Agent skill

azure-boards

Expert knowledge for Azure Boards development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. Use when managing work items, boards/backlogs, WIQL queries, Excel/Office sync, or GitHub/Teams integrations, and other Azure Boards related development tasks. Not for Azure DevOps (use azure-devops), Azure Test Plans (use azure-test-plans), Azure Pipelines (use azure-pipelines), Azure Repos (use azure-repos).

View SKILL.md on GitHub Repository
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Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/Agent-Skills/tree/main/skills/azure-boards

Metadata

Additional technical details for this skill

generator
docs2skills/1.0.0
generated at
2026-04-05

SKILL.md

Azure Boards Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Boards. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and integrations & coding patterns. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

  • Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
  • Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category Lines Description
Troubleshooting L35-L43 Diagnosing and fixing Azure Boards + Excel/Office integration issues (sync, add-in, connection, mapping) and resolving backlog nesting/reordering errors.
Best Practices L44-L51 Best practices for using Azure Boards for Agile: product management, Kanban, Scrum/sprints, and scaling Agile across teams and projects.
Decision Making L52-L58 Guidance on choosing Azure Boards processes, tools, and integrations, plus planning cross-team dependencies and migrations to get the right setup for your organization.
Limits & Quotas L59-L64 Managing Azure Boards limits for test artifacts and work item attachments, including size/quantity constraints and how to restore deleted test-related items.
Security L65-L71 Managing Azure Boards security: default permissions, configuring query/folder access, and setting access controls and policies for teams and users.
Configuration L72-L84 Configuring Azure Boards processes, fields, and boards; integrating with GitHub; and using queries, charts, and work item field references for Agile/Scrum/CMMI tracking
Integrations & Coding Patterns L85-L95 Connecting Azure Boards to external tools (Excel, GitHub, Copilot, Slack, Teams) and using WIQL, badges, and integrations to sync work items and development artifacts.

Troubleshooting

Topic URL
Resolve common Excel and Azure Boards integration questions https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/office/faqs?view=azure-devops
Troubleshoot Azure DevOps Office integration issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/office/tfs-office-integration-issues?view=azure-devops
Troubleshoot Azure DevOps Office integration issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/office/tfs-office-integration-issues?view=azure-devops
Troubleshoot Azure DevOps Office integration issues https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/office/tfs-office-integration-issues?view=azure-devops
Fix Azure Boards backlog nesting and reorder errors https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/resolve-backlog-reorder-issues?view=azure-devops

Best Practices

Topic URL
Apply Azure Boards agile product management practices https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/best-practices-agile-project-management?view=azure-devops
Use Azure Boards Kanban boards effectively https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/boards/kanban-overview?view=azure-devops
Apply scalable Agile practices in Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/plans/practices-that-scale?view=azure-devops
Apply Azure Boards sprint and Scrum best practices https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/sprints/best-practices-scrum?view=azure-devops

Decision Making

Topic URL
Select migration and integration options for Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/extensions/migrate-integrate?view=azure-devops
Choose Azure Boards tools for cross-team visibility https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/plans/visibility-across-teams?view=azure-devops
Choose the right Azure Boards process template https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/guidance/choose-process?view=azure-devops

Limits & Quotas

Topic URL
Manage and restore deleted Azure Boards test artifacts https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/delete-test-artifacts?view=azure-devops
Manage Azure Boards work item attachments and limits https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/manage-attachments?view=azure-devops

Security

Topic URL
Understand default permissions and access in Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/get-started/permissions-access-boards?view=azure-devops
Configure query and folder permissions in Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/queries/set-query-permissions?view=azure-devops
Secure Azure Boards with access controls and policies https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/secure-your-azure-boards?view=azure-devops

Configuration

Topic URL
Configure and customize Azure Boards processes and boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/configure-customize?view=azure-devops
Configure on-premises Azure DevOps with GitHub Enterprise https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/connect-on-premises-to-github?view=azure-devops-server
Configure Azure Boards GitHub app connections https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/install-github-app?view=azure-devops
Configure Azure Boards query charts for dashboards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/queries/example-query-charts?view=azure-devops
Use Azure Boards query fields, operators, and macros https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/queries/query-operators-variables?view=azure-devops
Track bugs, issues, and risks fields in CMMI process https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/guidance/cmmi/guidance-bugs-issues-risks-field-reference-cmmi?view=azure-devops
Use code review and feedback fields in Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/guidance/guidance-code-review-feedback-field-reference?view=azure-devops
Reference Agile and Scrum work item fields in Azure Boards https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/guidance/work-item-field?view=azure-devops
Configure and manage Azure Boards work item fields https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/work-items/work-item-fields?view=azure-devops

Integrations & Coding Patterns

Topic URL
Connect Azure Boards work tracking with Excel https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/backlogs/office/track-work?view=azure-devops
Add Azure Boards status badges to GitHub repos https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/configure-status-badges?view=azure-devops
Integrate Azure Boards projects with GitHub repositories https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/connect-to-github?view=azure-devops
Integrate Azure Boards work items with GitHub artifacts https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/link-to-from-github?view=azure-devops
Integrate GitHub Copilot with Azure Boards work items https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/github/work-item-integration-github-copilot?view=azure-devops
Integrate Azure Boards with Slack channels https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/integrations/boards-slack?view=azure-devops
Use Azure Boards with Microsoft Teams channels https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/integrations/boards-teams?view=azure-devops
Use WIQL syntax for Azure Boards queries https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/queries/wiql-syntax?view=azure-devops

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