Knowledge Risk

The Knowledge Risk screen provides a dedicated view of Bus Factor exposure across your repository. While the Dashboard surfaces Knowledge Risk as a single headline KPI, this screen breaks down the risk into actionable, developer-level and file-level detail — answering not just how much risk exists, but who carries it and where it lives.

All values are pre-computed by the backend. The screen performs no client-side aggregation.

KPI Cards

Three summary indicators are shown at the top of the screen.

Card	What it Measures	Trend
Files with Bus Factor 1	Percentage of all repository files where a single developer holds ≥ 80 % of commits.	Red = rising (more files becoming silos), Green = falling
Affected Modules	Number of modules that contain at least one silo file, out of the total number of modules.	Contextual denominator shown below the value
Sole Owners in Team	Number of distinct developers who are the dominant sole owner of one or more silo files.	Count of sole owners classified as “at risk” (high or critical) shown in red

Modules by Risk

Lists all modules that contain at least one silo file, sorted by severity. Modules classified as low risk (80–89 % single-author ownership) are hidden from this panel — only elevated and critical modules are shown.

Each row displays:

Module name with the dominant silo developer shown as a subtitle — the single developer who is the dominant owner across the most silo files in that module.
A risk bar proportional to the module’s risk score (silo ratio × 10, range 0–10).
A severity badge:
- critical — silo ratio ≥ 75 %
- elevated — silo ratio ≥ 25 %
- low — below 25 % (hidden from this panel)
The number of silo files in the module.

Tip

The dominant developer shown beneath the module name is the single most important target for knowledge transfer planning. If that developer leaves before a transfer occurs, the entire module’s silo files become effectively undocumented.

Key Persons — Exclusive Knowledge

Lists all developers who are classified as sole owners of at least one file. Each entry shows:

Avatar with initials and the developer’s full name.
File count — the number of silo files this developer owns exclusively.
Average ownership percentage — the mean commit share across all their silo files.
A status badge:
- at risk — risk level is high or critical (≥ 10 silo files, or ≥ 20 files for critical)
- watch — medium risk (3–9 silo files)
- stable — low risk (1–2 silo files)
Module tags — the modules in which this developer is the dominant owner, derived from the module silo data. These tags make it immediately visible which architectural areas depend on a single person’s knowledge.

Note

A developer appearing in this panel with several module tags and an at risk badge represents a single point of failure at the architectural level — not just in individual files. This is the pattern to escalate first when planning team changes or organizational restructuring.

Most At-Risk Files

Shows the eight files with the highest weighted knowledge risk, defined as:

weighted_risk = total_commits × ownership_pct

This formula prioritises files that are both heavily used and exclusively owned. A file touched 200 times by a single developer is far more operationally dangerous than a file touched once with 100 % ownership. Files classified as low risk (80–89 % ownership) are excluded from this panel.

Each row shows:

File name (truncated; hover for full path).
Silo developer, module, and total commit count as subtitle context.
Ownership percentage — the dominant developer’s commit share.
A risk badge:
- critical — 100 % ownership (no other developer has ever touched this file)
- high — 95–99 % ownership
- medium — 90–94 % ownership

Silo Ratio Over Time

A bar chart showing the cumulative silo ratio bucketed in 30-day intervals. Each bar represents the percentage of all repository files classified as knowledge silos as of that bucket’s end date.

Bar colours follow a three-band scale:

Green — ratio < 50 %: Knowledge is reasonably distributed.
Amber — ratio 50–74 %: Elevated concentration; monitor closely.
Red — ratio ≥ 75 %: Critical concentration; immediate action recommended.

The chart uses a cumulative (stock) logic: a file established as a silo two years ago remains counted in every subsequent bucket unless a second developer actively takes over ownership. This gives an honest, monotone view of accumulated knowledge risk rather than one that fluctuates with activity windows.

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Widget
`POST /api/v1/analysis/silos/modules`	Modules by Risk panel + module tags in Key Persons
`POST /api/v1/analysis/silos/developers`	Key Persons panel
`POST /api/v1/analysis/silos/files`	Most At-Risk Files panel
`POST /api/v1/analysis/silos/count`	Files with Bus Factor 1 KPI card (current value + trend)
`POST /api/v1/analysis/trends/overview`	Silo Ratio Over Time chart (`silo_ratio` series)

Relationship to the Dashboard

The Dashboard’s Knowledge Risk KPI card and Silo Ratio sparkline are derived from the same underlying data as this screen. The dashboard provides a one-number headline suitable for a weekly status review. The Knowledge Risk screen provides the supporting detail needed to act on that headline — identifying which modules to prioritise, which developers to involve in knowledge transfer, and which files carry the highest operational risk.

Navigate here from the sidebar whenever the Dashboard’s Knowledge Risk KPI is rising, or before any planned team change that involves a developer shown in the Key Persons panel.