Azure DevOps Boards Export Skill

This skill creates work items in Azure DevOps Boards from a task list.

When to Use This Skill

•User asks to export tasks to Azure DevOps
•User mentions syncing with Boards
•User wants to create Tasks/Stories/Bugs from specifications
•User needs to migrate tasks to Azure DevOps

Prerequisites

User must provide:

•Organization: Azure DevOps organization name (e.g., mycompany)
•Project: Project name or ID
•PAT Token: Personal Access Token with vso.work_write scope
•Work Item Type: Task, User Story, or Bug

Input Format

The skill accepts tasks in Markdown or JSON format:

Markdown Format (from tasks.md)

markdown

| ID | Task | Description | Hours |
|----|------|-------------|-------|
| T001 | Create Attachment entity | Class with Guid, TaskId properties | 1 |
| T002 | Status enum | AttachmentStatus enum | 0.5 |

JSON Format (structured)

json

[
  {
    "id": "T001",
    "title": "Create Attachment entity",
    "description": "Attachment class with Guid, TaskId properties",
    "hours": 1,
    "priority": 2,
    "tags": ["domain", "backend"]
  }
]

Azure DevOps API

Create Work Items Endpoint

code

POST https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/wit/workitems/${type}?api-version=7.1

Required Headers

code

Authorization: Basic BASE64_PAT
Content-Type: application/json-patch+json

Body Format (JSON Patch)

json

[
  { "op": "add", "path": "/fields/System.Title", "value": "Task title" },
  { "op": "add", "path": "/fields/System.Description", "value": "Description" },
  { "op": "add", "path": "/fields/Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority", "value": 2 }
]

Script Usage

From VS Code with GitHub Copilot Chat

bash

@skill/azure-devops-boards-export Export tasks to Azure DevOps.

Organization: mycompany
Project: PortalEmpleo
Type: Task
Token: ${AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT}

Input: specs/001-attachments/tasks.md

From Command Line

bash

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run export
node scripts/export-tasks.js \
  --org "mycompany" \
  --project "PortalEmpleo" \
  --type "Task" \
  --token "$AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT" \
  --input "specs/001-attachments/tasks.md"

# Dry run (no changes)
node scripts/export-tasks.js \
  --org "mycompany" \
  --project "PortalEmpleo" \
  --type "Task" \
  --token "$AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT" \
  --input "specs/001-attachments/tasks.md" \
  --dry-run

Common Work Item Fields

Field	Description	Example
System.Title	Task title	"T001: Create Attachment entity"
System.Description	Detailed description	Task description
Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority	Priority (1=High, 2=Medium, 3=Low)	2
System.Tags	Comma-separated tags	"domain,backend"
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.RemainingWork	Estimated hours	1

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Invalid PAT or missing permissions	Verify token with `vso.work_write` scope
404 Not Found	Incorrect project or organization	Verify names
400 Bad Request	Invalid JSON format	Check body syntax

Example Output

json

{
  "success": true,
  "created": [
    {
      "id": 131,
      "title": "T001: Create Attachment entity",
      "url": "https://dev.azure.com/mycompany/PortalEmpleo/_workitems/edit/131"
    }
  ],
  "failed": []
}

Important Notes

•Local IDs (T001, T010) are included in title for traceability
•Tasks are created in "New" state
•Script prompts for confirmation before creating in production
•Results are saved to azure-devops-results.json