Connecting Azure DevOps

An Azure DevOps connection is an organization URL plus a token, shared across the projects you attach from it. Work items feed the board on their own; PR and commit intelligence is a separate, explicit opt-in per project.

deckgauge · Add source · Azure DevOps

Payments-Platform code intelligence

Pull requestsCommits

ONON

Repos: payments-api, payments-workerAll repositories: off

Code-sync scope on an attached ADO project — explicit repos, not a pattern.

What it does, and where the data comes from

Field	Value
Organization URL	`https://dev.azure.com/your-org`
Auth method	`PAT` (token only) or `BASIC` (username + token)
Access token	Scoped to Code (Read), Work Items (Read), and Project & Team (Read)
Project	Discovered live from the organization once the token tests successfully

How to connect Azure DevOps

Create a PAT under User settings → Personal access tokens with the read scopes above.
Add source → Azure DevOps — set the organization URL, choose PAT or BASIC, paste the token, and test.
Pick the project from the discovered list.
On the board's Source zone, turn on Feed work items to board, and separately, Use for code intelligence if you want PR/commit data.

What syncs

Work items sync per project whenever the project is attached — that part isn't opt-in. PR and commit intelligence is: useForIntelligence must be turned on for the board source, and the underlying project sync must have Pull requests and/or Commits switched on, scoped to either an explicit, named repo list or an explicit All repositories toggle.

Alongside name, status, owner and description, a work item's Due Date (Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.DueDate) is written onto the board row's Due date field on every sync. As with the other synced fields, editing it by hand takes that one field out of sync's control until you revert it — see Manual edits.

Strict opt-in, no wildcardThere's no glob or pattern syntax for repo scope — you either type out the repos you want (repo1, repo2) or flip the distinct All repositories switch. A newly attached project starts with PR sync, commit sync, and the all-repos switch all off; nothing gets pulled for intelligence until you turn each of them on deliberately. The repo-sync scope is shared — changing it on one board's source changes it for every board using that Azure DevOps project.

Under the hood

Both auth methods send HTTP Basic under the hood: PAT sends the token with an empty username; BASIC sends your entered username and the token as the password. The connection test hits /_apis/projects?$top=1, so a working test only confirms the token can list projects — not that it also has the Code and Work Items scopes PR/commit intelligence needs.

If it looks wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Connection test passes but no PRs/commits appear	PR/commit intelligence is opt-in and defaults off	Turn on Use for code intelligence and the project's PR/commit toggles
Only some repos show PR data	Repo scope is an explicit list, not a pattern	Add the missing repo names, or switch on All repositories
Work items sync but 401 shows on the code side	Token lacks the Code (Read) scope even though Work Items (Read) works	Reissue the PAT with all three read scopes

Mapping source statuses — ADO's state values mapped onto board statuses.
When your data refreshes — scheduled and manual sync.
When a connection breaks — health checks and reconnecting.

Last updated 27 August 2026