Azure DevOps Boards Skill

Manage and analyze Azure DevOps Boards using az boards and az devops CLI commands.

Discovery-First Rule

ALWAYS discover before acting. Never assume project names, team names, iteration paths, or work item IDs.

# Set default organization
az devops configure --defaults organization="$ORG_URL"

# Discover projects
az devops project list --output json --query "value[].{name:name, id:id, state:state}"

# Discover teams in a project
az devops team list --project "$PROJECT" --output json --query "[].{name:name, id:id}"

Parallel Execution Requirement

ALL independent operations MUST run in parallel using background jobs (&) and wait.

for project in $(echo "$projects" | jq -c '.[]'); do
  {
    name=$(echo "$project" | jq -r '.name')
    az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.TeamProject]='$name' AND [System.State]='Active'" --project "$name" --output json
  } &
done
wait

Helper Functions

# Query work items with WIQL
query_work_items() {
  local project="$1" wiql="$2"
  az boards query --wiql "$wiql" --project "$project" --output json
}

# Get work item details
get_work_item() {
  local id="$1"
  az boards work-item show --id "$id" --output json \
    --query "{id:id, title:fields.\"System.Title\", state:fields.\"System.State\", type:fields.\"System.WorkItemType\", assignedTo:fields.\"System.AssignedTo\".displayName, priority:fields.\"Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority\", storyPoints:fields.\"Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints\", iteration:fields.\"System.IterationPath\"}"
}

# List iterations (sprints)
list_iterations() {
  local project="$1" team="$2"
  az boards iteration team list --project "$project" --team "$team" --output json \
    --query "[].{name:name, path:path, startDate:attributes.startDate, finishDate:attributes.finishDate, timeFrame:attributes.timeFrame}"
}

# Get iteration work items
get_iteration_items() {
  local project="$1" iteration="$2"
  az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title],[System.State],[System.AssignedTo],[Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.TeamProject]='$project' AND [System.IterationPath]='$iteration'" --project "$project" --output json
}

Common Operations

1. Sprint Status Overview

# Get current sprint work items
current_iteration=$(az boards iteration team list --project "$PROJECT" --team "$TEAM" --output json \
  --query "[?attributes.timeFrame=='current'] | [0].path" -o tsv)

az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title],[System.State],[System.AssignedTo],[Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints],[System.WorkItemType] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.IterationPath]='$current_iteration' ORDER BY [System.State]" \
  --project "$PROJECT" --output json

2. Burndown Analysis

# Get sprint scope and completion
az boards query --wiql "
  SELECT [System.Id],[System.State],[Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints]
  FROM WorkItems
  WHERE [System.IterationPath]='$ITERATION'
  AND [System.WorkItemType] IN ('User Story','Bug')
" --project "$PROJECT" --output json

# Summarize by state
# Parse results to calculate: Total points, Completed points, Remaining points, In Progress points

3. Backlog Health

# Unassigned items in backlog
az boards query --wiql "
  SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title],[System.WorkItemType],[Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority]
  FROM WorkItems
  WHERE [System.TeamProject]='$PROJECT'
  AND [System.State]='New'
  AND [System.AssignedTo]=''
  ORDER BY [Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority]
" --project "$PROJECT" --output json

# Items without estimates
az boards query --wiql "
  SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title]
  FROM WorkItems
  WHERE [System.TeamProject]='$PROJECT'
  AND [System.WorkItemType]='User Story'
  AND [Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints]=''
  AND [System.State] NOT IN ('Closed','Removed')
" --project "$PROJECT" --output json

4. Team Velocity

# Get completed story points per iteration
iterations=$(az boards iteration team list --project "$PROJECT" --team "$TEAM" --output json \
  --query "[?attributes.timeFrame=='past'] | [-3:]")
for iter in $(echo "$iterations" | jq -c '.[]'); do
  {
    path=$(echo "$iter" | jq -r '.path')
    echo "Sprint: $path"
    az boards query --wiql "SELECT [Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.IterationPath]='$path' AND [System.State]='Closed' AND [System.WorkItemType]='User Story'" --project "$PROJECT" --output json
  } &
done
wait

5. Work Item Aging

# Find old items still in active state
az boards query --wiql "
  SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title],[System.CreatedDate],[System.State],[System.AssignedTo]
  FROM WorkItems
  WHERE [System.TeamProject]='$PROJECT'
  AND [System.State] IN ('Active','New')
  AND [System.CreatedDate] < @Today-30
  ORDER BY [System.CreatedDate]
" --project "$PROJECT" --output json

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Azure Devops Boards Report
══════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

1. WIQL syntax: WIQL uses single quotes for string values, not double quotes. Field names with dots must be in square brackets.
2. Organization default: Always set az devops configure --defaults organization= before running commands.
3. Story Points field: The field name varies by process template -- Agile uses Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints, Scrum uses Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.Effort.
4. Iteration paths: Iteration paths include the project name prefix (e.g., Project\Sprint 1). Use the full path from discovery.
5. Query limits: WIQL queries return a max of 200 work items by default. Use --top parameter for larger result sets.