Azure DevOps MCP Integration

A powerful integration for Azure DevOps that provides seamless access to work items, repositories, projects, boards, and sprints through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

Overview

This server provides a convenient API for interacting with Azure DevOps services, enabling AI assistants and other tools to manage work items, code repositories, boards, sprints, and more. Built with the Model Context Protocol, it provides a standardized interface for communicating with Azure DevOps.

Demo

Azure DevOps MCP Demo

Features

The integration is organized into eight main tool categories:

Work Item Tools

List work items using WIQL queries
Get work item details by ID
Search for work items
Get recently updated work items
Get your assigned work items
Create new work items
Update existing work items
Add comments to work items
Update work item state
Assign work items
Create links between work items
Bulk create/update work items

Boards & Sprints Tools

Get team boards
Get board columns
Get board items
Move cards on boards
Get sprints
Get the current sprint
Get sprint work items
Get sprint capacity
Get team members

Project Tools

List projects
Get project details
Create new projects
Get areas
Get iterations
Create areas
Create iterations
Get process templates
Get work item types
Get work item type fields

Git Tools

List repositories
Get repository details
Create repositories
List branches
Search code
Browse repositories
Get file content
Get commit history
List pull requests
Create pull requests
Get pull request details
Get pull request comments
Approve pull requests
Merge pull requests

Testing Capabilities Tools

Run automated tests
Get test automation status
Configure test agents
Create test data generators
Manage test environments
Get test flakiness analysis
Get test gap analysis
Run test impact analysis
Get test health dashboard
Run test optimization
Create exploratory sessions
Record exploratory test results
Convert findings to work items
Get exploratory test statistics

DevSecOps Tools

Run security scans
Get security scan results
Track security vulnerabilities
Generate security compliance reports
Integrate SARIF results
Run compliance checks
Get compliance status
Create compliance reports
Manage security policies
Track security awareness
Rotate secrets
Audit secret usage
Configure vault integration

Artifact Management Tools

List artifact feeds
Get package versions
Publish packages
Promote packages
Delete package versions
List container images
Get container image tags
Scan container images
Manage container policies
Manage universal packages
Create package download reports
Check package dependencies

AI-Assisted Development Tools

Get AI-powered code reviews
Suggest code optimizations
Identify code smells
Get predictive bug analysis
Get developer productivity metrics
Get predictive effort estimations
Get code quality trends
Suggest work item refinements
Suggest automation opportunities
Create intelligent alerts
Predict build failures
Optimize test selection

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install azuredevops-mcp for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @RyanCardin15/azuredevops-mcp --client claude

Prerequisites

Node.js (v16 or later)
TypeScript (v4 or later)
An Azure DevOps account with a Personal Access Token (PAT) or appropriate on-premises credentials

Setup

Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd AzureDevOps

Install dependencies:

   npm install

Configure environment variables (create a .env file or set them directly):
For Azure DevOps Services (cloud):

   AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG_URL=https://dev.azure.com/your-organization
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT=your-default-project
   AZURE_DEVOPS_IS_ON_PREMISES=false

For Azure DevOps Server (on-premises):

   AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG_URL=https://your-server/tfs
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT=your-default-project
   AZURE_DEVOPS_IS_ON_PREMISES=true
   AZURE_DEVOPS_COLLECTION=your-collection
   AZURE_DEVOPS_API_VERSION=6.0  # Adjust based on your server version

   # Authentication (choose one):

   # For PAT authentication:
   AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=pat
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token

   # For NTLM authentication:
   AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=ntlm
   AZURE_DEVOPS_USERNAME=your-username
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PASSWORD=your-password
   AZURE_DEVOPS_DOMAIN=your-domain

   # For Basic authentication:
   AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=basic
   AZURE_DEVOPS_USERNAME=your-username
   AZURE_DEVOPS_PASSWORD=your-password

Build the project:

   npm run build

If you encounter TypeScript errors but want to proceed anyway:

   npm run build:ignore-errors

Start the server:

   npm run start

Configuration

Personal Access Token (PAT)

For Azure DevOps Services (cloud), you'll need to create a Personal Access Token with appropriate permissions:

Go to your Azure DevOps organization
Click on your profile icon in the top right
Select "Personal access tokens"
Click "New Token"
Give it a name and select the appropriate scopes:

Work Items: Read & Write
Code: Read & Write
Project and Team: Read & Write
Build: Read
Release: Read

For Azure DevOps Server (on-premises), you have three authentication options:

Personal Access Token (PAT):

Similar to cloud setup, but create the PAT in your on-premises instance
Set AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=pat

NTLM Authentication:

Use your Windows domain credentials
Set AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=ntlm
Provide username, password, and domain

Basic Authentication:

Use your local credentials
Set AZURE_DEVOPS_AUTH_TYPE=basic
Provide username and password

Azure DevOps Services vs. Azure DevOps Server

This integration supports both cloud-hosted Azure DevOps Services and on-premises Azure DevOps Server:

Azure DevOps Services (Cloud)

Simple setup with organization URL and PAT
Default configuration expects format: https://dev.azure.com/your-organization
Always uses PAT authentication
Sample configuration files provided in .env.cloud.example

Azure DevOps Server (On-Premises)

Requires additional configuration for server URL, collection, and authentication
URL format varies based on your server setup: https://your-server/tfs
Requires specifying a collection name
Supports multiple authentication methods (PAT, NTLM, Basic)
May require API version specification for older server versions
Sample configuration files provided in .env.on-premises.example

Key Differences

| Feature | Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server | |---------|----------------------|---------------------| | URL Format | https://dev.azure.com/org | https://server/tfs | | Collection | Not required | Required | | Auth Methods | PAT only | PAT, NTLM, Basic | | API Version | Latest (automatic) | May need specification | | Connection | Always internet | Can be air-gapped |

Example Configuration

Copy either .env.cloud.example or .env.on-premises.example to .env and update the values as needed.

Environment Variables

The server can be configured using the following environment variables:

| Variable | Description | Required | Default | |----------|-------------|----------|---------| | AZUREDEVOPSORGURL | URL of your Azure DevOps organization or server | Yes | - | | AZUREDEVOPSPROJECT | Default project to use | Yes | - | | AZUREDEVOPSISONPREMISES | Whether using Azure DevOps Server | No | false | | AZUREDEVOPSCOLLECTION | Collection name for on-premises | No* | - | | AZUREDEVOPSAPIVERSION | API version for on-premises | No | - | | AZUREDEVOPSAUTHTYPE | Authentication type (pat/ntlm/basic) | No | pat | | AZUREDEVOPSPERSONALACCESSTOKEN | Personal access token | No** | - | | AZUREDEVOPSUSERNAME | Username for NTLM/Basic auth | No** | - | | AZUREDEVOPSPASSWORD | Password for NTLM/Basic auth | No** | - | | AZUREDEVOPSDOMAIN | Domain for NTLM auth | No | - | | ALLOWEDTOOLS | Comma-separated list of tool methods to enable | No | All tools |

* Required if AZURE_DEVOPS_IS_ON_PREMISES=true ** Required based on chosen authentication type

Tool Filtering with ALLOWED_TOOLS

The ALLOWED_TOOLS environment variable allows you to restrict which tool methods are available. This is completely optional - if not specified, all tools will be enabled.

Format: Comma-separated list of method names with no spaces.

Example:

ALLOWED_TOOLS=listWorkItems,getWorkItemById,searchWorkItems,createWorkItem

This would only enable the specified work item methods while disabling all others.

Usage

Once the server is running, you can interact with it using the MCP protocol. The server exposes several tools for different Azure DevOps functionalities.

Available Tools

Note: By default, only a subset of tools are registered in the index.ts file to keep the initial implementation simple. See the Tool Registration section for information on how to register additional tools.

Example: List Work Items

{
  "tool": "listWorkItems",
  "params": {
    "query": "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title], [System.State] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.State] = 'Active' ORDER BY [System.CreatedDate] DESC"
  }
}

Example: Create a Work Item

{
  "tool": "createWorkItem",
  "params": {
    "workItemType": "User Story",
    "title": "Implement new feature",
    "description": "As a user, I want to be able to export reports to PDF.",
    "assignedTo": "john@example.com"
  }
}

Example: List Repositories

{
  "tool": "listRepositories",
  "params": {
    "projectId": "MyProject"
  }
}

Example: Create a Pull Request

{
  "tool": "createPullRequest",
  "params": {
    "repositoryId": "repo-guid",
    "sourceRefName": "refs/heads/feature-branch",
    "targetRefName": "refs/heads/main",
    "title": "Add new feature",
    "description": "This PR adds the export to PDF feature"
  }
}

Architecture

The project is structured as follows:

src/
Interfaces/: Type definitions for parameters and responses
Services/: Service classes for interacting with Azure DevOps APIs
Tools/: Tool implementations that expose functionality to clients
index.ts: Main entry point that registers tools and starts the server
config.ts: Configuration handling

Service Layer

The service layer handles direct communication with the Azure DevOps API:

WorkItemService: Work item operations
BoardsSprintsService: Boards and sprints operations
ProjectService: Project management operations
GitService: Git repository operations
TestingCapabilitiesService: Testing capabilities operations
DevSecOpsService: DevSecOps operations
ArtifactManagementService: Artifact management operations
AIAssistedDevelopmentService: AI-assisted development operations

Tools Layer

The tools layer wraps the services and provides a consistent interface for the MCP protocol:

WorkItemTools: Tools for work item operations
BoardsSprintsTools: Tools for boards and sprints operations
ProjectTools: Tools for project management operations
GitTools: Tools for Git operations
TestingCapabilitiesTools: Tools for testing capabilities operations
DevSecOpsTools: Tools for DevSecOps operations
ArtifactManagementTools: Tools for artifact management operations
AIAssistedDevelopmentTools: Tools for AI-assisted development operations

Tool Registration

The MCP server requires tools to be explicitly registered in the index.ts file. By default, only a subset of all possible tools are registered to keep the initial implementation manageable.

To register more tools:

Open the src/index.ts file
Add new tool registrations following the pattern of existing tools
Build and restart the server

A comprehensive guide to tool registration is available in the TOOL_REGISTRATION.md file in the repository.

Note: When registering tools, be careful to use the correct parameter types, especially for enum values. The type definitions in the Interfaces directory define the expected types for each parameter. Using the wrong type (e.g., using z.string() instead of z.enum() for enumerated values) will result in TypeScript errors during build.

Example of registering a new tool:

server.tool("searchCode", 
  "Search for code in repositories",
  {
    searchText: z.string().describe("Text to search for"),
    repositoryId: z.string().optional().describe("ID of the repository")
  },
  async (params, extra) => {
    const result = await gitTools.searchCode(params);
    return {
      content: result.content,
      rawData: result.rawData,
      isError: result.isError
    };
  }
);

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Errors

Ensure your Personal Access Token is valid and has the required permissions
Check that the organization URL is correct

TypeScript Errors During Build

Use npm run build:ignore-errors to bypass TypeScript errors
Check for missing or incorrect type definitions

Runtime Errors

Verify that the Azure DevOps project specified exists and is accessible

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can contribute:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Please ensure your code passes linting and includes appropriate tests.