# Issue metrics

## Overview

The Overview page is a team comparison table. Each row represents one team, and columns show key metrics for the selected timeframe:

* **Completed** — number of issues finished
* **Completed / FTE** — throughput normalized by team size
* [**Cycle time**](/definitions/defining-issue-lifecycle-and-cycle-time.md) — how long issues take from start to done
* **WIP** — average number of issues in progress at a time
* **FTE / Members** — team size context

Each metric shows a delta indicator comparing the current period to the previous period or the organization's average. Working agreement targets (if configured) are shown as badges next to Cycle Time and WIP.

Use Overview to spot which teams are improving, regressing, or outliers compared to the rest of the organization.

## Trends

The Trends page shows how metrics evolve over time for a single selected team. Metrics are plotted as bar or line charts in a grid:

* **Cycle time** — trend over time with previous-period comparison
* **Completed issues** — throughput per time bucket
* **Average WIP** — in-progress count per time bucket
* **Completed / FTE** — throughput per developer (available when time bucket is set to monthly)

You can switch between bar and line chart styles, adjust the time bucket (day/week/month), and change the aggregation function (avg, median, etc.).

Use Trends to understand whether a team's performance is improving, degrading, or seasonal over a longer horizon.

## Flow

The Flow page gives you issue-level detail for a selected team and timeframe. It is structured in three sections:

**Summary stats** at the top show current-period averages for WIP and Cycle Time, with deltas vs. the previous period.

**Two charts** sit below:

* *Issues in Progress* — a line chart showing daily WIP count over the timeframe, with a benchmark line if a WIP limit is set in working agreements
* *Cycle Time Scatter Plot* — one dot per completed issue, plotted by completion date and cycle time; includes a histogram overlay and inline stats (average, median, over-limit count, scope creep average)

The **issue table** at the bottom lists every individual issue, with columns for status, title, labels, linked pull requests, scope creep %, child issue count, and cycle time.

Use Flow to investigate the individual issues behind the aggregate numbers — find outliers, understand scope creep, and trace slow issues to their root cause.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.swarmia.com/features/metrics/issue-cycle-time.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.