Managing Azure Devops

Azure DevOps Management Skill

Manage and monitor Azure DevOps pipelines, boards, repos, artifacts, and test plans.

Core Helper Functions

#!/bin/bash

# Azure DevOps REST API helper
azdo_api() {
    local method="${1:-GET}"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"
    local api_version="${4:-7.1}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -u ":${AZDO_PAT}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}/${AZDO_PROJECT}/_apis/${endpoint}?api-version=${api_version}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -u ":${AZDO_PAT}" \
            "https://dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}/${AZDO_PROJECT}/_apis/${endpoint}?api-version=${api_version}"
    fi
}

# Azure DevOps CLI wrapper
az_devops() {
    az devops "$@" --organization "https://dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}" --project "$AZDO_PROJECT" 2>/dev/null
}

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover projects, pipelines, and repos before querying specifics.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Organization Projects ==="
curl -s -u ":${AZDO_PAT}" \
    "https://dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}/_apis/projects?api-version=7.1" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.state)\t\(.lastUpdateTime[0:10])"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Pipelines ==="
azdo_api GET "pipelines" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.folder // "/")"
' | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Repositories ==="
azdo_api GET "git/repositories" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.id[0:8])\t\(.name)\t\(.defaultBranch // "none")\t\(.size // 0 | . / 1048576 | floor)MB"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Builds ==="
azdo_api GET "build/builds?\$top=15&queryOrder=finishTimeDescending" | jq -r '
    .value[] |
    "\(.definition.name)\t#\(.buildNumber)\t\(.result // .status)\t\(.sourceBranch | sub("refs/heads/"; ""))\t\(.finishTime[0:16] // "running")"
' | column -t

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Target 50 lines per output
• Use $top, $skip, and $filter OData parameters for server-side filtering
• Never dump full build logs — use timeline API for step-level data

Common Operations

Pipeline Run Dashboard

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Pipeline Run Summary ==="
azdo_api GET "build/builds?\$top=50" | jq '{
    total: (.value | length),
    succeeded: [.value[] | select(.result == "succeeded")] | length,
    failed: [.value[] | select(.result == "failed")] | length,
    canceled: [.value[] | select(.result == "canceled")] | length,
    in_progress: [.value[] | select(.status == "inProgress")] | length
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Failed Builds ==="
azdo_api GET "build/builds?\$top=10&resultFilter=failed&queryOrder=finishTimeDescending" | jq -r '
    .value[] |
    "\(.definition.name)\t#\(.buildNumber)\t\(.sourceBranch | sub("refs/heads/"; ""))\t\(.finishTime[0:16])\t\(.requestedFor.displayName)"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Build Timeline (steps) ==="
BUILD_ID="${1:-}"
if [ -n "$BUILD_ID" ]; then
    azdo_api GET "build/builds/${BUILD_ID}/timeline" | jq -r '
        .records[] | select(.type == "Task") |
        "\(.name)\t\(.result // .state)\t\(.issues | length) issues"
    ' | column -t | head -20
fi

Work Item Tracking (Boards)

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Active Work Items ==="
WIQL='{"query": "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title], [System.State], [System.AssignedTo] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.TeamProject] = @project AND [System.State] <> '''Closed''' ORDER BY [System.ChangedDate] DESC"}'
azdo_api POST "wit/wiql" "$WIQL" | jq -r '
    .workItems[:20][] | "\(.id)"
' | while read id; do
    azdo_api GET "wit/workitems/${id}?\$expand=relations" | jq -r '
        "\(.id)\t\(.fields["System.WorkItemType"])\t\(.fields["System.State"])\t\(.fields["System.Title"][0:50])\t\(.fields["System.AssignedTo"].displayName // "unassigned")"
    '
done | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Sprint Summary ==="
azdo_api GET "work/teamsettings/iterations?\$timeframe=current" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.name)\t\(.attributes.startDate[0:10]) to \(.attributes.finishDate[0:10])\t\(.path)"
'

Repository Management

#!/bin/bash
REPO_NAME="${1:?Repo name required}"
REPO_ID=$(azdo_api GET "git/repositories" | jq -r ".value[] | select(.name == \"${REPO_NAME}\") | .id")

echo "=== Repository Info ==="
azdo_api GET "git/repositories/${REPO_ID}" | jq '{name, defaultBranch, size, remoteUrl, webUrl}'

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Commits ==="
azdo_api GET "git/repositories/${REPO_ID}/commits?\$top=10" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.commitId[0:8])\t\(.author.name)\t\(.author.date[0:16])\t\(.comment[0:60])"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Active Pull Requests ==="
azdo_api GET "git/repositories/${REPO_ID}/pullrequests?searchCriteria.status=active" | jq -r '
    .value[] |
    "PR#\(.pullRequestId)\t\(.title[0:40])\t\(.createdBy.displayName)\t\(.sourceRefName | sub("refs/heads/"; ""))"
' | column -t

Artifact Feed Management

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Artifact Feeds ==="
curl -s -u ":${AZDO_PAT}" \
    "https://feeds.dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}/${AZDO_PROJECT}/_apis/packaging/feeds?api-version=7.1" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.id[0:8])\t\(.name)\t\(.fullyQualifiedName)\tpackages=\(.totalUniquePackages // 0)"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Feed Packages ==="
FEED_NAME="${1:?Feed name required}"
curl -s -u ":${AZDO_PAT}" \
    "https://feeds.dev.azure.com/${AZDO_ORG}/${AZDO_PROJECT}/_apis/packaging/feeds/${FEED_NAME}/packages?\$top=20&api-version=7.1" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.name)\t\(.protocolType)\tversions=\(.versions | length)\tlatest=\(.versions[0].version // "none")"
' | column -t

Test Plans

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Test Plans ==="
azdo_api GET "testplan/plans" | jq -r '
    .value[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.state)\towner=\(.owner.displayName // "unassigned")"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Test Runs ==="
azdo_api GET "test/runs?\$top=10" | jq -r '
    .value[] |
    "\(.id)\t\(.name[0:30])\t\(.state)\ttotal=\(.totalTests)\tpassed=\(.passedTests)\tfailed=\(.unanalyzedTests)"
' | column -t

Anti-Hallucination Rules

• NEVER guess project names or pipeline IDs — always discover via API
• NEVER fabricate work item IDs — use WIQL queries to find them
• NEVER assume repository GUIDs — look up by name first
• API versions vary by endpoint — always specify api-version

Safety Rules

• NEVER trigger pipeline runs without explicit user confirmation
• NEVER modify work items without user approval
• NEVER delete branches or repositories without confirming
• NEVER expose variable group secrets — API masks them by default

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Azure Devops 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.

Counter-Rationalizations

Common Pitfalls

• API URL structure: Different services use different base URLs (dev.azure.com, feeds.dev.azure.com, vsrm.dev.azure.com)
• PAT scopes: PATs need specific scopes — a pipeline PAT may not access boards
• OData filtering: Use $filter, $top, $skip for efficient queries — not all endpoints support all operators
• Branch refs: Azure DevOps uses full refs (refs/heads/main) — strip prefix for display
• Classic vs YAML: Classic pipelines use release definitions; YAML pipelines use multi-stage — different APIs
• Service connections: Required for external integrations — check with serviceendpoint/endpoints API