# Dora And Engineering Metrics

> Use DORA metrics and related engineering metrics to understand and improve delivery performance without turning metrics into harmful targets. Use when measuring software delivery performance or setting improvement goals.

- Skill: `itsual/dora-and-engineering-metrics` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add itsual/dora-and-engineering-metrics`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/itsual/dora-and-engineering-metrics/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: itsual (https://skillmd.com/u/itsual)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/itsual/dora-and-engineering-metrics

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# DORA and Engineering Metrics

## Overview

DORA metrics (Deployment Frequency, Lead Time for Changes, Change Failure Rate, Time to Restore) provide a proven starting point for understanding delivery performance.

## When to Use

- Assessing the health of delivery processes
- Setting improvement goals for teams or organizations
- Avoiding vanity metrics that don’t correlate with outcomes

## Core DORA Metrics

- **Deployment Frequency** – How often you deploy to production
- **Lead Time for Changes** – Time from commit to production
- **Change Failure Rate** – Percentage of deployments causing failures
- **Time to Restore Service** – How quickly you recover from failures

## Principles

- Use metrics for learning and improvement, not for individual performance punishment
- Pair quantitative metrics with qualitative understanding
- Watch for Goodhart’s law (when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure)
- Focus on trends and system-level improvement

## Verification

- Metrics are collected consistently and understood by teams
- Discussions focus on systemic improvement rather than blame