Average PRs Merged Per Developer
Average PRs Merged Per Developer measures how many pull requests each developer merges over a given time period. It reflects delivery cadence and provides a lens into engineering throughput at the individual level, without evaluating performance in isolation.
Calculation
The metric is calculated by dividing the total number of merged pull requests by the number of contributing developers during a specific time window.
average PRs merged per developer = total merged PRs ÷ number of active developers
Teams typically use weekly or sprint-based time frames to monitor trends.
Goals
This metric helps teams monitor engineering rhythm and delivery patterns. It answers questions like:
- Are developers shipping small, frequent updates or larger, infrequent batches?
- Is delivery activity evenly distributed across the team?
- Are onboarding, context switching, or process issues affecting merge flow?
Tracking PRs per developer supports planning, hiring conversations, and workload balance, especially when paired with review and cycle time metrics.
Variations
This metric may also be referred to as PR Merge Rate, Merged PRs per Engineer, or Developer Throughput. Common segmentations include:
- By timeframe, such as weekly, biweekly, or per sprint
- By PR size, to distinguish small commits from large efforts
- By repo or service, to understand delivery across domains
- By role, to compare ICs, leads, or new hires
- By team or function, to analyze patterns at the group level
Some teams use Pull Request Frequency to track all submissions and Pull Request Size to add context about volume vs. complexity.
Limitations
This metric tracks output volume not quality, complexity, or context. A higher number of PRs doesn’t necessarily indicate higher contribution, nor does a lower number mean underperformance.
It also depends on consistent tagging and repo hygiene. Teams must account for bot merges, paired work, or small utility PRs that can skew averages.
To provide context, combine this metric with:
| Complementary Metric | Why It’s Relevant |
|---|---|
| Pull Request Size | Helps clarify whether developers are merging frequent, small PRs or infrequent, large ones |
| Review Latency | Highlights whether PR delays are affecting merge throughput |
| Cycle Time | Shows how long it takes for a PR to go from open to merged |
Optimization
Improving this metric focuses on making delivery smoother, not increasing output arbitrarily. It's about enabling developers to merge consistently with minimal friction.
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Encourage small, frequent PRs. Smaller changes reduce review load and move through the pipeline faster.
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Streamline the review process. Use Code Review Best Practices and automated checks to reduce waiting time.
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Balance team workload. Ensure no single engineer is bottlenecked by excessive review responsibilities or delivery dependencies.
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Use metrics for conversation, not judgment. Treat low merge rates as opportunities to investigate blockers, not performance indicators.
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Automate merge logistics. Apply CI/CD tools to reduce manual steps and enable cleaner delivery flow.
Average PRs Merged Per Developer is a directional indicator not a scoreboard. When tracked thoughtfully, it helps teams optimize delivery rhythm without compromising quality or team health.
