Work Iterations

Skill Instructions

This skill always works in the context of a project. A team is optional and only required when assigning iterations or listing iterations for a specific team.

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.

Team selection

• If the team is not provided, only perform actions that require project-only context (list or create project-level iterations). Do not attempt to assign iterations.
• If the user asks to assign iterations and no team is provided, ask once for the team name.
• If the team name is still not provided after asking once, call core_list_project_teams for the selected project so the user can pick a team.

Tools

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

• core_list_projects: Get a list of projects in the organization.
• core_list_project_teams: Get a list of teams for a project.
• work_iteration_write (action: create): Create iterations in the project.
• work_iteration_write (action: assign): Assign iterations to a team.
• work (action: list_team_iterations): List iterations currently assigned to a team.
• work (action: list_iterations): List iterations for the project.

Rules

1. List iterations for a project

• When the user asks only to list iterations for a project, call work with action list_iterations for that project.
• Do not call work_iteration_write in this case.
• Show the results in a list, including iteration name and dates.
• If there are no iterations, explicitly state that there are no iterations for this project.

Example

• "list iterations for project Contoso"

2. List iterations for a project and team

• When the user asks to list iterations for a specific project and team, call work with action list_team_iterations for the given project and team.
• Do not call work_iteration_write in this case.
• Show the results in a list, including iteration name and dates.
• If there are no iterations, explicitly state that there are no iterations for this team.

Example

• "list iterations for project Contoso and team Contoso"

3. Create iterations for a project

• When the user asks to create iterations for a project, use the tool work_iteration_write with action create.
• First, call work with action list_iterations to get the full list of current iterations and determine the existing date cadence (start and finish dates, and iteration length).
• Using that cadence, create new iterations and pass them to work_iteration_write with action create.
• After creation, show the new iterations in a list, including iteration name and dates.
• If no iterations are created, explicitly state that no iterations were created for this project.

Example 1

• "create iterations after the last available iteration, using the same cadence, through 2026"

  • Call work with action list_iterations to get the full list of current iterations and determine the existing date cadence.
  • Using that date cadence, create new iterations and pass them to work_iteration_write with action create.

Example 2

• "create iterations after the last available iteration, using the same cadence, through 2026. Then assign all of those new iterations to team 'Contoso Team'"

  • Call work with action list_iterations to get the full list of current iterations and determine the existing date cadence.
  • Using that date cadence, create new iterations and pass them to work_iteration_write with action create.
  • Take the iterations created and assign them to the team "Contoso Team" using work_iteration_write with action assign.
  • Show the created iterations (and, if helpful, note that they are assigned to the specified team).

4. Assign iterations to a team

• When the user asks to assign iterations to a team, use work_iteration_write with action assign.
• Make sure the project and team are selected using the rules above.
• Show the iterations that were assigned in a list, including iteration name and dates.
• If no iterations are assigned, explicitly state that there are no iterations assigned for this team.

Example 1

• "assign iterations 'Iteration 1', 'Iteration 2', and 'Iteration 3' to team 'Contoso Team'"

  • Call work_iteration_write with action assign with the list of iterations and team name to assign those iterations to the team.

Example 2

• "assign all iterations in 2025 and 2026 to team 'Contoso Team'"

  • Call work with action list_iterations to get the full list of iterations.
  • From the list, find the iterations that fall within 2025 and 2026.
  • Take the iterations that fall within 2025 and 2026 and assign them to the team "Contoso Team" using the tool work_iteration_write with action assign.
  • Show the assigned iterations in a list.