Use commit author date for heatmap instead of push date

When commits are made locally over multiple days and then pushed at once,
the contribution heatmap now displays them on their actual author dates
rather than the push date.

Changes:
- Add OriginalUnix field to Action model to store the original content timestamp
- Set OriginalUnix to the earliest commit author date when creating push actions
- Update heatmap query to use COALESCE(original_unix, created_unix)
- Add database migration for the new column

Fixes #14051

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

Author: fjamesprice

models/activities/action.go

@@ -145,9 +145,10 @@ type Action struct {
 	Issue       *issues_model.Issue    `xorm:"-"` // get the issue id from content
 	IsDeleted   bool                   `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT false"`
 	RefName     string
-	IsPrivate   bool               `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT false"`
-	Content     string             `xorm:"TEXT"`
-	CreatedUnix timeutil.TimeStamp `xorm:"created"`
+	IsPrivate    bool               `xorm:"NOT NULL DEFAULT false"`
+	Content      string             `xorm:"TEXT"`
+	CreatedUnix  timeutil.TimeStamp `xorm:"created"`
+	OriginalUnix timeutil.TimeStamp `xorm:"INDEX"` // Original timestamp for the content (e.g., commit author date for push actions)
 }
 
 func init() {

models/activities/user_heatmap.go

@@ -38,11 +38,13 @@ func getUserHeatmapData(ctx context.Context, user *user_model.User, team *organi
 
 	// Group by 15 minute intervals which will allow the client to accurately shift the timestamp to their timezone.
 	// The interval is based on the fact that there are timezones such as UTC +5:30 and UTC +12:45.
-	groupBy := "created_unix / 900 * 900"
+	// Use original_unix if available (for commit actions, this is the commit author date),
+	// otherwise fall back to created_unix (the push/action timestamp).
+	groupBy := "COALESCE(NULLIF(original_unix, 0), created_unix) / 900 * 900"
 	groupByName := "timestamp" // We need this extra case because mssql doesn't allow grouping by alias
 	switch {
 	case setting.Database.Type.IsMySQL():
-		groupBy = "created_unix DIV 900 * 900"
+		groupBy = "COALESCE(NULLIF(original_unix, 0), created_unix) DIV 900 * 900"
 	case setting.Database.Type.IsMSSQL():
 		groupByName = groupBy
 	}

models/migrations/migrations.go

@@ -400,6 +400,7 @@ func prepareMigrationTasks() []*migration {
 		newMigration(323, "Add support for actions concurrency", v1_26.AddActionsConcurrency),
 		newMigration(324, "Fix closed milestone completeness for milestones with no issues", v1_26.FixClosedMilestoneCompleteness),
 		newMigration(325, "Fix missed repo_id when migrate attachments", v1_26.FixMissedRepoIDWhenMigrateAttachments),
+		newMigration(326, "Add original_unix to action for heatmap commit dates", v1_26.AddOriginalUnixToAction),
 	}
 	return preparedMigrations
 }

models/migrations/v1_26/v326.go

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package v1_26
+
+import (
+	"xorm.io/xorm"
+)
+
+// AddOriginalUnixToAction adds original_unix column to action table
+// for storing the original timestamp of content (e.g., commit author date).
+// This allows the heatmap to display commits on their actual dates
+// rather than the push date.
+func AddOriginalUnixToAction(x *xorm.Engine) error {
+	type Action struct {
+		OriginalUnix int64 `xorm:"INDEX"`
+	}
+
+	return x.Sync(new(Action))
+}

services/feed/notifier.go

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/json"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/log"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/repository"
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/timeutil"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/util"
 	notify_service "code.gitea.io/gitea/services/notify"
 )
@@ -337,15 +338,29 @@ func (a *actionNotifier) PushCommits(ctx context.Context, pusher *user_model.Use
 		opType = activities_model.ActionDeleteBranch
 	}
 
+	// Find the earliest commit timestamp to use as the original timestamp for the heatmap.
+	// This ensures commits show up on their actual author date, not the push date.
+	var originalUnix timeutil.TimeStamp
+	if len(commits.Commits) > 0 {
+		earliest := commits.Commits[0].Timestamp
+		for _, commit := range commits.Commits[1:] {
+			if commit.Timestamp.Before(earliest) {
+				earliest = commit.Timestamp
+			}
+		}
+		originalUnix = timeutil.TimeStamp(earliest.Unix())
+	}
+
 	if err = NotifyWatchers(ctx, &activities_model.Action{
-		ActUserID: pusher.ID,
-		ActUser:   pusher,
-		OpType:    opType,
-		Content:   string(data),
-		RepoID:    repo.ID,
-		Repo:      repo,
-		RefName:   opts.RefFullName.String(),
-		IsPrivate: repo.IsPrivate,
+		ActUserID:    pusher.ID,
+		ActUser:      pusher,
+		OpType:       opType,
+		Content:      string(data),
+		RepoID:       repo.ID,
+		Repo:         repo,
+		RefName:      opts.RefFullName.String(),
+		IsPrivate:    repo.IsPrivate,
+		OriginalUnix: originalUnix,
 	}); err != nil {
 		log.Error("NotifyWatchers: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -402,15 +417,28 @@ func (a *actionNotifier) SyncPushCommits(ctx context.Context, pusher *user_model
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Find the earliest commit timestamp to use as the original timestamp for the heatmap.
+	var originalUnix timeutil.TimeStamp
+	if len(commits.Commits) > 0 {
+		earliest := commits.Commits[0].Timestamp
+		for _, commit := range commits.Commits[1:] {
+			if commit.Timestamp.Before(earliest) {
+				earliest = commit.Timestamp
+			}
+		}
+		originalUnix = timeutil.TimeStamp(earliest.Unix())
+	}
+
 	if err := NotifyWatchers(ctx, &activities_model.Action{
-		ActUserID: repo.OwnerID,
-		ActUser:   repo.MustOwner(ctx),
-		OpType:    activities_model.ActionMirrorSyncPush,
-		RepoID:    repo.ID,
-		Repo:      repo,
-		IsPrivate: repo.IsPrivate,
-		RefName:   opts.RefFullName.String(),
-		Content:   string(data),
+		ActUserID:    repo.OwnerID,
+		ActUser:      repo.MustOwner(ctx),
+		OpType:       activities_model.ActionMirrorSyncPush,
+		RepoID:       repo.ID,
+		Repo:         repo,
+		IsPrivate:    repo.IsPrivate,
+		RefName:      opts.RefFullName.String(),
+		Content:      string(data),
+		OriginalUnix: originalUnix,
 	}); err != nil {
 		log.Error("NotifyWatchers: %v", err)
 	}