Pipelines Build Summary

Pipeline build summary

This skill works in the context of a project. A pipeline definition or build ID is optional and depends on what the user asks.

Project selection

• If the user provides a project name in their request (for example, "for Contoso"), use that project directly and do not call core_list_projects.
• If the user does not provide a project name, first ask the user once to provide the project name.
• If the project name is still not provided after asking once, call core_list_projects to return a list of projects the user can choose from.

Pipeline definition selection

• If the user provides a pipeline or definition name, use pipelines_definition with action list and a name filter to find it.
• If the user does not specify a pipeline and the request requires one (for example, "show recent builds"), ask the user once for the pipeline name.
• If the pipeline name is still not provided after asking once, call pipelines_definition with action list to list available definitions for the user to choose from.

Tools

Use Azure DevOps MCP Server tools for all interactions with Azure DevOps.

• core_list_projects: Get a list of projects in the organization.
• pipelines_definition (action: list): Get a list of build/pipeline definitions for a project.
• pipelines_build (action: list): Get a list of builds, optionally filtered by definition, branch, or status.
• pipelines_build (action: get_status): Get the status and result of a specific build by ID.
• pipelines_build_log (action: list): Get the list of logs for a specific build.
• pipelines_build_log (action: get_content): Get a specific log by log ID for a build (use to retrieve failed step logs).
• pipelines_build (action: get_changes): Get the commits/changes associated with a specific build.

Rules

1. List recent builds for a pipeline

• When the user asks to list builds or show recent builds for a pipeline, call pipelines_build with action list filtered by the definition ID.
• Optionally filter by branchName, statusFilter, or resultFilter if the user specifies (for example, "failed builds on main").
• Do not fetch logs or changes unless the user asks.
• Show the results in a table.
• If there are no builds, explicitly state that there are no builds for this pipeline.

Example

• "show recent builds for pipeline 'CI-Main' in project Contoso"

2. Get build status by ID

• When the user asks about a specific build (for example, "build 12345"), call pipelines_build with action get_status with that build ID.
• Show the build number, status, result, source branch, start/finish time, requested by, and definition name.
• If the build failed, suggest viewing the logs.

Example

• "what is the status of build 12345 in project Contoso?"

3. View logs for a failed build

• When the user asks to view logs or why a build failed, first call pipelines_build_log with action list to get the list of all log entries for the build.
• Identify failed steps from the log list (look for steps that indicate errors or failures).
• Call pipelines_build_log with action get_content for the relevant failed log entries to retrieve the actual log content.
• Present the log output in a code block so it is easy to read.
• Do not dump all logs. Focus on the failed steps and the last portion of each relevant log.

Example

• "show me the logs for build 12345 in project Contoso"
• "why did build 12345 fail?"

4. List changes for a build

• When the user asks to see what changed or list commits for a build, call pipelines_build with action get_changes with the build ID.
• Show the results in a table with commit ID, author, and message.
• If there are no changes, explicitly state that there are no changes associated with this build.

Example

• "what changes were in build 12345?"
• "list commits for build 12345 in project Contoso"

Display results

When displaying build lists, show the following in a table:

• Build ID as a clickable hyperlink in this format: [{buildId}](https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_build/results?buildId={buildId})
• Definition name
• Status (for example: completed, inProgress, cancelling, notStarted)
• Result (for example: succeeded, failed, canceled, partiallySucceeded) — use emoji: ✅ succeeded, ❌ failed, ⚠️ partiallySucceeded, 🚫 canceled
• Source branch
• Start time formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM
• Requested by (display name only)

When displaying a single build's status, show all the above fields plus:

• Finish time formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM
• Build number
• Duration (calculated from start and finish time)

When displaying changes, show in a table:

• Commit ID (short hash, first 8 characters)
• Author
• Message (first line only)
• Timestamp