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Intent & Philosophy

What This Tool Is For

This MCP server provides objective data for better conversations, not surveillance metrics for micromanagement.

✅ Good Use Cases

Sprint Retrospectives - "What did we accomplish this sprint?" - "Where did we spend most of our time?" - Saves 15-30 minutes of manual git log parsing

Code Quality Insights - "Which files are changing most frequently?" (high churn = potential issues) - "Where should we focus code reviews?" - "Do we have technical debt hotspots?"

Team Health Monitoring - "Are people committing late at night or on weekends?" (burnout indicator) - "Is work distributed evenly or is someone overwhelmed?" - Early warning signs for proactive intervention

Risk Management - "What's our bus factor?" (knowledge concentration) - "Who's the only person who knows this critical code?" - Succession planning and knowledge sharing

Onboarding Tracking - "How is the new developer ramping up?" - Objective data for coaching conversations - Identify where they need more support

❌ What This Is NOT For

Micromanagement - ❌ Checking individual commit counts daily - ❌ Comparing developers against each other - ❌ Using metrics as performance review ammunition - ❌ Surveillance or "productivity monitoring"

Performance Evaluation - ❌ Commits ≠ value delivered - ❌ Lines of code ≠ quality - ❌ Activity ≠ impact

Philosophy

Data as Conversation Starter

Instead of: - ❌ "Why did you only commit 5 times this week?" - ❌ "Your velocity is down 20%" - ❌ "Bob commits more than you"

Use it for: - ✅ "I noticed high churn on auth.ts - need help?" - ✅ "Lots of late-night commits lately - too much on your plate?" - ✅ "This file has 3 authors - should we pair on it?" - ✅ "We haven't touched this module in 6 months - is it stable or forgotten?"

Trust Over Surveillance

This tool assumes: - Your team is competent and motivated - Context matters more than raw numbers - Trends are more valuable than snapshots - Questions are better than accusations

Frequency Guidelines

Recommended: - Weekly: Quick health check (5 min) - Sprint end: Retrospective insights (15 min) - Monthly: Trend analysis (30 min) - Quarterly: Strategic review (1 hour)

Not Recommended: - Daily individual tracking - Real-time monitoring - Comparative rankings - Automated alerts on low activity

When to Use This Tool

✅ You Should Use This If:

  • You lead a team (3+ developers)
  • You do regular retrospectives
  • You care about code quality trends
  • You want data-driven conversations
  • You're looking for process improvements
  • You need to identify risks early

🚫 Skip This Tool If:

  • Solo developer
  • Team < 3 people
  • You trust your gut more than data
  • Your team would see it as surveillance
  • You're looking for "productivity scores"
  • You want to compare developers

Red Flags (Don't Do This)

If you find yourself doing any of these, stop and reconsider:

  • Checking metrics more than once per day
  • Asking "why" about individual commit counts
  • Creating leaderboards or rankings
  • Setting commit quotas or targets
  • Using metrics in performance reviews without context
  • Monitoring in real-time
  • Comparing developers directly

Green Flags (Good Usage)

You're using this tool well if:

  • You check trends weekly/monthly, not daily
  • You ask "what does this tell us about our process?"
  • You use it to start conversations, not end them
  • You combine metrics with qualitative feedback
  • You focus on team health, not individual performance
  • You look for patterns, not outliers
  • You use it to help, not judge

Example Conversations

Good: Process Improvement

"I noticed auth.ts has been modified 25 times this month. 
That's unusual. Should we refactor it or is it just evolving?"

Good: Team Support

"The commit patterns show a lot of weekend work lately. 
Are we overloaded? Should we adjust sprint capacity?"

Good: Risk Management

"Only Sarah has touched the payment module in 6 months. 
Should we do some knowledge sharing sessions?"

Bad: Micromanagement

"You only committed 3 times this week. Everyone else did 10+. 
What's going on?"

Bad: Comparison

"Bob's velocity is 2x yours. Why aren't you keeping up?"

The Bottom Line

This tool is a mirror, not a microscope.

Use it to reflect on team health and process quality, not to scrutinize individual behavior.

If you're asking "is this micromanagement?" - you're probably safe. Micromanagers don't ask that question.

Remember: The best teams are built on trust, not metrics. Use this tool to support your team, not surveil them.