scaryrawr/ado-work-items

Azure DevOps Work Item Operations

Use this skill for Azure DevOps Boards work items.

Script execution model

• Run the bundled helpers via the skill-relative paths shown below (./scripts/... resolves from this skill directory).
• The helper scripts are non-interactive. Read structured JSON from stdout and treat stderr as diagnostics.
• If you need to confirm flags or subcommands, run ./scripts/ado-work-items.mts --help.

Available scripts

parse-url

Use the script instead of manually pulling the ID out of the URL:

./scripts/ado-work-items.mts parse-url "https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_workitems/edit/{workItemId}"

Use these fields directly:

• organization, organizationUrl
• project
• workItemId

wiql

Use the helper to assemble common WIQL queries instead of rewriting the WHERE clause from scratch:

./scripts/ado-work-items.mts wiql \
  --assigned-to @Me \
  --exclude-state Closed \
  --type Bug \
  --fields System.Id,System.Title,System.State

The script returns:

• wiql: the query text
• command: a ready-to-run az boards query command

Workflow

1. Parse incoming Azure DevOps work item URLs with parse-url.
2. Build WIQL with wiql instead of manually composing WHERE clauses.
3. Run the appropriate Azure CLI command after the helper has normalized the inputs.

Common work item commands

Show a work item:

az boards work-item show --id {workItemId} --detect true

Show specific fields:

az boards work-item show --id {workItemId} --fields "System.Title,System.State,System.AssignedTo" --detect true

Create a work item:

az boards work-item create --title "Title" --type "Task" --project {project} --detect true

Update a work item:

az boards work-item update --id {workItemId} --state "Active" --detect true

Run WIQL:

az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title] FROM workitems WHERE [System.AssignedTo] = @Me" --detect true

Manage relations:

az boards work-item relation add --id {workItemId} --relation-type parent --target-id {targetId} --detect true
az boards work-item relation show --id {workItemId} --detect true
az boards work-item relation remove --id {workItemId} --relation-type child --target-id {targetId} --detect true

Rules

• Prefer the helper script for URL parsing and WIQL assembly.
• Prefer --detect true when repository context is available.
• Keep custom field names exact; do not silently rewrite them.