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The GitHub integration is the foundation of Periscope’s PR analytics. By installing the Periscope GitHub App on your organization, you enable automatic capture of pull request merge events, which powers SPACE metrics, service health tracking, and contributor activity analysis.

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What it captures

When a pull request is merged in a monitored repository, Periscope records:
DataDescription
PR metadataNumber, title, URL, branch
Author and mergerGitHub login and display name for both
TimestampsCreated at, merged at (for cycle time calculation)
SizeAdditions, deletions, changed files
Merge commit SHAUsed to link PRs to deployments for lead time
Periscope only captures PR merge events going forward from the moment you connect. Historical PR data is not backfilled.

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Setup

1

Install the GitHub App

Go to Settings > Connections in the Periscope dashboard and click Connect GitHub. This redirects you to GitHub to install the Periscope GitHub App on your organization.You can install it with access to:
  • All repositories — Periscope can see all repos (you still choose which to monitor)
  • Selected repositories — limit access to specific repos
2

Select repositories to monitor

After installation, go to Settings > Repositories. You will see all repositories the GitHub App has access to. Toggle the Monitored switch for each repository you want Periscope to track.Only monitored repositories contribute to your metrics. You can change this at any time.
3

Verify the connection

Merge a pull request in one of your monitored repositories. Within seconds, it should appear in the Insights dashboard. If you do not see it, check that:
  • The repository is toggled on in Settings > Repositories
  • The GitHub App has access to the repository
  • The PR was actually merged (not just closed)

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Permissions

The Periscope GitHub App requests these permissions:
  • Pull requests (read) — to receive PR merge events
  • Contents (read) — to access commit SHAs for deployment linking
  • Metadata (read) — to list repositories

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Service matching

When deployment events include a service field, Periscope matches it against your repositories to correlate deployment data with PR activity. It tries:
  1. Exact repository name match (e.g., service: "api-gateway")
  2. Full name match (e.g., service: "org/api-gateway")
  3. Case-insensitive match as a fallback
This is what enables per-service metrics like lead time to combine PR and deployment data.

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What the integration enables

FeatureRequires GitHubRequires deployments
PR cycle timeYesNo
ThroughputYesNo
Contributor activityYesNo
Service healthYesNo
Risk signalsYesNo
Deployment frequencyNoYes
Lead time for changesYesYes
Change failure rateNoYes
Mean time to recoveryNoYes
GitHub alone gives you the full SPACE metrics suite. Adding deployment data unlocks DORA metrics and the connection between PR activity and production delivery.

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Managing the installation

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Adding or removing repositories

Go to your GitHub organization’s Installed GitHub Apps settings to change which repositories the Periscope app can access. Then go to Settings > Repositories in Periscope to toggle monitoring on or off.

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Disconnecting

To remove the integration entirely, uninstall the Periscope GitHub App from your GitHub organization settings. This stops all webhook events. Existing data in Periscope is retained.

Deployment webhook

Add deployment data to unlock DORA metrics alongside your GitHub PR data.

SPACE metrics

Learn what GitHub data powers in the SPACE framework.