Managing Azure Boards Deep

Managing Azure Boards (Deep)

Deep Azure Boards analysis covering work item health, sprint velocity, and backlog management via the Azure DevOps REST API.

Discovery Phase

#!/bin/bash
ADO_BASE="https://dev.azure.com/$ADO_ORG"

echo "=== Projects ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/_apis/projects?api-version=7.0" \
  | jq -r '.value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.state)\t\(.lastUpdateTime[0:10])"' | column -t

echo ""
PROJECT="${1:?Project name required}"
echo "=== Teams ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/teams?api-version=7.0" \
  | jq -r '.value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.description[0:40] // "")"' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Current Iteration ==="
TEAM="${2:-$PROJECT Team}"
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/$TEAM/_apis/work/teamsettings/iterations?\$timeframe=current&api-version=7.0" \
  | jq -r '.value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.attributes.startDate[0:10])\t\(.attributes.finishDate[0:10])"'

echo ""
echo "=== Work Item Types ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/workitemtypes?api-version=7.0" \
  | jq -r '.value[] | "\(.name)\t\(.description[0:50])"' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Area Paths ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/classificationnodes/areas?api-version=7.0&\$depth=2" \
  | jq -r '.name, (.children[]? | "  \(.name)")'

Analysis Phase

#!/bin/bash
ADO_BASE="https://dev.azure.com/$ADO_ORG"
PROJECT="${1:?Project required}"

echo "=== Work Item Counts by State ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/wiql?api-version=7.0" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "SELECT [System.Id] FROM workitems WHERE [System.TeamProject] = '"'$PROJECT'"' AND [System.State] <> '"'Removed'"' ORDER BY [System.ChangedDate] DESC"}' \
  | jq '{total_work_items: (.workItems | length)}'

for STATE in "New" "Active" "Resolved" "Closed"; do
  COUNT=$(curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
    "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/wiql?api-version=7.0" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"query\": \"SELECT [System.Id] FROM workitems WHERE [System.TeamProject] = '$PROJECT' AND [System.State] = '$STATE'\"}" \
    | jq '.workItems | length')
  echo -e "$STATE\t$COUNT"
done | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Unassigned Active Items ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/wiql?api-version=7.0" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"SELECT [System.Id] FROM workitems WHERE [System.TeamProject] = '$PROJECT' AND [System.State] = 'Active' AND [System.AssignedTo] = ''\"}" \
  | jq '{unassigned_active: (.workItems | length)}'

echo ""
echo "=== Sprint Burndown ==="
TEAM="${2:-$PROJECT Team}"
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/$TEAM/_apis/work/teamsettings/iterations?\$timeframe=current&api-version=7.0" \
  | jq -r '.value[0] | "Sprint: \(.name)\nStart: \(.attributes.startDate[0:10])\nEnd: \(.attributes.finishDate[0:10])"'

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Work Items ==="
curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" \
  "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/wiql?api-version=7.0" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"SELECT [System.Id],[System.Title],[System.State],[System.AssignedTo] FROM workitems WHERE [System.TeamProject] = '$PROJECT' ORDER BY [System.ChangedDate] DESC\"}" \
  | jq -r '.workItems[:15][] | "\(.id)"' | while read ID; do
    curl -s -u ":$ADO_PAT" "$ADO_BASE/$PROJECT/_apis/wit/workitems/$ID?fields=System.Title,System.State,System.WorkItemType&api-version=7.0" \
    | jq -r '"\(.id)\t\(.fields["System.WorkItemType"])\t\(.fields["System.State"])\t\(.fields["System.Title"][0:40])"'
  done | column -t

Output Format

AZURE BOARDS DEEP HEALTH: [Project]
Total Work Items:  [count]
Active Items:      [count]
Unassigned Active: [count]
Current Sprint:    [name] ([start] - [end])

STATE DISTRIBUTION
State            Count   Pct
New              [n]     [pct]%
Active           [n]     [pct]%
Resolved         [n]     [pct]%
Closed           [n]     [pct]%

SPRINT VELOCITY (Last 3)
Sprint           Completed  Committed  Velocity
[name]           [n]pts     [n]pts     [pct]%

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