Pull Requests

A Pull Request (PR) in GuideMode represents a code change that’s being reviewed before merging. PRs are synced from code hosting providers (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) and are central to measuring code review efficiency and deployment velocity.

We never read your code

GuideMode syncs metadata only - PR titles, descriptions, timestamps, review states, and aggregate metrics (lines changed, files modified). We never access, read, or store the actual code content, diffs, or file contents from your pull requests.

Overview

Pull Requests in GuideMode:

• Track PR metadata - titles, descriptions, branches, and timestamps
• Monitor review workflow from creation to merge
• Sync aggregate metrics - lines added/deleted, files changed, commit counts
• Link to issues for delivery tracking
• Connect to deployments for lead time calculations
• Power DORA metrics like cycle time

PR States

Pull requests move through a well-defined lifecycle:

State	Description	Common Scenarios
draft	Work in progress, not ready for review	Early feedback, CI checks
open	Ready for review	Standard review flow
merged	Code merged to target branch	Successful delivery
closed	PR closed without merging	Rejected, superseded, abandoned

Key Fields

Core Fields

Field	Type	Description
title	string	PR title/summary
body	string	PR description
url	string	Web URL to PR
state	enum	’open’, ‘closed’, ‘merged’, ‘draft’
number	integer	PR number
isDraft	boolean	Whether PR is a draft

Branch Information

Field	Description
headBranch	Source branch (feature branch)
baseBranch	Target branch (main, develop, etc.)
headSha	Latest commit SHA on source
baseSha	Base commit SHA on target

Merge Information

Field	Description
merged	Whether PR was merged
mergeable	Whether PR can be merged (no conflicts)
mergeCommitSha	SHA of the merge commit
mergedById	User who merged (GuideMode ID)
mergedByUsername	Username of merger

Author Information

Field	Description
authorId	PR creator (GuideMode user)
authorExternalId	Provider’s author ID
authorUsername	Author’s username

Code Change Metrics

PRs track detailed metrics about the code changes:

Metric	Description
additions	Lines of code added
deletions	Lines of code removed
changedFiles	Number of files modified
commits	Number of commits in PR

These metrics help identify:

• PR size - Large PRs may need splitting
• Churn - High deletion count may indicate refactoring
• Complexity - Many files may increase review time

Review Workflow

Review Metrics

Field	Description
reviewerCount	Number of reviewers assigned/participated
commentCount	Total comments (general + code)
reviewCommentCount	Code review comments specifically

Review States

Individual reviews have their own states:

Review State	Description
pending	Review requested but not started
commented	Reviewer left comments (no approval/rejection)
approved	Changes approved
changes_requested	Reviewer requested changes before merge
dismissed	Review was dismissed

Key Timestamps

GuideMode tracks several timestamps throughout the PR lifecycle to calculate metrics:

Timestamp	Description	Used For
createdAt	When PR was opened	Cycle time start
firstReviewAt	First review received	Review velocity
firstApprovalAt	First approval received	Approval time
mergedAt	When PR was merged	Cycle time end
closedAt	When PR was closed (if not merged)	Abandonment tracking
updatedAt	Last modification	Freshness

Calculated Durations

Metric	Calculation	Measures
Review Time	firstReviewAt - createdAt	How quickly reviewers respond
Cycle Time	mergedAt - createdAt	Total time from PR creation to merge

PR Lifecycle

Typical Flow

Draft PR Flow

Issue Links

PRs can link to issues they address:

Link Types

Link Type	Description	Effect on Issue
fixes	PR fixes an issue	Closes issue when merged
closes	PR closes an issue	Closes issue when merged
resolves	PR resolves an issue	Closes issue when merged
references	PR is related	No automatic action

These links are detected from:

• PR description (“Fixes #123”)
• Commit messages (“Closes #456”)
• GitHub linking UI

See Issue Linking for cross-tool linking.

Deployment Links

PRs are linked to deployments to track delivery:

Links are created by:

• SHA matching - Deployment SHA matches PR merge commit
• Webhooks - Provider sends deployment events
• Manual - Explicitly linked

Metrics Calculations

Cycle Time

Time from PR creation to merge:

Cycle Time = mergedAt - createdAt

Measures how long code changes take to review and merge.

Review Time

Time from creation to first review:

Review Time = firstReviewAt - createdAt

Measures how quickly reviewers respond to PRs.

PR Size

Aggregate measure of change scope:

Total Changes = additions + deletions
Change Ratio = additions / deletions

Labels

PRs can have labels for categorization:

Field	Description
name	Label name
color	Hex color code
description	Label description

Common label uses:

• Priority indicators
• Type of change (feature, bugfix, refactor)
• Team ownership
• Review status

Metadata

The metadata field stores provider-specific data:

{
  "milestone": {
    "id": 123,
    "title": "v2.0"
  },
  "requested_reviewers": ["alice", "bob"],
  "ci_status": "success"
}

Related Documentation

Core Concepts

• Issues - Linking PRs to issues
• Deployments - PR-to-deployment tracking
• Issue Linking - Cross-tool linking
• Repositories - Repository context

Analytics

• Delivery Flow - PR cycle time and metrics
• Work Tracking - PR cube details

Integrations

• GitHub Integration - GitHub PR tracking