#### Problem Statement
Current repository metrics (`latency`, `throughput`) suffer from **survivorship bias**: they only sample the last 100 *closed* items, making the repository appear healthier than it is. Meanwhile, a stable backlog of **2342 open issues** and **442 open PRs** persists, largely due to "staleness immunity" for `help wanted` items and throttling in the standard stale workflow.
#### Changes
1. **New Metric: Backlog Age**: Added `tools/gemini-cli-bot/metrics/scripts/backlog_age.ts` to measure the median age of the oldest 100 open issues and PRs. This exposes the "Slow Path" bottleneck that was previously invisible.
2. **Stale Policy Throttling Fix**: Increased `operations-per-run` from 30 (default) to 200 in `.github/workflows/stale.yml` to allow the daily cron to actually make progress on the large backlog.
3. **Help-Wanted Expiration**: Updated `gemini-scheduled-stale-issue-closer.yml` to remove the infinite exemption for `help wanted` issues. They are now eligible for stale closure if they are older than 180 days and have no recent human activity.
#### Expected Impact
- **Visibility**: The new `backlog_age` metrics will likely show high values initially, providing a baseline for backlog reduction efforts.
- **Efficiency**: Throttling fix will increase the rate of stale item closure.
- **Backlog Reduction**: The 6-month expiration for `help wanted` will finally address legacy "immortal" issues that have been bloating the backlog for years.
This is a surgical PR focused on repository health and metric accuracy.
gemini-cli[bot]