Connect Azure DevOps to Unblockd
Link a Azure DevOps project to an Unblockd project and its work items come in as tasks, with their status kept in step.
Updated · About the Azure DevOps integration
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What Unblockd reads
Unblockd reads your Azure DevOps projects and the work items in the ones you link to an Unblockd project. You choose which work items to bring in; each becomes a task under a deliverable, with a link back to Azure DevOps as its first proof. From then on its status follows Azure DevOps.
It’s read-only. Unblockd never creates, edits, or deletes work items in Azure DevOps.
A work item that’s blocked in Azure DevOps opens a blocker your team sees first. Nothing reaches your sponsor until someone on your team chooses to share it.
The access token is encrypted before it’s stored. How Unblockd handles your data.
Before you start
- In Unblockd, a workspace admin connects Azure DevOps, once for the whole workspace. Members see it in Settings but can’t connect or disconnect it. Anyone on the team can then link it to a project.
- In Azure DevOps: A Microsoft work or school account that can see the Azure DevOps organizations and projects you want to link. Personal Microsoft accounts can't connect.
- Azure DevOps and Microsoft Planner use the same Microsoft sign-in, but each is connected on its own.
Connect Azure DevOps
- Open Connected toolsSign in to Unblockd and open Settings, then Connected tools.
- Press Connect beside Azure DevOpsFind Azure DevOps under Most used, or press Show all 33 tools, or type its name in the search box. Then press Connect on its row.
- Approve access in Azure DevOpsMicrosoft asks you to sign in, then lists the permissions Unblockd requests. If your organization requires an administrator to approve new apps, Microsoft asks for that approval instead; send the request to your Microsoft administrator. Unblockd requests vso.profile (read your profile and the organizations and projects you belong to), vso.work (read work items), and offline_access (stay connected without asking you to sign in again).
- Back in UnblockdYou come back to Connected tools, which says “Azure DevOps is connected. Next, link it to a project from the project’s Sources tab.” Its row shows the account and Connected.
Link it to a project
- Open the project’s Sources tabOpen the project from Projects, then its Sources tab.
- Press Link a sourceIt’s under the list of linked sources. If more than one tool is connected, choose Azure DevOps under Tool.
- Pick the Azure DevOps projectUnder Azure DevOps project, pick the one this Unblockd project runs on. Only projects the connection can see are listed, and ones already linked here are left out.
- Choose where items landUnder New items land in, choose a deliverable, or leave Choose each time. It’s the first choice when you bring items in, and where new items go if automatic import is on.
- Press LinkThe Azure DevOps project appears in the Sources list, ready to bring items in.
Starting a new project? On New project, open “Bring work in from a tool”, choose Azure DevOps and the project, and leave “Bring in open items as tasks” on to start with its open work items. It’s linked as the project is created.
Bring in items
- Press Bring in itemsOn the project’s Sources tab, press Bring in items on the Azure DevOps project’s row. Unblockd lists the open work items that aren’t in this project yet.
- Choose the deliverableUnder Add them under, choose the deliverable they belong to. Each item comes in as a task under it.
- Choose the work itemsTick the work items you want, search by key or title, or press Choose all. Then press Bring in. Up to 50 come in at a time; run it again for more.
New work items can also come in on their own. An admin turns on Bring in new items from linked sources in Settings, then Automations, and each source can opt out or pick its deliverable from its ⋯ menu, under New items. Up to 25 come in per sync, checked every hour and on every sync.
How sync works
Every process (Basic, Agile, Scrum, CMMI, or your own) sorts its states into categories, so the category decides. Each work item becomes the first status that matches:
- State category Completed or Removed
- Becomes: Done
- Tagged exactly Blocked, or a state with Blocked, On hold, or Impeded in its name
- Becomes: Blocked
- State category In Progress or Resolved
- Becomes: In progress
- State category Proposed, or anything else
- Becomes: To do
| In Azure DevOps | Becomes |
|---|---|
| State category Completed or Removed | Done |
| Tagged exactly Blocked, or a state with Blocked, On hold, or Impeded in its name | Blocked |
| State category In Progress or Resolved | In progress |
| State category Proposed, or anything else | To do |
Unblockd checks Azure DevOps again when someone opens the project’s Sources tab and the last check is more than 10 minutes old, when you choose Sync now from the source’s ⋯ menu, and once a day. The row shows when it last synced. A large source catches up over a few checks.
- Done in Azure DevOps finishes the task in Unblockd, because the link back to Azure DevOps already counts as proof. A task that needs a sign-off stays where it is until the sign-off is recorded.
- Blocked in Azure DevOps marks the task Blocked and opens a blocker for your team only, and posts to your team’s chat channels if you’ve connected any. Someone on your team confirms it and can turn it into an ask for your sponsor. If the work item moves on in Azure DevOps, the task follows; the blocker stays open until your team resolves it.
- A title changed in Azure DevOps changes in Unblockd too. A tool never puts a task In review: that needs a reviewer chosen in Unblockd.
- Tasks from a tool stay with your team. Your sponsor sees each deliverable’s progress, not the tasks under it.
Disconnect and revoke access
- Press DisconnectIn Settings, then Connected tools, press Disconnect on Azure DevOps’s row.
- ConfirmIf it’s linked to projects, Unblockd first says how many projects it will unlink. Press Disconnect Azure DevOps to confirm, or Keep.
- Deleted: the connection, its stored access, and every Azure DevOps project linked through it, across all your Unblockd projects.
- Kept: tasks already brought in stay as ordinary tasks with their history and proof links. They stop following Azure DevOps. Connect again and relink the same Azure DevOps project, and they follow it again.
- Microsoft keeps the permission you granted until it's removed. Remove Unblockd from the apps your Microsoft account has access to, or ask your Microsoft administrator to.
To stop one project following Azure DevOps without disconnecting it for everyone, open the linked Azure DevOps project’s ⋯ menu on the Sources tab and choose Unlink. Its tasks stay, but stop following Azure DevOps.
Troubleshooting
- Needs reconnecting
- What to do: Azure DevOps turned down Unblockd’s access, for example because it was revoked or the person who connected it left. The row says “Reconnect to keep it in sync.” An admin presses Reconnect and approves access again; linked projects and their tasks carry on.
- Retrying
- What to do: The row says “Couldn’t reach it on the last try. It will try again.” Azure DevOps didn’t answer the last time Unblockd tried. Nothing is lost; the next sync picks up where it stopped.
- Rate limits
- What to do: Unblockd reads one item about every 0.65 seconds, up to 200 per check, to stay inside Azure DevOps’s limits. If Azure DevOps still says to slow down, Unblockd stops that check and picks up on the next one. Sync now waits 60 seconds between runs on the same source.
- A project is missing
- What to do: Only projects the connected account can see are listed. Check its access in Azure DevOps, or reconnect with an account that can see it.
- Only an admin can connect
- What to do: “Only a workspace admin can connect or disconnect tools.” Ask an admin, or have one change your role in Settings, then Members.
- The connection link expired
- What to do: “That connection link expired or was started by someone else. Try again from here.” Start again from Connected tools and finish within 10 minutes.
- A different account
- What to do: “This workspace is linked to a different account for that tool. Disconnect it first.” Each workspace connects one Azure DevOps account. Disconnect the old one first.
- Coming soon
- What to do: A tool that shows Coming soon instead of Connect can’t be connected yet.
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Needs reconnecting | Azure DevOps turned down Unblockd’s access, for example because it was revoked or the person who connected it left. The row says “Reconnect to keep it in sync.” An admin presses Reconnect and approves access again; linked projects and their tasks carry on. |
| Retrying | The row says “Couldn’t reach it on the last try. It will try again.” Azure DevOps didn’t answer the last time Unblockd tried. Nothing is lost; the next sync picks up where it stopped. |
| Rate limits | Unblockd reads one item about every 0.65 seconds, up to 200 per check, to stay inside Azure DevOps’s limits. If Azure DevOps still says to slow down, Unblockd stops that check and picks up on the next one. Sync now waits 60 seconds between runs on the same source. |
| A project is missing | Only projects the connected account can see are listed. Check its access in Azure DevOps, or reconnect with an account that can see it. |
| Only an admin can connect | “Only a workspace admin can connect or disconnect tools.” Ask an admin, or have one change your role in Settings, then Members. |
| The connection link expired | “That connection link expired or was started by someone else. Try again from here.” Start again from Connected tools and finish within 10 minutes. |
| A different account | “This workspace is linked to a different account for that tool. Disconnect it first.” Each workspace connects one Azure DevOps account. Disconnect the old one first. |
| Coming soon | A tool that shows Coming soon instead of Connect can’t be connected yet. |
Still stuck? Press Report a problem on Azure DevOps’s row in Connected tools, or choose Report a problem with Azure DevOps from a linked project’s ⋯ menu. One tap sends the tool and what the row shows about the connection (never a key or token) to the Unblockd team, and someone replies by email. You can send 5 reports every hour, or write to hello@unblockd.ai any time.
Connect Azure DevOps now
Open Connected tools in Unblockd and press Connect beside Azure DevOps. You’ll need to be a workspace admin.