devintern

Fetch Azure DevOps work items, run WIQL batches, implement with your coding agent, and post PRs and state transitions back.

Implement Azure DevOps Work Items with @devintern/code

@devintern/code can implement work directly from Azure DevOps work items: fetch work item details and comments, run a feasibility check, move the item through workflow states, execute your AI agent, commit changes, open a pull request, and post results back to the work item.

Prerequisites

  • Bun and @getdevintern/code installed globally
  • Azure DevOps Personal Access Token (PAT) with Work Items read/write
  • Git repository for your project

Setup

1. Set the task tracker

In .devintern-code/.env:

TASK_TRACKER=azure-devops

2. Add Azure DevOps credentials

AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG=your-organization
AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT=your-pat-token
AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT=YourProject

The organization is the segment after dev.azure.com/ in your URLs. Create the PAT under User settings, Personal access tokens, with the Work Items (Read and write) scope. The project is the project name that contains your work items.

3. Configure state transitions

Edit .devintern-code/settings.json using the project name as the project key:

{
  "azure-devops": {
    "projects": {
      "YourProject": {
        "inProgressStatus": "Active",
        "todoStatus": "New",
        "prStatus": "Resolved"
      }
    }
  }
}

State names must match the workflow states of your work item types (for example New, Active, Resolved, Closed in the Agile template). @devintern/code moves work items to:

  • inProgressStatus when implementation starts (after the clarity check)
  • prStatus after a pull request is created
  • todoStatus when implementation is incomplete or max turns are reached

See Configuration for all settings fields.

Running a work item

Pass a numeric work item ID or a full work item URL:

# Work item ID
devintern 4211 --create-pr

# Full work item URL
devintern https://dev.azure.com/your-org/YourProject/_workitems/edit/4211 --create-pr

This workflow:

  1. Fetches the work item description (HTML converted to markdown), tags, attachments, and comments
  2. Runs a feasibility assessment (skippable with --skip-clarity-check)
  3. Moves the item to inProgressStatus (unless --skip-comments is set)
  4. Creates a feature branch, runs your agent, commits, and optionally opens a PR
  5. Moves the item to prStatus after PR creation
  6. Posts implementation or assessment comments on the work item

Parent, child, and related work item links are fetched and included in the agent context.

Batch processing with —query

Select multiple work items with WIQL, scoped to your configured project:

devintern --query "SELECT [System.Id] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.State] = 'New'" --create-pr
devintern --query "SELECT [System.Id] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Tags] CONTAINS 'bug'" --create-pr

The first 100 matching work items are processed in sequence.

Story points estimation

Estimation mode is fully supported via the Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints field (the Agile template default):

devintern 4211 --estimate

If your process template uses a different field (for example Effort in Scrum), set storyPointsField in settings.json for the project.

Limitations

  • Description format: work item descriptions are HTML. They are converted to markdown for the agent, and automation comments are converted from markdown to HTML before posting.
  • Comments API: Azure DevOps work item comments use a preview API version (7.1-preview.3), pinned by the integration.
  • Comments: use --skip-comments to skip work item comments and state transitions for a run.

Troubleshooting

“Missing required Azure DevOps environment variables”

Ensure AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG, AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT, and AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT are set in .devintern-code/.env.

“Failed to move work item … to state”

State names differ per process template and work item type. Check the states available for the work item type in your project settings and match them exactly in settings.json.

401 or 403 errors

Verify the PAT has not expired and includes the Work Items (Read and write) scope for the target organization.