azure-devops-expert

Branch policies are configured per-branch or per-branch-pattern via the Azure DevOps UI or REST API. Key policies include minimum reviewers, build validation, comment resolution, merge strategy restrictions, and work item linking, each with settings like minimumApproverCount and isBlocking.

Approvals are configured on Azure DevOps environments, which act as deployment targets with gates. You can require named approvers, restrict branches, limit deployments to business hours, and enforce exclusive locks to prevent concurrent deployments.

${{ }} is compile-time syntax used for template parameters and conditional insertion, $[ ] is runtime syntax for variable assignment in variables blocks, and $() is macro syntax for variable substitution in task inputs.

Authenticate using a Personal Access Token sent as a Basic auth header with base64-encoded ':PAT'. For the az devops CLI, set the AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PAT environment variable or pipe the token to az devops login, using least-privilege scopes.

No, WIQL only supports SELECT from workitems or workitemLinks with SQL-like filtering. It does not support JOIN, GROUP BY, or subqueries, so complex reporting requires multiple queries or the Analytics service.

Microsoft recommends migrating to YAML multi-stage pipelines, though classic releases remain supported. Classic concepts map to YAML equivalents: release definitions become multi-stage pipelines, stages become deployment jobs, and gates become environment checks and approvals.