MCPInstall

boards-work-item-summary

by microsoft OfficialDevOps & Cloud

Summarize a single Azure DevOps work item (and its links and comments) by ID.

Installs
115
Last 24h
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Trending rank
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Security
Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-devops-skills --skill boards-work-item-summary
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads boards-work-item-summary automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Get work item

This skill always works with one specific work item ID.

  • If the user provides an ID (for example: "for 115770" or "work item 115770"), use that ID directly.
  • If the user does not provide an ID, prompt the user once to provide the work item ID.
  • If the ID is still not provided after prompting, stop and return a clear message stating that a work item ID is required and do not call any tools.

Tools

Use Azure DevOps MCP Server tools for all interactions with Azure DevOps.

  • wit_work_item (action: get): Get a work item from Azure DevOps by its ID.
  • wit_work_item (action: list_comments): Get the list of comments for a work item by its ID.
  • wit_work_item (action: get_batch): Get work item details in batch by their IDs. Use this tool to get the details of linked work items, using the links returned from wit_work_item with action get.

Steps

  1. Call wit_work_item with action get and expand=all for the requested ID so that you retrieve fields, relations, and links in a single call.

  2. If the work item has a parent (for example, System.Parent or a System.LinkTypes.Hierarchy-Reverse relation), include the parent ID in the set of linked IDs to summarize. You do not need a separate call; instead, rely on wit_work_item with action get_batch in the next step.

  3. From the work item relations array, collect all linked work item IDs (parent, child, related, and any others). Call wit_work_item with action get_batch once with that list of IDs to get the details of all linked work items.

  4. Call wit_work_item with action list_comments once to get the comments for the original work item.

Display results

When displaying the results:

  • Show the following fields for the main work item: Id, Title, State, Assigned To (just the display name, not the email), Work Item Type, Created Date formatted as MM/DD/YYYY, Priority, and Tags.

  • Provide a Links table. For each linked work item, display:

    • Id as a clickable hyperlink in this exact format: [{ID}](https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_workitems/edit/{ID})
    • Link type (for example: Parent, Child, Related, or the underlying relation name)
    • Work item type
    • Title
    • State

    Group and order the rows in this sequence: Parent links first, then Child links, then Related links, then any other link types.

  • If there are pull requests linked to the work item (for example, via artifact links or specific PR relations), list them in a separate Pull Requests table with at least the PR ID, title, status, and a clickable link to the PR.

  • Provide a short, plain-language summary of the work item’s description, system information, and repro steps (if those fields exist). Focus on the key intent, scope, and any critical technical or repro details.

  • For comments:

    • If there are one or more comments, state the total number of comments and give a brief overview of the main themes or decisions mentioned.
    • If there are no comments, explicitly state that there are no comments for this work item.

FAQ

What does the boards-work-item-summary skill do?

Summarize a single Azure DevOps work item (and its links and comments) by ID.

How do I install boards-work-item-summary?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/azure-devops-skills --skill boards-work-item-summary in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/boards-work-item-summary/ (personal) or .claude/skills/boards-work-item-summary/ (project).

Which AI agents can use boards-work-item-summary?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is boards-work-item-summary safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains boards-work-item-summary?

It is published by microsoft in microsoft/azure-devops-skills, and it is an official skill from the maker of the technology it covers. It has 115 recorded installs.

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