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Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server | Azure DevOps Server 2022 | Azure DevOps Server 2020
Use Azure Boards to plan and track work with the Agile, Basic, Scrum, or Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) processes. For more information about process choices, see About processes and process templates.
The Agile process uses user stories, tasks, bugs, features, and epics to plan and track work. Add user stories and group them into features when you need higher-level planning. Add tasks to a user story to track smaller units of work.
| Work item types | Backlog hierarchy |
|---|---|
|
|
Use the work item form to describe the work, assign owners, track status, and collaborate with the team through the Discussion section. This article shows how to add user stories, create child tasks, and update work items from the web portal.
Prerequisites
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Access levels | - Add work items and use board features: at least Basic access. - Private project: to view boards, open and modify work items, and add child tasks: at least Stakeholder access (Stakeholders can't reorder or reparent backlog items or update fields on cards). - Public project: for full access to all Boards features: at least Stakeholder access. |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group. |
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Access levels | - Add work items and use board features: at least Basic access. - View boards, open and modify work items, and add child tasks: at least Stakeholder access (Stakeholders can't reorder or reparent backlog items or update fields on cards). |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group. |
For more information, see Default permissions and access for Azure Boards.
Open your board
A team board exists for each team in a project. To open a board:
- Sign in to your organization at
https://dev.azure.com/{Your_Organization}and go to your project. - Select Boards > Boards.
- Select a board from the All Team Boards dropdown.
Add work items to your board
Boards automatically assign the team's default Area Path and Iteration Path to new work items. See Manage and configure team tools for team settings.
To add items:
- Agile: On the Stories board, choose New item, type a title, and press Enter.
- Basic: On the Issues board, choose New item, type a title, and press Enter.
- Scrum: On the Backlog items board, choose New item, type a title, and press Enter.
- CMMI: On the Requirements board, choose New item, type a title, and press Enter.
The system assigns an ID when you create the work item.
Tip
To add features and child items quickly, choose Features from the board selector.
Add tasks (child items)
To track implementation details, create tasks from a parent work item.
Open the parent card's actions menu and choose Add Task (the green plus icon).
Type the task title and press Enter.
To add multiple tasks quickly, continue typing titles and press Enter after each.
Tasks inherit the parent's Area Path and Iteration Path and appear on sprint taskboards.
You can:
- Mark a task complete by selecting its checkbox (State changes to Done).
- Reorder or reparent tasks by dragging them in the checklist.
- Expand or collapse a task checklist.
Open and update a work item
To edit a work item, select its title. Update field values, add a description, or add a discussion note. Use the Attachments tab to upload files by drag-and-drop.
When you finish editing, select Save & Close.
Update work status
Drag work item cards between columns to update their State.
- Agile: move cards from Backlog → Active → Resolved → Closed.
- Basic: move cards from To Do → Doing → Done.
- Scrum: move cards from New → Approved → Committed → Done.
- CMMI: move cards from Backlog → Active → Resolved → Closed.
Tip
To add or rename columns, see About configuring and customizing Azure Boards.
Field descriptions and task fields
You can use these fields on backlog items and tasks to support planning and capacity tracking.
Note
Tasks show "h" for hours on the taskboard, but you can track work in any unit your team prefers.
Field
Usage
The type of activity for a task (for example, Development, Testing). See Determine and set sprint capacity.
Discipline (CMMI process)
The discipline for CMMI tasks (for example, Analysis, Development, Test).
The estimated work required to complete a task.
The amount of work left to finish a task. Use hours or days. Update this field as work progresses; it's used by capacity charts and the sprint burndown.
The time spent implementing a task. Enter this value when you complete the task.
Task Type (CMMI only)
Select the appropriate task type for CMMI tasks (for example, Corrective Action, Mitigation Action, Planned).
Capture comments in the Discussion section
Use the Discussion section to add and review comments made about the work being performed.
The rich text editor toolbar appears under the text entry area when you place your cursor in any text box that supports text formatting.
Note
A Discussion work item field doesn't exist. To query work items with comments from the Discussion area, filter on the History field. The full content of the text entered in the Discussion text box is added to the History field.
Mention someone, a group, work item, or pull request
Select one of the following icons to open a menu of recent entries where you mentioned someone, linked to a work item, or linked to a pull request:
You can open the same menu by using keyboard shortcuts: at-mention @, hash tag #, and exclamation point !.
Enter a name or number to filter the menu list to match your entry. Select the entry you want to add. To bring a group into the discussion, enter the at symbol @ followed by the group name, such as a team or security group.
Edit or delete a comment
To edit or delete any of your discussion comments, select Edit 
or More actions (
) and then select Delete:
After you update the comment, select Update. To delete the comment, confirm the deletion. The History tab on the work item form maintains a full audit trail of all edited and deleted comments.
Important
For on-premises Azure DevOps Server, configure an SMTP server for team members to receive notifications.
Add a reaction to a comment
Add one or more reactions to a comment by choosing an emoji icon at the top right of any comment. Choose from the icons at the bottom of a comment next to any existing reactions. To remove your reaction, choose the reaction on the bottom of your comment. The following image shows an example of the experience of adding a reaction, and the display of reactions on a comment.
Save a comment without saving the work item
Note
This feature is available starting in Azure DevOps Server 2022.1.
If you only have permissions to add to the Discussion of a work item, then you can do so by saving comments. This permission is controlled by Area Path nodes and the Edit work item comments in this node permission. For more information, see Set work tracking permissions - Create child nodes, modify work items under an area or iteration path.
When you save the comments, you don't need to save the work item.
Note
When you save changes made to the Discussion control, only the comment is saved. No work item rules defined for the work item type are executed.