Choose how GitHub shapes effort

With GitHub connected, code can shape the weekly effort estimate as well as Engineering insights. Two switches decide how. Agree them with your Finance lead, because they change where cost lands.

You need to be a Flowstate admin who can manage integrations, and GitHub must be connected with contributors matched. See Connect GitHub.

Change the switches

1. Go to Settings → Integrations and open GitHub.
2. Open the Effort blend step.
3. Turn Blend GitHub into effort or Commit-timestamp attribution on or off.

The change shows in the weekly effort report from the next daily update. Weeks already submitted don't change, and nor do cells a team lead has edited.

What each switch does

	Blend GitHub into effort	Commit-timestamp attribution
Default	On	Off
On a day with code	The person's commits and pull requests shape how their day is shared across projects.	Each commit's timestamp shapes the person's day.
Which code counts	Only code linked to a ticket.	All code, including code with no ticket. Code Flowstate can't place on a project shows as Unattributed.
On a day with no code	Ticket activity fills the day.	Ticket activity fills the day.

Turning Blend GitHub into effort off keeps GitHub in Engineering insights, but effort goes back to ticket activity alone.

Commit-timestamp attribution changes your CapEx and R&D figures

It changes effort, and so the cost that lands on each project, including cost moving onto or off CapEx projects. Agree it with your Finance lead, and ideally turn it on at the start of a period.

When to use each

Leave Blend GitHub into effort on when your pull requests mention tickets (Linear or Azure DevOps). Code activity gives a more precise picture than ticket statuses alone, and code with no ticket is ignored, so it can't pull effort onto the wrong project.

Turn it off if your ticket statuses are kept carefully and code activity would mislead — for example, when people commit in batches long after doing the work.

Turn Commit-timestamp attribution on when a lot of real work has no ticket, and you'd rather see that work, even as unattributed, than miss it. Before you do:

1. Agree it with your Finance lead.
2. Check contributors are matched, so code lands on the right people.
3. Check your pull requests are tied to tickets or projects, so less of the day lands in Unattributed.

Leave it off if you use Jira. Pull requests aren't tied to Jira tickets automatically, so more of each day would land in Unattributed.

What team leads see

• Rows built from code are tagged GitHub activity or Tickets + GitHub.
• Show tickets on a row shows the pull requests and commits behind it. Work written by an agent is marked Agent, and counts towards the day of the person who ran it.
• Code that can't be placed on a project appears under Pull requests and commits not linked to any project in Unattributed. See Fix unattributed effort.

If something's not right

Code isn't changing anyone's effort. The contributor isn't matched, Blend GitHub into effort is off, or the code isn't linked to a ticket.

Unattributed jumped after turning on commit-timestamp attribution. Work with no ticket now shows up. Tie pull requests to tickets, or link them to projects. See Link pull requests to tickets.

Someone's day moved to a different project after connecting GitHub. On days with code, code activity shapes the split. The team lead can check the code behind the row and correct the week before submitting.