Search Azure DevOps Work Items

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

When to Use

• User asks to find tickets, work items, or issues
• Searching for items by keyword, feature name, or topic
• Filtering by state, type, assignment, or tags
• Finding all items in an area or iteration

Prerequisites

• Azure DevOps must be initialized with Initialize-AzureDevOps
• PAT token must be set (via parameter or AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT environment variable)

Examples

Basic text search

Search-WorkItems -SearchText "PDF export"

Search with filters

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

Search by assignment

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

Search by area path

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

Search by tags

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

Parameters

• SearchText: Text to search in title and description
• WorkItemType: Bug, User Story, Task, Feature, etc. NOTE: Only use "Bug" or "User Story" - exclude Enabler and other types
• 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

Returns array of work item objects with:

• Id, Type, Title, State
• AssignedTo, CreatedBy, Created/Changed dates
• Description, Acceptance Criteria
• Priority, Effort, Tags
• Area/Iteration paths
• Web URL for viewing in Azure DevOps

Tips for Copilot

• IMPORTANT: Default to Bug or User Story types only - do not include Enabler or other work item types unless explicitly requested
• 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
• When filtering results, exclude Enabler type by default