Developer Admin Access

Question

Developer Admin Access

Rob Salerno 20

My Developer Waleed has Admin access according to what I set up for him inside Azure Dev Ops but when he goes to Access it, he says its only Stakeholder Access.

https://dev.azure.com/cliqueprize

Rakesh Mishra 9,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-16T17:03:56.9066667+00:00
Hey Rob, it sounds like you’ve added Waleed to the Project Administrators group (which controls permissions) but he’s still on the Stakeholder access level (the “license” that gates which features he can actually see). In Azure DevOps, access levels (Stakeholder, Basic, etc.) are separate from project permissions (Contributor, Project Admin, etc.), so being a Project Admin doesn’t automatically bump you up from Stakeholder.

Here’s what to check and how to fix it:

Verify Waleed’s Access Level

In Azure DevOps, go to Organization settings > Users

Find Waleed in the list and look at the “Access level” column

If it reads Stakeholder, he will be limited to Stakeholder-only features

Change his Access Level to Basic (Developer)

From the Users list, click the … (ellipsis) next to his name

Select Change access level

Choose Basic (or Basic + Test Plans if you need testing features) and Save

If you’ve used up your five free Basic seats, you’ll get prompted to purchase additional Basic licenses

Watch Out for Group Rules

If your organization uses “Group rules” to auto-assign access levels, make sure no rule is forcing Waleed back down to Stakeholder

You can review and edit those under Organization settings > Group rules

First Sign-in & License Propagation

After you change the access level, Waleed needs to sign out and sign back in for it to take effect

If he’s never signed in before, he won’t show up in the Users list until his first login, so double-check the spelling of his email invite

Hope that helps and let me know in comments if it works or any further questions.

Reference:

Change access levels

Access levels overview

Group rules for access levels

Note: This content was drafted with the help of an AI system.
Rob Salerno 20 Reputation points

2026-03-16T19:52:02.9033333+00:00

We checked and he still can't access despite access.
Rob Salerno 20 Reputation points

2026-03-17T03:26:46.5433333+00:00

We can't figure it out. Here's the video:
https://www.cliqueprize.ai/video/Waleed_MS_Settings.mp4
Venkatesh Kudkyal 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-17T18:43:56.0733333+00:00

Hi Rob,

I’m following up to see whether the issue is still ongoing or if it is now resolved. Please feel free to share an update.

1 answer

Your answer

Rakesh Mishra 9,505 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-16T17:03:56.9066667+00:00

Hey Rob, it sounds like you’ve added Waleed to the Project Administrators group (which controls permissions) but he’s still on the Stakeholder access level (the “license” that gates which features he can actually see). In Azure DevOps, access levels (Stakeholder, Basic, etc.) are separate from project permissions (Contributor, Project Admin, etc.), so being a Project Admin doesn’t automatically bump you up from Stakeholder.

Here’s what to check and how to fix it:

Verify Waleed’s Access Level

In Azure DevOps, go to Organization settings > Users

Find Waleed in the list and look at the “Access level” column

If it reads Stakeholder, he will be limited to Stakeholder-only features

Change his Access Level to Basic (Developer)

From the Users list, click the … (ellipsis) next to his name

Select Change access level

Choose Basic (or Basic + Test Plans if you need testing features) and Save

If you’ve used up your five free Basic seats, you’ll get prompted to purchase additional Basic licenses

Watch Out for Group Rules

If your organization uses “Group rules” to auto-assign access levels, make sure no rule is forcing Waleed back down to Stakeholder

You can review and edit those under Organization settings > Group rules

First Sign-in & License Propagation

After you change the access level, Waleed needs to sign out and sign back in for it to take effect

If he’s never signed in before, he won’t show up in the Users list until his first login, so double-check the spelling of his email invite

Hope that helps and let me know in comments if it works or any further questions.

Reference:

Change access levels

Access levels overview

Group rules for access levels

Note: This content was drafted with the help of an AI system.
Rob Salerno 20 Reputation points

2026-03-16T19:52:02.9033333+00:00

We checked and he still can't access despite access.
Rob Salerno 20 Reputation points

2026-03-17T03:26:46.5433333+00:00

We can't figure it out. Here's the video:
https://www.cliqueprize.ai/video/Waleed_MS_Settings.mp4
Venkatesh Kudkyal 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-17T18:43:56.0733333+00:00

Hi Rob,

I’m following up to see whether the issue is still ongoing or if it is now resolved. Please feel free to share an update.

Answer 1

Hello Rob Salerno •,

After reviewing the video, the permissions assigned to Waleed inside the project appear to be correct (Contributor/Administrator permissions are configured properly).

However, the video only shows Project Settings → Permissions, which controls project-level permissions. The issue is most likely with the Organization-level Access License, which is managed separately.

Please check the following location instead:

Go to: Organization Settings → Users
Find Waleed’s account
Check the Access Level column
If it shows Stakeholder, change it to Basic

Project permissions alone will not override a Stakeholder license limitation.

If you do not see the option to change the access level, it may indicate:

No available Basic licenses in the organization
You are not an Organization Administrator
The user was added through Entra ID/Azure AD group inheritance

Once updated, ask Waleed to:

Sign out of Azure DevOps
Sign back in
Refresh the browser / clear cache

That should provide full developer functionality access.

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Developer Admin Access

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