Dataset: Issues & Pull Requests
Entity: Pull Requests, Issues
Field ID: first_comment_at
Type: Datetime
Description: The datetime at which the first comment was made.
Source: App
Transformation logic: It is the creation datetime of the first comment
From: |
|
Github (PRs, Issues) | Calculated |
Gitlab (MRs, Issues) | Calculated |
Bitbucket (PRs) | Calculated |
Azure DevOps (PRs, Issues) | Calculated |
JIRA (Issues) | Calculated |
ClickUp (Issues) | Calculated |
Trello (Issues) | Calculated |
Reporting Use Cases
The First Comment At field is a key indicator of team engagement and responsiveness, as it marks the first time a discussion begins on an issue or pull request. As a timestamp, it is primarily used to calculate response times and identify work that may be stalled.
Calculating Time to First Response: This field's main purpose is to measure how long it takes for a new work item to be acknowledged or discussed by the team.
You can create a crucial KPI for team responsiveness with the custom formula
(first_comment_at - created_at) / HOUR(). A low average time suggests a healthy, collaborative environment where new work is addressed quickly, while a high average might indicate that items are being ignored or that the team is overloaded.
Filtering for Stale or Ignored Items: The presence or absence of a first comment is a strong signal about an item's status in your workflow.
To find items that have received no engagement, you can create a report of all open issues and pull requests by using a filter where
First Comment At is null. This is a powerful tool for backlog grooming and identifying forgotten work.
Analyzing Communication Trends: By using the time to first response in a chart, you can track how your team's communication patterns evolve.
A line chart with
YEAR_MONTH(created_at)as the dimension andAVG(first_comment_at - created_at)as the metric can show you if your team is getting faster or slower at responding to new work over time.
Approximating Review Start Time: For Git providers like GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps that don't have a formal "review started" event, this field can serve as a fallback to approximate when the review process began, especially if
first_comment_after_review_requested_atis not available.