Azure DevOps Work Items Search

Search for Azure DevOps work items using text search and various filters. This skill helps find bugs, user stories, tasks, and features across the Legislative project.

Prerequisites Setup

1. Load PAT Token from .env file

powershell

# Load the PAT from the .env file in network directory
$envFile = "c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\.env"
Get-Content $envFile | ForEach-Object {
    if ($_ -match '^AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT=(.+)$') {
        $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT = $matches[1]
    }
    if ($_ -match '^AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG=(.+)$') {
        $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG = $matches[1]
    }
    if ($_ -match '^AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT=(.+)$') {
        $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT = $matches[1]
    }
}

2. Import Module and Initialize

powershell

Import-Module c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\AzureDevOpsTools\AzureDevOpsTools.psd1 -Force
Initialize-AzureDevOps -Organization $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG -Project $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT

Complete One-Liner Setup

powershell

Get-Content c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\.env | ForEach-Object { if ($_ -match '^(AZURE_DEVOPS_\w+)=(.+)$') { Set-Item "env:$($matches[1])" $matches[2] } }; Import-Module c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\AzureDevOpsTools\AzureDevOpsTools.psd1 -Force; Initialize-AzureDevOps -Organization $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG -Project $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT

Usage Examples

Basic text search

powershell

$results = Search-WorkItems -SearchText "agenda"
Write-Host "Found $($results.Count) items"
$results | Format-Table Id, Type, Title, State -AutoSize

Get first result with link

powershell

$result = Search-WorkItems -SearchText "agenda" -Top 1
if ($result) {
    Write-Host "[$($result.Id)] $($result.Title)"
    Write-Host "https://dev.azure.com/$env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG/$env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT/_workitems/edit/$($result.Id)"
}

Search with filters

powershell

Search-WorkItems -SearchText "authentication" -WorkItemType "Bug" -State "Active"

Search by assignment

powershell

Search-WorkItems -AssignedTo "john.doe@company.com" -State "Active"

Search by area path

powershell

Search-WorkItems -AreaPath "LegBone\Backend" -WorkItemType "User Story"

Search by tags

powershell

Search-WorkItems -Tags "bug-fix" -State "Closed"

Parameters

•SearchText: Text to search in title and description
•WorkItemType: Bug, User Story, Task, Feature, etc.
•State: New, Active, Resolved, Closed, etc.
•AssignedTo: User email or display name
•AreaPath: Area path to search under
•IterationPath: Iteration path to search under
•Tags: Tags to filter by
•Top: Maximum results (default 200)

Output Format

Returns array of work item objects with:

•Id - Work item ID number
•Type - Bug, User Story, Task, Feature
•Title - Work item title
•State - New, Active, Resolved, Closed
•AssignedTo - Assigned user
•CreatedBy - Creator
•CreatedDate - Creation date
•ChangedDate - Last modified date
•Description - Full description
•AcceptanceCriteria - Acceptance criteria
•Priority - Priority level
•Effort - Effort estimate
•Tags - Tags
•AreaPath - Area path
•IterationPath - Iteration path
•Url - Web URL for viewing in Azure DevOps

Tips for AI Assistants

•Always load the .env file first to get credentials
•When user mentions a feature or component, search for it
•Try multiple related search terms if first search yields no results
•Combine filters to narrow down results
•Use State filter to focus on active work vs. completed items
•Display results in a readable format with ID and link
•The organization is "Legislative" and project is "LegBone"

Common Patterns

Pattern: Quick search and link

powershell

Get-Content c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\.env | ForEach-Object { if ($_ -match '^(AZURE_DEVOPS_\w+)=(.+)$') { Set-Item "env:$($matches[1])" $matches[2] } }; Import-Module c:\Users\mshepherd\p\useful\network\AzureDevOpsTools\AzureDevOpsTools.psd1 -Force; Initialize-AzureDevOps -Organization $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG -Project $env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT; $result = Search-WorkItems -SearchText "your-search" -Top 1; if ($result) { Write-Host "[$($result.Id)] $($result.Title)"; Write-Host "https://dev.azure.com/$env:AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG/$env:AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT/_workitems/edit/$($result.Id)" }

Pattern: Search and format results

powershell

$results = Search-WorkItems -SearchText "bug" -State "Active"
$results | Select-Object Id, Title, AssignedTo, Priority | Format-Table -AutoSize