> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.hivel.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.hivel.ai/using-hivel/cockpit/metrics-and-definitions/dora-metrics-in-hivel/delivery-lead-time.md).

# Delivery Lead Time

The elapsed time from code commit to production deployment

**Definition: Cycle time + Deploy time (CI/CD pipeline execution)**

Delivery Lead Time (also called Lead Time for Changes) measures how quickly code moves from development to production. It answers: "How long does it take a change to reach users from the moment the commit is made?"

A shorter lead time indicates faster delivery and faster feedback loops; a longer lead time suggests either slower development cycles or slower deployment pipelines.

#### The Two Components

| Start                                 | Development Phase                                                             | Automation Phase                                                                          | End                                      |
| ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Change is committed to the repository | Time from commit through pull request review and merge to main/release branch | Time spent in CI/CD pipeline (tests, builds, validations, staging, production deployment) | Code successfully deployed to production |

####  **Lead Time = Cycle Time + Deploy Time**

#### How Data Is Collected

Hivel calculates Delivery Lead Time by connecting to your CI/CD platform and repository through the **Deployment API**:

* Retrieves commit timestamps from your repository
* Identifies when commits were merged to the release branch (cycle time)
* Captures CI/CD pipeline start and completion times (deploy time)
* Calculates the total elapsed time from commit to production deployment
* Aggregates metrics across all deployments