---
stage: Plan
group: Optimize
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Insights for projects **(ULTIMATE)**

Configure project insights to explore data such as:

- Issues created and closed during a specified period.
- Average time for merge requests to be merged.
- Triage hygiene.

Insights are also available for [groups](../../group/insights/index.md).

## View project insights

Prerequisites:

- You must have:
  - Access to a project to view information about its merge requests and issues.
  - Permission to view confidential merge requests and issues in the project.

To view project insights:

1. On the top bar, select **Main menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Analytics > Insights**.
1. To view a report, select the **Select report** dropdown list.

## Configure project insights

Prerequisites:

- Depending on your project configuration, you must have at least the Developer role.

Project insights are configured with the [`.gitlab/insights.yml`](#insights-configuration-file) file in the project. If a project doesn't have a configuration file, it uses the [group configuration](../../group/insights/index.md#configure-group-insights).

The `.gitlab/insights.yml` file is a YAML file where you define:

- The structure and order of charts in a report.
- The style of charts displayed in the report of your project or group.

To configure project insights, either:

- Create a `.gitlab/insights.yml` file locally in the root directory of your project, and push your changes.
- Create a `.gitlab/insights.yml` file in the UI:
  1. On the top bar, select **Main menu > Projects** and find your project.
  1. Above the file list, select the branch you want to commit to, select the plus icon, then select **New file**.
  1. In the **File name** text box, enter `.gitlab/insights.yml`.
  1. In the large text box, update the file contents.
  1. Select **Commit changes**.

After you create the configuration file, you can also
[use it for the project's group](../../group/insights/index.md#configure-group-insights).

## Insights configuration file

In the `.gitlab/insights.yml` file:

- [Configuration parameters](#insights-configuration-parameters) define the chart behavior.
- Each report has a unique key and a collection of charts to fetch and display.
- Each chart definition is made up of a hash composed of key-value pairs.

The following example shows a single definition that displays one report with one chart.

```yaml
bugsCharts:
  title: "Charts for bugs"
  charts:
    - title: "Monthly bugs created"
      description: "Open bugs created per month"
      type: bar
      query:
        data_source: issuables
        params:
          issuable_type: issue
          issuable_state: opened
          filter_labels:
            - bug
          group_by: month
          period_limit: 24
```

## Insights configuration parameters

The following table lists the chart parameters:

| Keyword                                            | Description |
|:---------------------------------------------------|:------------|
| [`title`](#title)                                  | The title of the chart. This displays on the Insights page. |
| [`description`](#description)                      | A description for the individual chart. This displays above the relevant chart. |
| [`type`](#type)                                    | The type of chart: `bar`, `line` or `stacked-bar`. |
| [`query`](#query)                                  | A hash that defines the data source and filtering conditions for the chart. |

### `title`

Use `title` to update the chart title. The title displays on the insights report.

**Example:**

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
```

### `description`

Use `description` to add a description of the chart. The description displays above the chart, below the title.

**Example:**

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
  description: "Open bugs created per month"
```

### `type`

Use `type` to define the chart type.

**Supported values:**

| Name  | Example: |
| ----- | ------- |
| `bar` | ![Insights example bar chart](img/insights_example_bar_chart.png) |
| `bar` (time series, that is when `group_by` is used) | ![Insights example bar time series chart](img/insights_example_bar_time_series_chart.png) |
| `line` | ![Insights example stacked bar chart](img/insights_example_line_chart.png) |
| `stacked-bar` | ![Insights example stacked bar chart](img/insights_example_stacked_bar_chart.png) |

The `dora` data source supports the `bar` and `line` [chart types](#type).

**Example:**

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
  type: bar
```

### `query`

Use `query` to define the data source and filtering conditions for the chart.

**Example:**

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
  description: "Open bugs created per month"
  type: bar
  query:
    data_source: issuables
    params:
      issuable_type: issue
      issuable_state: opened
      filter_labels:
        - bug
      collection_labels:
        - S1
        - S2
        - S3
        - S4
      group_by: week
      period_limit: 104
```

The legacy format without the `data_source` parameter is still supported:

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
  description: "Open bugs created per month"
  type: bar
  query:
    issuable_type: issue
    issuable_state: opened
    filter_labels:
      - bug
    collection_labels:
      - S1
      - S2
      - S3
      - S4
    group_by: week
    period_limit: 104
```

#### `query.data_source`

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/725) in GitLab 15.3.

Use `data_source` to define the data source that exposes the data.

**Supported values:**

- `issuables`: Exposes merge request or issue data.
- `dora`: Exposes DORA metrics.

#### `issuable` query parameters

##### `query.params.issuable_type`

Use `query.params.issuable_type` to define the type of issuable to create a chart for.

**Supported values:**

- `issue`: The chart displays issues' data.
- `merge_request`: The chart displays merge requests' data.

##### `query.params.issuable_state`

Use `query.params.issuable_state` to filter by the current state of the queried issuable.

By default, the `opened` state filter is applied.

**Supported values:**

- `opened`: Open issues or merge requests.
- `closed`: Closed issues or merge requests.
- `locked`: Issues or merge requests that have their discussion locked.
- `merged`: Merged merge requests.
- `all`: Issues or merge requests in all states.

##### `query.params.filter_labels`

Use `query.params.filter_labels` to filter by labels applied to the queried issuable.

By default, no label filter is applied. All defined labels must
be applied to the issuable for it to be selected.

**Example:**:

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly regressions created"
  type: bar
  query:
    data_source: issuables
    params:
      issuable_type: issue
      issuable_state: opened
      filter_labels:
        - bug
        - regression
```

##### `query.params.collection_labels`

Use `query.params.collection_labels` to group issuables by the configured labels.
Grouping is not applied by default.

When using this parameter, you must
set `type` to `line` or `stacked-bar`.

**Example:**

```yaml
weeklyBugsBySeverity:
  title: "Weekly bugs by severity"
  type: stacked-bar
  query:
    data_source: issuables
    params:
      issuable_type: issue
      issuable_state: opened
      filter_labels:
        - bug
      collection_labels:
        - S1
        - S2
        - S3
        - S4
```

##### `query.group_by`

Use `query.group_by` to define the X-axis of the chart.

**Supported values:**

- `day`: Group data per day.
- `week`: Group data per week.
- `month`: Group data per month.

##### `query.period_limit`

Use `query.period_limit` to define how far back in time to query issuables (using the `query.period_field`).

The unit is related to the value defined in `query.group_by`. For example, if you
defined `query.group_by: 'day'`, and `query.period_limit: 365`, the chart displays data from the last 365 days.

By default, default values are applied depending on the `query.group_by`
you defined.

| `query.group_by` | Default value |
| ---------------- | ------------- |
| `day`            | 30            |
| `week`           | 4             |
| `month`          | 12            |

#### `query.period_field`

Use `query.period_field` to define the timestamp field by which to group issuables.

**Supported values:**

- `created_at` (default): Group data using the `created_at` field.
- `closed_at`: Group data using the `closed_at` field (for issues only).
- `merged_at`: Group data using the `merged_at` field (for merge requests only).

The `period_field` is automatically set to:

- `closed_at` if `query.issuable_state` is `closed`
- `merged_at` if `query.issuable_state` is `merged`
- `created_at` otherwise

NOTE:
Until [this bug](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/26911), is resolved,
you may see `created_at` in place of `merged_at`. `created_at` is used instead.

#### `DORA` query parameters

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/367248) in GitLab 15.3.

Use DORA-specific queries with the `dora` data source to create a DORA chart definition.

**Example:**

```yaml
dora:
  title: "DORA charts"
  charts:
    - title: "DORA deployment frequency"
      type: bar # or line
      query:
        data_source: dora
        params:
          metric: deployment_frequency
          group_by: day
          period_limit: 10
      projects:
        only:
          - 38
    - title: "DORA lead time for changes"
      description: "DORA lead time for changes"
      type: bar
      query:
        data_source: dora
        params:
          metric: lead_time_for_changes
          group_by: day
          environment_tiers:
            - staging
          period_limit: 30
```

##### `query.metric`

Use `query.metric` to define the [DORA metrics](../../../api/dora/metrics.md#the-value-field) to query.

**Supported values:**

- `deployment_frequency` (default)
- `lead_time_for_changes`
- `time_to_restore_service`
- `change_failure_rate`

##### `query.group_by`

Use `query.group_by` to define the X-axis of your chart.

**Supported values:**

- `day` (default): Group data per day.
- `month`: Group data per month.

##### `query.period_limit`

Use `query.period_limit` to define how far the metrics are queried in the past (default: 15). The maximum period is 180 days or 6 months.

##### `query.environment_tiers`

Use `query.environment_tiers` to define an array of environments to include the calculation.

**Supported values:**

- `production`(default)
- `staging`
- `testing`
- `development`
- `other`

### `projects`

Use `projects` to limit where issuables are queried from:

- If `.gitlab/insights.yml` is used for a [group's insights](../../group/insights/index.md#configure-group-insights), use `projects` to define the projects from which to query issuables. By default, all projects under the group are used.
- If `.gitlab/insights.yml` is used for a project's insights, specifying other projects does not yield results. By default, the project is used.

#### `projects.only`

Use `projects.only` to specify the projects from which issuables
are queried.

Projects listed in this parameter are ignored when:

- They don't exist.
- The current user doesn't have sufficient permissions to read them.
- They are outside the group.

**Example:**

```yaml
monthlyBugsCreated:
  title: "Monthly bugs created"
  description: "Open bugs created per month"
  type: bar
  query:
    data_source: issuables
    params:
      issuable_type: issue
      issuable_state: opened
      filter_labels:
        - bug
  projects:
    only:
      - 3                         # You can use the project ID
      - groupA/projectA           # Or full project path
      - groupA/subgroupB/projectC # Projects in subgroups can be included
      - groupB/project            # Projects outside the group will be ignored
```

## Complete insights configuration example

```yaml
.projectsOnly: &projectsOnly
  projects:
    only:
      - 3
      - groupA/projectA
      - groupA/subgroupB/projectC

bugsCharts:
  title: "Charts for bugs"
  charts:
    - title: "Monthly bugs created"
      description: "Open bugs created per month"
      type: bar
      <<: *projectsOnly
      query:
        data_source: issuables
        params:
          issuable_type: issue
          issuable_state: opened
          filter_labels:
            - bug
          group_by: month
          period_limit: 24

    - title: "Weekly bugs by severity"
      type: stacked-bar
      <<: *projectsOnly
      query:
        data_source: issuables
        params:
          issuable_type: issue
          issuable_state: opened
          filter_labels:
            - bug
          collection_labels:
            - S1
            - S2
            - S3
            - S4
          group_by: week
          period_limit: 104

    - title: "Monthly bugs by team"
      type: line
      <<: *projectsOnly
      query:
        data_source: issuables
        params:
          issuable_type: merge_request
          issuable_state: opened
          filter_labels:
            - bug
          collection_labels:
            - Manage
            - Plan
            - Create
          group_by: month
          period_limit: 24
```