Azure DevOps REST API via az devops invoke (Verified)

CRITICAL LIMITATIONS - READ FIRST

1. --in-file requires actual file path - Does NOT accept stdin (-):

   # WRONG - will fail:
   echo '{}' | az devops invoke --in-file -
   
   # CORRECT:
   echo '{"searchText": "query"}' > /tmp/request.json
   az devops invoke --in-file /tmp/request.json
   

2. Comments API doesn't work via invoke - Use --discussion on update instead:

   # WRONG - returns 404:
   az devops invoke --area wit --resource comments --route-parameters workItemId=123
   
   # CORRECT - add comment via update:
   az boards work-item update --id 123 --discussion "My comment" -o json
   

3. Route parameters must match exactly - Missing or extra params cause KeyError

Command Pattern

az devops invoke \
  --area {AREA} \
  --resource {RESOURCE} \
  --route-parameters {key}={value} \
  --http-method {GET|POST|PUT|PATCH|DELETE} \
  --in-file {file.json} \
  --api-version {VERSION} \
  -o json

Verified Working Examples

Search Work Items (VERIFIED)

Create search payload:

echo '{"searchText": "pipeline", "$top": 10}' > /tmp/search.json

Execute search:

az devops invoke \
  --area search \
  --resource workitemsearchresults \
  --http-method POST \
  --in-file /tmp/search.json \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  -o json

With JMESPath query for clean output:

az devops invoke \
  --area search \
  --resource workitemsearchresults \
  --http-method POST \
  --in-file /tmp/search.json \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  --query "results[].{id:fields.\"system.id\", title:fields.\"system.title\", state:fields.\"system.state\"}" \
  -o table

List Boards (VERIFIED)

az devops invoke \
  --area work \
  --resource boards \
  --route-parameters project=ProjectName team="TeamName" \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  -o json

Get Board Columns (VERIFIED)

az devops invoke \
  --area work \
  --resource columns \
  --route-parameters project=ProjectName team="TeamName" board=Features \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  -o json

Get Backlogs (VERIFIED)

az devops invoke \
  --area work \
  --resource backlogs \
  --route-parameters project=ProjectName team="TeamName" \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  -o json

Get Team Capacity

az devops invoke \
  --area work \
  --resource capacities \
  --route-parameters project=ProjectName team="TeamName" iterationId={GUID} \
  --api-version 7.0 \
  -o json

Verified Areas and Resources

work (Boards & Backlogs)

Resource	Route Parameters	Verified
boards	project, team	YES
columns	project, team, board	YES
backlogs	project, team	YES
capacities	project, team, iterationId	-
teamdaysoff	project, team, iterationId	-

search

Resource	Method	Verified
workitemsearchresults	POST	YES

wit (Work Item Tracking)

Resource	Note
comments	NOT WORKING via invoke - use az boards work-item update --discussion instead

API Discovery

To see ALL available API areas and resources:

az devops invoke -o json > api-discovery.json

This returns 214 areas with 1,407+ resources.

Tips

1. Use temp files for POST bodies - Create in /tmp/, clean up after
2. Quote team names with spaces - team="Team Name"
3. Check resource names - Some use camelCase, others lowercase
4. Use --query for filtering - JMESPath queries reduce output
5. Try 7.0 first - Fall back to preview versions if needed