# AZD: Boards and work items

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://edgafner.github.io/llms.txt).

> **TL;DR**
> Open: `View | Tool Windows | AZD Boards`
>
>
>
> Configure: `Settings | Version Control | AZD | Boards and Work Items`

The AZD Boards tool window lists the work items of your Azure DevOps projects. It uses the same connection as the pull request and pipeline tool windows, and appears in projects with an Azure DevOps Git remote.

## Find work items

Procedure: Filter and sort work items

1. Open the AZD Boards tool window.

2. Click the filter icon and select a quick filter: All, Assigned to me or Recent activity (the default).

* All: work items of the project that the repository belongs to.

* Assigned to me: work items assigned to you in all projects of the organization or collection.

* Recent activity: work items you recently viewed or changed in all projects of the organization or collection.

The list leaves out work items in the Closed, Done and Removed states. A work item from another project shows the project name as a tag.

3. Narrow the list with the filter chips: Types, States, Created by, Area, Iteration and Assigned to. Assigned to also offers Unassigned.

4. To change the order, click the sort icon and select Default (newest first), Changed Date, ID or Priority. Select Descending to reverse it.

Right-click a work item to Open Work Item on Azure DevOps, Copy Work Item URL or Refresh the list.

## View and edit a work item

Procedure: Edit a work item

1. Double-click a work item.

Its details open in a new tab of the tool window, and its timeline opens in the editor as Work Item #<id> timeline.

2. Change fields such as the state, area path, iteration path, priority or assignee. To see the other fields of the work item type, expand Show all fields.

3. Click Apply at the bottom of the tab, or click Revert to discard your edits.

If someone else changed the work item in the meantime, AZD offers Reapply on top of latest or Discard my changes.

Right-click in the details tab to Refresh Work Item, Open Work Item on Azure DevOps or Copy Work Item URL.

## Links, timeline and comments

The lower part of the details tab lists linked work items under Related Work, with the link type, such as Parent or Child, and linked pull requests under Development. Click a link to open the work item or pull request. A pull request of the connected repository opens in the AZD Pull Requests tool window when [Open AZD links in tool window](azd-settings-configuration.html#general-configuration) is selected; otherwise, it opens in the browser.

The Work Item #<id> timeline editor tab shows the comments and the history of the work item. To open it again after you close it, click Timeline ↗ at the top of the details tab.

Procedure: Comment on a work item

1. In the timeline tab, type in the comment box at the bottom. Type `@` to mention a person.

2. Click Add Comment, or press `Ctrl+Enter` (macOS: `⌘ Enter`).

To show only some events, click the filter icon at the top right of the timeline and select one or more of Comments, State Changes, Field Changes, Link Changes and System Fields. Select All Events to show everything again.

## Create a work item

Procedure: Create a work item

1. In the AZD Boards title bar, click New Work Item.

2. Select the Type, enter the Title, and set the State. These three fields are required.

3. Optional: fill in Description, Assigned To, Area Path, Iteration Path, Priority and Tags.

4. Click Create.

The new work item opens in its own tab.

## Use the Kanban board

The Kanban board shows the columns and cards of an Azure Boards team board in an editor tab. You can open the board of any project in your organization.

Procedure: Open the Kanban board

1. In the AZD Boards title bar, click Open Boards Views Hub.

The Kanban editor tab opens.

2. Select the Project, Team and Board.

3. Optional: filter the cards by Assigned to, Types, States, Tags or Iteration. Iteration includes `@CurrentIteration`. In each filter popup, All and Clear select or clear every value.

Drag a card to another column to change its state. Click Refresh to reload the board.

Right-click a card for more actions:

Open
: Opens the work item details.

Move to column
: Moves the card to the column you select.

Edit title…
: Renames the work item.

Delete…
: Moves the work item to the Azure DevOps recycle bin after you confirm.

The board uses the IDE built-in browser (JCEF). If it shows a message instead of the board, see [A view shows a message instead of content](azd-faq.html#jcef-views).

## Add work items to a commit message

Reference work items in a commit message, from a template or with AI. The AZD button (the AZD logo) appears in the commit message toolbar when Enable AI assistance is selected and the Commit message prompt is enabled in `Settings | Version Control | AZD | AI Settings`; see [Configure prompts](azd-ai.html#configure-prompts). The work item option also needs Enable work item commit message action, which is on by default.

Procedure: Write a commit message from work items

1. In the Commit tool window, click the arrow next to the AZD button in the commit message toolbar and select Select Work Item....

2. In the Select Work Item for Commit Message dialog, select one or more work items. By default the list shows your own work items and hides those in the Done, Closed, Removed and Resolved states. Clear Only my work items or use the state filter to see more.

3. In Generate with AI, select None - Use template only to fill in the template, or select an AI provider to write the message from the work items and your changes.

4. Click Generate Message.

Change the template in `Settings | Version Control | AZD | Boards and Work Items`, in the Commit Message Template group. The default template is `{id} - {title}`; the placeholders are `{id}`, `{title}`, `{type}` and `{state}`. Max work items per commit limits the selection (5 by default). These settings also control which work items you can link to a pull request or commit; see [Boards and Work Items settings](azd-settings-configuration.html#boards-and-work-items).

![AZD Boards and Work Items settings page with the Commit Message Template group](images/azd_settings_boards.png)

To generate a commit message from your changes only, see [Generate commit messages](ai-title-description-generation.html#commit-message).

## Use work items as IDE tasks

With the Issue Trackers plugin (formerly Task Management), you can open Azure DevOps work items as IDE tasks and switch context between them. AZD adds an AzureDevOps server type to it. The Issue Trackers plugin is not bundled with every IDE; install it from JetBrains Marketplace if your IDE lacks it.

Procedure: Add Azure DevOps as a task server

1. Open `Settings | Tools | Tasks | Servers`.

2. Click + and select AzureDevOps.

3. Fill in Host (`https://dev.azure.com` by default), Organization and PAT token, and click Test.

4. After a successful test, select the project in Project. Include issues not assigned to me is selected by default; clear it to list only the work items assigned to you.

5. Click OK.

Open a work item as a task with `Tools | Tasks & Contexts | Open Task…`. To change its state in Azure DevOps at the same time, select Update issue state in the Open Task dialog.

While a work item is the active task, AI-generated commit messages refer to it. With the default prompt, they start with the work item ID. See [Generate commit messages](ai-title-description-generation.html#commit-message).

## See also

### Related topics

[Boards and Work Items settings](azd-settings-configuration.html#boards-and-work-items) [Generate commit messages](ai-title-description-generation.html#commit-message)

### Useful resources

[Azure Boards documentation (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/boards/) [Tasks and contexts (IntelliJ IDEA help)](https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/managing-tasks-and-context.html)