metrics. A browser app: type a query, see the charts. No config file to maintain.
• Lean Flow Metrics — for scripted and scheduled exports. A single CLI, built for CI.

Both are faster, support Azure DevOps as well as Jira, and share one config format. Your existing installation keeps working, and this page stays available for reference — but new setups should use one of the two above.

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?

• Privacy First - All processing happens locally on your machine. Your Jira data never leaves your infrastructure. No cloud services, no third-party tracking, no data leaving your network.

• Quick Setup - From clone to first export in under 10 minutes. Just configure your Jira credentials and run.

• Team Collaboration - Teams on the same network can share the tool. Simply configure your local firewall to allow connections from trusted colleagues.

• Flexible Export - Generate data files compatible with ActionableAgile Analytics for advanced visualization and reporting.

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.

1. Navigate to Actionable Metrics Directory

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:

• CONTAINER_RUNTIME - Specify docker or podman (auto-detected if not set)
• HOST_DIR - Directory to store configuration & output data (defaults to current directory)

3. Run the Container

Linux/macOS:

./run_actionable_metrics_image.sh

Windows:

run_actionable_metrics_image.cmd

This creates:

• configurations/ - your configuration files (safe to commit)
• credentials.yaml - your Jira credentials (git-ignored)
• output/ - generated output files (git-ignored)

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

Migrating this workflow to a current product? Do not carry the sentinels across. The (!!! arrival_column !!!) / (!!! departure_column !!!) strings are an Actionable Metrics form; Lean Flow Metrics and Flow Metrics Server declare the same two things as top-level fields instead, and since Lean Flow Metrics 9.0.0 the sentinel strings are not recognised at all — they read as an ordinary status name that matches nothing, and the run fails later with a confusing error rather than at the line you wrote. The translation is mechanical: delete the sentinel from the status list, and name its column at the top level.

arrival_column: In Progress
departure_column: Done

workflow:
  columns: # ordered map — key order is column order
    Backlog: [Inbox, Prioritized]
    In Progress: [In Progress]
    Done: [Done]

See Lean Flow Metrics for the full dataset schema.

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

Run any command with --help for detailed options.

Troubleshooting

Resources

• ActionableAgile Documentation
• ActionableAgile Blog
• ActionableAgile Analytics