Azure DevOps CLI Guide

Purpose

Comprehensive guide for automating Azure DevOps operations using the az CLI with the azure-devops extension. Covers common patterns, best practices, and examples for working with Azure Pipelines, Repos, Boards, and Artifacts.

When to Use This Skill

Activates when you mention:

• Azure DevOps, ADO, or az devops
• Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Boards
• Work items, pull requests, or code reviews in Azure DevOps
• DevOps automation, CI/CD pipelines
• az CLI commands for DevOps
• YAML pipeline definitions
• Service connections, variable groups, artifacts

Prerequisites

1. Install Azure CLI

# Ubuntu/WSL
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

# Verify installation
az --version

2. Install Azure DevOps Extension

az extension add --name azure-devops
az extension update --name azure-devops  # Update to latest

3. Login to Azure

az login

# Or use Personal Access Token (PAT)
export AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT=<your-pat-token>

4. Set Default Organization and Project

# Set defaults to avoid repeating on every command
az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/YourOrg project=YourProject

# View current defaults
az devops configure --list

Authentication Methods

Method 1: Interactive Login (Recommended for Development)

az login
# Opens browser for authentication

Method 2: Personal Access Token (PAT)

# Set as environment variable
export AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT=<your-pat-token>

# Or use --org and --detect flags
az devops project list --org https://dev.azure.com/YourOrg

Method 3: Service Principal (CI/CD)

az login --service-principal \
  --username <app-id> \
  --password <password-or-cert> \
  --tenant <tenant-id>

Common Commands by Category

Organization & Projects

# List organizations (requires authentication)
az devops project list --org https://dev.azure.com/YourOrg

# Show project details
az devops project show --project MyProject

# Create new project
az devops project create --name MyNewProject --visibility private

# List teams in project
az devops team list --project MyProject

Azure Repos

# List repositories
az repos list --project MyProject

# Create repository
az repos create --name MyNewRepo --project MyProject

# Show repo details
az repos show --repository MyRepo --project MyProject

# Import repository
az repos import create \
  --git-source-url https://github.com/user/repo \
  --repository MyRepo

# List branches
az repos ref list --repository MyRepo

# Create branch
az repos ref create \
  --name refs/heads/feature/new-feature \
  --object-id <commit-sha> \
  --repository MyRepo

# Delete branch
az repos ref delete \
  --name refs/heads/old-branch \
  --object-id <commit-sha> \
  --repository MyRepo

Pull Requests

# List pull requests
az repos pr list --repository MyRepo --status active

# Create pull request
az repos pr create \
  --repository MyRepo \
  --source-branch feature/my-feature \
  --target-branch main \
  --title "My Feature" \
  --description "Description here"

# Show PR details
az repos pr show --id 123

# Update PR
az repos pr update --id 123 --title "Updated Title"

# Add reviewers
az repos pr reviewer add --id 123 --reviewers user@domain.com

# Complete/merge PR
az repos pr set-vote --id 123 --vote approve
az repos pr update --id 123 --status completed

# Abandon PR
az repos pr update --id 123 --status abandoned

# List PR work items
az repos pr work-item list --id 123

Azure Pipelines

# List pipelines
az pipelines list --project MyProject

# Show pipeline details
az pipelines show --name MyPipeline

# Create pipeline from YAML
az pipelines create \
  --name MyPipeline \
  --repository MyRepo \
  --branch main \
  --yml-path azure-pipelines.yml

# Run pipeline
az pipelines run --name MyPipeline

# Run with parameters
az pipelines run --name MyPipeline \
  --parameters param1=value1 param2=value2

# List pipeline runs
az pipelines runs list --pipeline-ids 123

# Show run details
az pipelines runs show --id 456

# List pipeline artifacts
az pipelines runs artifact list --run-id 456

# Download artifact
az pipelines runs artifact download \
  --run-id 456 \
  --artifact-name drop \
  --path ./artifacts

Work Items

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

# Show work item
az boards work-item show --id 1234

# Create work item
az boards work-item create \
  --type "User Story" \
  --title "My User Story" \
  --description "Story description" \
  --assigned-to user@domain.com

# Update work item
az boards work-item update --id 1234 --state "In Progress"

# Add comment to work item
az boards work-item relation add \
  --id 1234 \
  --relation-type Comment \
  --target-id <comment-text>

# Link work items
az boards work-item relation add \
  --id 1234 \
  --relation-type Related \
  --target-id 5678

Variable Groups

# List variable groups
az pipelines variable-group list

# Create variable group
az pipelines variable-group create \
  --name MyVariableGroup \
  --variables key1=value1 key2=value2

# Show variable group
az pipelines variable-group show --group-id 123

# Update variable
az pipelines variable-group variable create \
  --group-id 123 \
  --name newKey \
  --value newValue

# Delete variable
az pipelines variable-group variable delete \
  --group-id 123 \
  --name oldKey

Service Connections

# List service connections
az devops service-endpoint list --project MyProject

# Create Azure RM service connection
az devops service-endpoint azurerm create \
  --name MyAzureConnection \
  --azure-rm-service-principal-id <sp-id> \
  --azure-rm-subscription-id <subscription-id> \
  --azure-rm-subscription-name "My Subscription" \
  --azure-rm-tenant-id <tenant-id>

# Show service connection
az devops service-endpoint show --id <connection-id>

Common Patterns & Scripts

Pattern 1: Auto-approve and Complete PR if CI Passes

#!/bin/bash
PR_ID=$1

# Wait for PR build to complete
while true; do
  STATUS=$(az repos pr show --id $PR_ID --query "mergeStatus" -o tsv)
  if [ "$STATUS" == "succeeded" ]; then
    echo "Build passed, approving PR..."
    az repos pr set-vote --id $PR_ID --vote approve
    az repos pr update --id $PR_ID --status completed --delete-source-branch true
    break
  elif [ "$STATUS" == "failed" ]; then
    echo "Build failed, not approving PR"
    break
  fi
  sleep 30
done

Pattern 2: Bulk Create Work Items from File

#!/bin/bash
# work-items.txt format: Type|Title|Description

while IFS='|' read -r type title description; do
  az boards work-item create \
    --type "$type" \
    --title "$title" \
    --description "$description"
done < work-items.txt

Pattern 3: Clone All Repos in a Project

#!/bin/bash
ORG="https://dev.azure.com/YourOrg"
PROJECT="YourProject"

az repos list --project $PROJECT --query "[].name" -o tsv | while read repo; do
  echo "Cloning $repo..."
  git clone "$ORG/$PROJECT/_git/$repo"
done

Pattern 4: Run Pipeline and Wait for Completion

#!/bin/bash
PIPELINE_NAME="MyPipeline"

# Start pipeline run
RUN_ID=$(az pipelines run --name $PIPELINE_NAME --query "id" -o tsv)
echo "Started run $RUN_ID"

# Poll for completion
while true; do
  STATUS=$(az pipelines runs show --id $RUN_ID --query "status" -o tsv)
  RESULT=$(az pipelines runs show --id $RUN_ID --query "result" -o tsv)

  if [ "$STATUS" == "completed" ]; then
    echo "Run completed with result: $RESULT"
    [ "$RESULT" == "succeeded" ] && exit 0 || exit 1
  fi

  sleep 10
done

Best Practices

1. Use Configuration Defaults

Set defaults to avoid repeating org/project on every command:

az devops configure --defaults \
  organization=https://dev.azure.com/YourOrg \
  project=YourProject

2. Use Output Formats Effectively

# Table format (human-readable)
az repos list -o table

# JSON for scripting
az repos list -o json

# TSV for parsing
az repos list --query "[].name" -o tsv

3. Use JMESPath Queries

# Get specific fields
az repos list --query "[].{Name:name, Id:id}" -o table

# Filter results
az repos pr list --query "[?status=='active'].id" -o tsv

4. Store PAT Securely

# Never hardcode PAT in scripts
# Use environment variables or Azure Key Vault
export AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT=$(az keyvault secret show --name ado-pat --vault-name myvault --query value -o tsv)

5. Error Handling in Scripts

set -e  # Exit on error
set -o pipefail  # Exit on pipe failure

if ! az repos show --repository MyRepo 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "Repository does not exist"
  exit 1
fi

6. Use Service Principals for CI/CD

Never use personal accounts for automated pipelines – use service principals with minimal required permissions.

Integration with .NET Projects

Trigger Pipeline After dotnet build

# Build .NET project
dotnet build MyProject.csproj

# If build succeeds, trigger Azure Pipeline
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  az pipelines run --name DeployPipeline
fi

Create Work Items for Build Failures

# In Azure Pipeline YAML
- script: |
    if [ $(Agent.JobStatus) == "Failed" ]; then
      az boards work-item create \
        --type Bug \
        --title "Build $(Build.BuildNumber) failed" \
        --description "Build failed: $(Build.BuildUri)"
    fi
  condition: failed()
  displayName: 'Create work item on failure'

Useful Query Examples

Find Active PRs Older Than 7 Days

DATE_7_DAYS_AGO=$(date -d '7 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d)

az repos pr list --status active --query \
  "[?creationDate<'$DATE_7_DAYS_AGO'].{ID:pullRequestId, Title:title, Created:creationDate}" \
  -o table

List Failed Pipeline Runs in Last 24 Hours

az pipelines runs list \
  --query "[?finishTime>='$(date -d '1 day ago' --iso-8601=seconds)' && result=='failed'].{ID:id, Pipeline:definition.name, Result:result}" \
  -o table

Get All Work Items Assigned to Me

MY_EMAIL="user@domain.com"

az boards work-item query --wiql \
  "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title], [System.State] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.AssignedTo] = '$MY_EMAIL' AND [System.State] <> 'Closed'"

Troubleshooting

Issue: “TF400813: Resource not available for anonymous access”

Solution: Ensure you’re authenticated:

az login
# Or set PAT
export AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT=<your-token>

Issue: “The term ‘az’ is not recognized”

Solution: Install Azure CLI and add to PATH

Issue: Extension not found

Solution: Install azure-devops extension:

az extension add --name azure-devops

Issue: Permission denied errors

Solution: Check PAT scopes – ensure it has required permissions:

• Code (Read, Write, Manage)
• Build (Read, Execute)
• Work Items (Read, Write)

Quick Reference

# Setup
az extension add --name azure-devops
az login
az devops configure --defaults organization=<org> project=<project>

# Repos
az repos list
az repos pr list --status active

# Pipelines
az pipelines list
az pipelines run --name <pipeline>

# Work Items
az boards work-item show --id <id>

# Output formats
-o json    # JSON output
-o table   # Table format
-o tsv     # Tab-separated values
--query    # JMESPath query

Related Documentation:

• Azure CLI DevOps Extension Docs
• Azure DevOps REST API
• JMESPath Query Reference

Skill Type: Domain Enforcement: Suggest Line Count: ~450 lines ✅