Azure DevOps CLI Skill

Quick Start

Installation & Authentication

Install Azure DevOps CLI extension

az extension add --name azure-devops

Authenticate (choose one method)

az login # Interactive browser login az devops login --organization https://dev.azure.com/YOUR_ORG # PAT token login

Configure defaults (recommended)

az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/YOUR_ORG project=YOUR_PROJECT

Verify setup

az devops project list

Configuration Patterns

Set defaults to avoid repeating --organization and --project

az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/myorg project=myproject

List current configuration

az devops configure --list

Use Git aliases for common commands

az devops configure --defaults use-git-aliases=true

Common output formats

--output table # Human-readable tables (default) --output json # JSON for scripting --output tsv # Tab-separated values

Essential Commands by Group

1. DevOps (Organization & Projects)

List projects

az devops project list --organization https://dev.azure.com/myorg

Create project

az devops project create --name "MyProject" --visibility private

Show project details

az devops project show --project MyProject

Delete project

az devops project delete --id PROJECT_ID --yes

Manage users/teams

az devops user list az devops team list --project MyProject

2. Pipelines (Build & Release)

List pipelines

az pipelines list --project MyProject

Run a pipeline

az pipelines run --name "MyPipeline" --branch main

Show pipeline runs

az pipelines runs list --pipeline-ids 123

Show run details

az pipelines runs show --id RUN_ID

Create pipeline from YAML

az pipelines create --name "NewPipeline" --repository myrepo --branch main --yml-path azure-pipelines.yml

3. Boards (Work Items & Sprints)

List work items

az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.State] = 'Active'"

Create work item

az boards work-item create --type "User Story" --title "New Feature" --assigned-to me@example.com

Update work item

az boards work-item update --id 123 --state "In Progress"

Show work item

az boards work-item show --id 123

List iterations/sprints

az boards iteration project list

4. Repos (Git Repositories)

List repositories

az repos list --project MyProject

Create repository

az repos create --name "myrepo" --project MyProject

List pull requests

az repos pr list --repository myrepo --status active

Create pull request

az repos pr create --repository myrepo --source-branch feature/new --target-branch main --title "New Feature"

Show PR details

az repos pr show --id PR_ID

5. Artifacts (Package Management)

List feeds

az artifacts feed list

Create feed

az artifacts feed create --name "myfeed" --project MyProject

List packages

az artifacts universal list --feed myfeed --project MyProject

Publish package

az artifacts universal publish --feed myfeed --name mypackage --version 1.0.0 --path ./dist

Download package

az artifacts universal download --feed myfeed --name mypackage --version 1.0.0 --path ./download

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: CI/CD Pipeline Automation

Create pipeline, run it, and monitor

az pipelines create --name "API-Build" --repository myrepo --yml-path ci/azure-pipelines.yml az pipelines run --name "API-Build" --branch main az pipelines runs show --id RUN_ID --open # Opens in browser

Workflow 2: Pull Request Review Automation

List active PRs, show details, add comment

az repos pr list --repository myrepo --status active --output table az repos pr show --id 456 --open az repos pr update --id 456 --status approved

Workflow 3: Work Item Batch Creation

Create multiple work items from template

for title in "Feature A" "Feature B" "Feature C"; do az boards work-item create --type "User Story" --title "$title" --assigned-to team@example.com done

Workflow 4: Pipeline Status Dashboard

Get recent pipeline runs with status

az pipelines runs list --top 10 --query "[].{Name:pipeline.name, Status:status, Result:result, Started:startTime}" --output table

Workflow 5: Repository Clone Automation

List all repos and clone them

az repos list --query "[].{Name:name, URL:remoteUrl}" --output tsv | while IFS=$'\t' read -r name url; do git clone "$url" "./$name" done

Workflow 6: Sprint Planning Helper

List current sprint work items

az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title], [System.State] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.IterationPath] = @CurrentIteration" --output table

Workflow 7: Release Gate Checking

Check if all PRs are approved before release

PENDING=$(az repos pr list --status active --query "length([?status!='approved'])") if [ "$PENDING" -eq 0 ]; then az pipelines run --name "Release-Pipeline" fi

Workflow 8: Artifact Versioning

Publish versioned artifact with timestamp

VERSION="1.0.$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)" az artifacts universal publish --feed myfeed --name myapp --version "$VERSION" --path ./build

Workflow 9: Team Dashboard Data

Export team metrics to JSON

az devops project show --project MyProject > project.json az pipelines runs list --top 50 > recent-runs.json az repos pr list --status all > all-prs.json

Workflow 10: Environment Sync

Copy pipeline variables across environments

az pipelines variable list --pipeline-name "MyPipeline" --output json > vars.json

Edit vars.json as needed

az pipelines variable-group create --name "Production" --variables @vars.json

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Failures:

Clear cached credentials

az account clear az login

Use PAT token directly

export AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT=your_personal_access_token az devops login

Default Configuration:

Reset defaults if commands fail

az devops configure --defaults organization="" project=""

Then set explicitly in each command

az pipelines list --organization https://dev.azure.com/myorg --project MyProject

Extension Issues:

Update Azure DevOps extension

az extension update --name azure-devops

Check extension version

az extension show --name azure-devops

Query Syntax:

WIQL queries require proper escaping

az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.State] = 'Active' AND [System.AssignedTo] = 'me@example.com'"

Advanced Patterns

REST API Access

Direct REST API calls for unsupported operations

az devops invoke --area build --resource builds --route-parameters project=MyProject --api-version 6.0 --http-method GET

POST with JSON body

az devops invoke --area git --resource repositories --route-parameters project=MyProject --http-method POST --in-file payload.json

Scripting with JMESPath

Complex queries using JMESPath

az pipelines runs list --query "[?result=='failed'].{Pipeline:pipeline.name, Branch:sourceBranch, Time:finishedDate}" --output table

Filter and transform data

az repos pr list --query "[?targetRefName=='refs/heads/main' && status=='active'].{ID:pullRequestId, Title:title, Author:createdBy.displayName}"

Aliases and Functions

Create shell aliases for common commands

alias azdo-pipelines="az pipelines list --output table" alias azdo-prs="az repos pr list --status active --output table" alias azdo-builds="az pipelines runs list --top 20 --output table"

Function for quick PR creation

azdo-pr() { az repos pr create --source-branch "$(git branch --show-current)" --target-branch main --title "$1" --open }

Extended Content

For comprehensive command references and advanced workflows, see:

• Complete Command References: examples/pipelines-reference.md , examples/boards-reference.md , examples/repos-reference.md , examples/artifacts-reference.md

• Advanced Workflows: examples/workflows/ci-cd-automation.md , examples/workflows/release-management.md , examples/workflows/team-collaboration.md

• Testing Scenarios: tests/test-scenarios.md

References

• Azure DevOps CLI Documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/devops

• WIQL Syntax: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/queries/wiql-syntax

• REST API: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/azure/devops