What's new in Azure DevOps docs

Welcome to what's new in the Azure DevOps docs. The following sections provide details on the previous three months of new and updated content.

The following what's new content was generated by Copilot. Copilot is powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible. For more information, see Copilot general use FAQs.

July 2026

Highlights

New features

• Search Git commits by message content — New guidance for finding Git commits by their message content.
• Available pull request status checks — New reference for pull request status checks.

Other notable updates

• Secure repositories and pull requests — New comprehensive guidance for securing repositories and pull requests.
• Optimize permissions for performance — New recommendations for configuring permissions to improve performance.
• Query fields, operators, macros, and variables — Major update to the query fields, operators, macros, and variables reference.
• Use personal access tokens — Major update to personal access token guidance.
• Set and manage branch policies — Significant update to branch policy guidance.
• Bulk Modify Azure Boards Work Items with Excel — Significant update to bulk work item editing guidance for Excel.

Updates by scenario

CI/CD

• Create a multi-stage Classic release pipeline
• GradleAuthenticate@0 - Gradle Authenticate v0 task

Work tracking

• Query fields, operators, macros, and variables
• Bulk Modify Azure Boards Work Items with Excel
• Delete test plans, test cases, and other test artifacts in Azure Boards
• Manage Scrum process work item types and workflow
• Display rollup columns to show progress, counts, or totals in Azure Boards
• Connect Azure Boards to Excel (legacy)
• Resolve common Azure DevOps Office integration issues
• Edit user stories and other work items in bulk
• Add or remove columns within a work item list in Azure Boards
• Add and manage inline tests in Azure Boards
• Quickstart - Use your Kanban board
• Install the Azure Boards App for GitHub
• Scrum work processes overview
• Link GitHub commits, PRs, branches, and issues to work items
• Set work item automation rules
• How workflow category states are used in Azure Boards backlogs and boards
• Update Work Items with Templates in Azure Boards

Code and version control

• Secure repositories and pull requests
• Available pull request status checks
• Set and manage branch policies
• Manage and Store Large Files in Git
• Get started with Copilot code review for pull requests
• Use Kerberos authentication with Git LFS on Azure DevOps Server

Security and admin

• Optimize permissions for performance
• Use personal access tokens
• Get started with Stakeholder access
• Change the owner of an organization
• Work tracking, process, and project limits

Other

• Delete and recover packages
• Connect to Azure Artifacts feeds with NuGet.exe
• Configure security
• Troubleshoot the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server
• Search Git commits by message content

By documentation area

• Administration
• Azure Artifacts
• Azure Boards
• Azure DevOps MCP Server
• Azure Pipelines
• Azure Pipelines tasks reference
• Azure Repos
• Managed DevOps Pools
• Project

Administration

New articles

• Optimize permissions for performance

Updated articles

• Use personal access tokens
• Get started with Stakeholder access
• Change the owner of an organization
• Work tracking, process, and project limits

Azure Artifacts

Updated articles

• Delete and recover packages
• Connect to Azure Artifacts feeds with NuGet.exe

Azure Boards

Updated articles

• Query fields, operators, macros, and variables
• Bulk Modify Azure Boards Work Items with Excel
• Delete test plans, test cases, and other test artifacts in Azure Boards
• Manage Scrum process work item types and workflow
• Display rollup columns to show progress, counts, or totals in Azure Boards
• Connect Azure Boards to Excel (legacy)
• Resolve common Azure DevOps Office integration issues
• Edit user stories and other work items in bulk
• Add or remove columns within a work item list in Azure Boards
• Add and manage inline tests in Azure Boards
• Quickstart - Use your Kanban board
• Install the Azure Boards App for GitHub
• Scrum work processes overview
• Link GitHub commits, PRs, branches, and issues to work items
• Set work item automation rules
• How workflow category states are used in Azure Boards backlogs and boards
• Update Work Items with Templates in Azure Boards

Azure DevOps MCP Server

Updated articles

• Troubleshoot the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server

Azure Pipelines

Updated articles

• Create a multi-stage Classic release pipeline

Azure Pipelines tasks reference

New tasks

• GradleAuthenticate@0 - Gradle Authenticate v0 task — Adds a task that authenticates Gradle builds with Azure Artifacts feeds by using the buildFiles, repositoryUrl, adoServiceConnection, pluginToolVersion, and gradleUserHome inputs.

Updated tasks

• InvokeRESTAPI@1 - Invoke REST API v1 task — Adds connectedServiceNameAzureDevOps as a connectionType value and the azureDevOpsServiceConnection input for invoking Azure DevOps REST APIs.
• SSH@0 - SSH v0 task — Adds the enableRemoteVsoCommands input, which defaults to false, to control whether logging commands in remote output are executed.

Deprecated tasks

• PowerShellOnTargetMachines@1 - PowerShell on Target Machines v1 task — Deprecated. Use PowerShellOnTargetMachines@3 instead.

Azure Repos

New articles

• Secure repositories and pull requests
• Available pull request status checks

Updated articles

• Set and manage branch policies
• Manage and Store Large Files in Git
• Get started with Copilot code review for pull requests
• Use Kerberos authentication with Git LFS on Azure DevOps Server

Managed DevOps Pools

Updated articles

• Configure security

Project

New articles

• Search Git commits by message content

June 2026

Highlights

New features

• Introduction to Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM) — New documentation set introducing Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM) from Azure DevOps to GitHub.
• Get started with Copilot code review for pull requests — New guidance on using Copilot to review pull requests in Azure Repos.
• Copilot Autofix for code scanning in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps (Preview) — New article introducing Copilot Autofix for code scanning alerts.
• Agent software version 5 — New reference for the v5 pipeline agent.
• GitHub-hosted agents for Azure Pipelines (pay-as-you-go) — New article covering pay-as-you-go GitHub-hosted agents for Azure Pipelines.
• Convert service connections from the Azure DevOps issuer to the Microsoft Entra issuer — New guidance for migrating workload identity service connections to the Microsoft Entra issuer.

Other notable updates

• Use backlogs to manage projects — Major refresh of backlog management guidance.
• Default processes and process templates — Significant revisions to default processes and process templates.
• Review and comment on pull requests — Substantial updates to pull request review guidance.
• Configure and pay for parallel jobs — Major updates to parallel jobs configuration and billing.

Updates by scenario

CI/CD

• Agent software version 5
• GitHub-hosted agents for Azure Pipelines (pay-as-you-go)
• Convert service connections from the Azure DevOps issuer to the Microsoft Entra issuer
• Configure and pay for parallel jobs
• Set a Resource Manager workload identity service connection
• Troubleshoot Azure Resource Manager service connections

Work tracking

• Use backlogs to manage projects
• Default processes and process templates
• Update Work Items with Templates in Azure Boards
• Connect Azure Boards to Excel (legacy)
• Understand CMMI process template artifacts
• Scale Agile practices with Azure Boards
• Bulk Modify Azure Boards Work Items with Excel
• Use GitHub Copilot with Azure Boards
• Configure your backlog view in Azure Boards
• About work items and work item types

Code and version control

• Introduction to Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Get started with Copilot code review for pull requests
• Copilot Autofix for code scanning in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps (Preview)
• Review and comment on pull requests
• Use SSH key authentication

Other

• Publish and restore Cargo packages
• Use npm scopes
• Set up the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server (preview)
• Get started with Azure DevOps Data Migration Tool
• Markdown Syntax for Files, Widgets, Wikis

By documentation area

Azure Artifacts

Updated articles

• Publish and restore Cargo packages
• Use npm scopes

Azure Boards

Updated articles

• Use backlogs to manage projects
• Default processes and process templates
• Update Work Items with Templates in Azure Boards
• Connect Azure Boards to Excel (legacy)
• Understand CMMI process template artifacts
• Scale Agile practices with Azure Boards
• Bulk Modify Azure Boards Work Items with Excel
• Use GitHub Copilot with Azure Boards
• Configure your backlog view in Azure Boards
• Quickstart - Use your Kanban board
• About work items and work item types
• About Kanban boards
• Agile Workflow in Azure Boards
• Best practices for Agile product management
• Configure and customize Azure Boards

Azure DevOps MCP Server

Updated articles

• Set up the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server (preview)

Azure Pipelines

New articles

• Agent software version 5
• GitHub-hosted agents for Azure Pipelines (pay-as-you-go)
• Convert service connections from the Azure DevOps issuer to the Microsoft Entra issuer

Updated articles

• Configure and pay for parallel jobs
• Set a Resource Manager workload identity service connection
• Troubleshoot Azure Resource Manager service connections

Azure Pipelines tasks reference

Updated tasks

• AdvancedSecurity-Codeql-Init@1 - Advanced Security Initialize CodeQL v1 task — Adds the cleanupOldAutomaticInstalls input to remove older automatically installed CodeQL versions when enableAutomaticCodeQLInstall is enabled.
• IISWebAppManagementOnMachineGroup@0 - IIS web app manage v0 task — Removes the invalid Protocol, IPAddress, Port, ServerNameIndication, HostNameWithOutSNI, HostNameWithHttp, HostNameWithSNI, and SSLCertThumbPrint inputs.
• NuGetCommand@2 - NuGet v2 task — Adds the requestTimeout input to set the package publishing timeout in seconds.
• UseNode@1 - Use Node.js ecosystem v1 task — Adds the nodejsMirror input to select an alternative source for Node.js binaries.

Deprecated tasks

• ContainerStructureTest@0 - Container Structure Test v0 task — Deprecated.
• PowerShellOnTargetMachines@2 - PowerShell on Target Machines v2 task — Deprecated. Use PowerShellOnTargetMachines@3 instead.

Azure Repos

New articles

• Get started with Copilot code review for pull requests
• Copilot Autofix for code scanning in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps (Preview)
• Introduction to Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Prerequisites for Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Start an Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Monitor an Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Cutover to GitHub for an Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Post-migration activities for Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)
• Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM) CLI reference
• Troubleshoot Enterprise Live Migrations (ELM)

Updated articles

• Review and comment on pull requests
• Use SSH key authentication

Migrate

Updated articles

• Get started with Azure DevOps Data Migration Tool

Project

Updated articles

• Markdown Syntax for Files, Widgets, Wikis

May 2026

Highlights

New features

• Troubleshoot the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server — New troubleshooting guidance for the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server.
• Set Up Automated Testing With Azure Test Plans — New overview for setting up automated testing with Azure Test Plans.

Other notable updates

• Access a private key vault from your pipeline — Major refresh of guidance for accessing a private key vault from your pipeline.
• Triggers in Azure Pipelines — Substantial revisions to triggers in Azure Pipelines.
• Use Azure Key Vault Secrets in Azure Pipelines — Significant updates to using Azure Key Vault secrets in Azure Pipelines.
• Change project visibility to private — Major refresh of project visibility guidance.
• Use backlogs to manage projects — Significant updates to the backlog management overview.
• Set up the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server (preview) — Major refresh of remote Azure DevOps MCP Server preview setup.

Updates by scenario

CI/CD

• Access a private key vault from your pipeline
• Triggers in Azure Pipelines
• Use Azure Key Vault Secrets in Azure Pipelines
• Query and Use Azure Key Vault Secrets in Your Pipeline
• Retention Policies
• AzureFunction@2 - Invoke Azure Function v2 task
• AzureMysqlDeployment@2 - Azure Database for MySQL deployment v2 task

Work tracking

• Use backlogs to manage projects
• Filter backlogs, boards, and plans for focused work management
• Copy or clone work items

Code and version control

• Configure GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps features
• Security overview on GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps

Testing

• Set Up Automated Testing With Azure Test Plans

Security and admin

• Change project visibility to private
• Default rule reference
• Restrict organization creation
• Automate security auditing and administration

Extensibility and integration

• .NET client libraries

Other

• Publish and download NuGet packages with Azure Artifacts
• Connect to an Azure Artifacts feeds with NuGet CLI
• Publish packages to NuGet.org
• Connect to Azure Artifacts feeds - dotnet
• Configure images
• Troubleshoot the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server
• Set up the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server (preview)
• Test run migration
• Resolve migration errors
• Manage work item fields using witadmin

By documentation area

Administration

Updated articles

• Change project visibility to private
• Default rule reference
• Restrict organization creation
• Automate security auditing and administration

Azure Artifacts

Updated articles

• Publish and download NuGet packages with Azure Artifacts
• Connect to an Azure Artifacts feeds with NuGet CLI
• Publish packages to NuGet.org
• Connect to Azure Artifacts feeds - dotnet

Azure Boards

Updated articles

• Use backlogs to manage projects
• Filter backlogs, boards, and plans for focused work management
• Copy or clone work items

Azure DevOps MCP Server

New articles

• Troubleshoot the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server

Updated articles

• Set up the remote Azure DevOps MCP Server (preview)

Azure Pipelines

Updated articles

• Access a private key vault from your pipeline
• Triggers in Azure Pipelines
• Use Azure Key Vault Secrets in Azure Pipelines
• Query and Use Azure Key Vault Secrets in Your Pipeline
• Retention Policies

Azure Pipelines tasks reference

New tasks

• AzureFunction@2 - Invoke Azure Function v2 task — Adds a task that invokes HTTP-triggered Azure Functions in agentless jobs by using inputs such as function, method, and waitForCompletion.
• AzureMysqlDeployment@2 - Azure Database for MySQL deployment v2 task — Adds a task that runs SQL scripts against Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server by using inputs such as ServerName, SqlUsername, SqlFile, and SqlInline.

Deprecated tasks

• AzureCLI@1 - Azure CLI v1 task — Deprecated. Use AzureCLI@2 or AzureCLI@3 instead.
• AzureMysqlDeployment@1 - Azure Database for MySQL deployment v1 task — Deprecated. Use AzureMysqlDeployment@2 instead.
• DownloadGithubNpmPackage@1 - Download Github Npm Package v1 task — Deprecated. Use Npm@1 with GitHub service connections instead.
• DownloadGitHubNugetPackage@1 - Download GitHub Nuget Packages v1 task — Deprecated. Use NuGetCommand@2 or DotNetCoreCLI@2 with GitHub service connections instead.

Azure Repos

Updated articles

• Configure GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps features
• Security overview on GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps

Azure Test Plans

New articles

• Set Up Automated Testing With Azure Test Plans

Integrate

Updated articles

• .NET client libraries

Managed DevOps Pools

Updated articles

• Configure images

Migrate

Updated articles

• Test run migration
• Resolve migration errors

Reference

Updated articles

• Manage work item fields using witadmin