Introduce dev.cdeventsx.scm-branch.initialCommit as an Experimental CDEvent for DORA

[dsanyika]

To support DORA’s Lead Time for Change (LTC) metric, we need to track the first project commit on a repository branch. This should be distinguished from branch.created as not all workflows involve code changes be included when creating a branch and it should allow multiple projects be started on the same branch. LTC is developer focused and should be computed from the first code commit.

Since CDEvents lacks a change.committed event, we propose branch.initialCommit as an experimental event under CDEventsX to capture the first project commit in a branch. It is important to denote that the intent is for the developer to signal the start on a project (feature, fix, enhancement, etc.) that should be tracked for the LTC metric.

Proposed Event Definition:

Event Type:

dev.cdeventsx.scm-branch.initialCommit.0.4.1

{
  "context": {
    "version": "0.4.1",
    "id": "<UUID>",
    "source": "<SCM URL>",
    "type": "dev.cdeventsx.scm-branch.initialCommit.0.4.1",
    "timestamp": "<ISO8601>",
    "schemaUri": "https://cdeventsx.dev/schema/scm-branch-initialCommit.json",
    "chainId": "<Ticket-ID or Commit SHA>"
  },
  "subject": {
    "id": "<Commit SHA>",
    "source": "<SCM URL>",
    "type": "branch",
    "content": {
      "repository": "<Repo URL>",
      "branch": "<Branch Name>",
      "commitSha": "<Commit SHA>",
      "author": "<Author Name>",
      "message": "<Commit Message>"
    }
  },
  "customData": {
    "deployer": "SCM Hook"
  },
  "customDataContentType": "application/json"
}

Use Case:

DORA requires measuring LTC from the first commit to deployment.

• branch.initialCommit ensures the starting point compatible with LTC tracking.
• This enables event correlation between commits, pipelines, and deployments.

Impact:

• Provides an immediate experimental CDEvents solution for tracking LTC.
• Developers can emit branch.initialCommit with a post-commit hook.
• Allows SCM tools (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) to emit branch.initialCommit via a post-receive hook or push event.