Define iteration paths (sprints) and configure team iterations
Article
Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019
Iteration Paths, also known as sprints, assign work items to specific time-box intervals. Define iteration paths at the project level and have each team select the paths they use. Iteration paths are shared among all selected teams. You can create a flat or hierarchical structure of iteration paths to support releases, subreleases, and sprints. If your team doesn't use sprints for planning and tracking work, retain the default team assignments and utilize product and portfolio backlogs and boards, though sprint planning tools won’t be applicable.
Define iteration paths and assign them to teams when you want to use the following tools:
To quickly update iteration dates, see Change sprint dates. However, if you need to define the iteration paths and tree structure, then follow the guidance provided in this article.
Prerequisites
Category
Requirements
Permissions
- To set team area or iteration paths: Team administrator or a member of the Project Administrators group. By default, the user who created the project has these permissions. - To add an area path under the root node or edit or delete any child node: Member of the Project Administrators group. - To add, edit, and manage area paths under a node: One or more of the following permissions set to Allow: - Create child nodes - Delete this node - Edit this node - View permissions in this node
New projects start with a single root area path matching the project name. Add other area paths under this root and use predefined iteration paths for tracking work by setting dates.
If you're new to managing projects and teams, follow these steps to configure your project and teams:
Assign area paths to teams: In team configuration, assign default and other area paths to each team. Follow Set team default iteration paths.
Assign iteration paths to work items: Use bulk modify to assign work items to iteration paths for visibility on backlogs and boards. Also, see Assign backlog items to a sprint.
As needed, you can do the following tasks at any time:
Add more child iteration nodes
Rename an iteration path (except the root path)
Move a child iteration path under another node
Delete a child iteration path
Change the default and selected iteration paths assigned to a team
Team backlog iteration versus default iteration
Each team has access to various Agile tools, as detailed in About teams and Agile tools. These tools reference the team's default area paths and selected iteration paths or sprints. Typically, teams use one area path and multiple iteration paths for work tracking, but you can use multiple area paths on backlogs and boards to support different scenarios.
Teams can set a default iteration separate from the backlog iteration. The backlog iteration determines which items appear on the team's backlogs and boards, while the default iteration assigns values to newly created work items.
All work items created within the team context are automatically assigned the team's default area path and default iteration path.
List project iterations
To list project iterations, do the following steps:
az boards iteration project list [--depth][--path][--project]
Parameters
depth: Optional. Depth of child nodes to be listed. Example: --depth 3.
path: Optional. Absolute path of an iteration. \Iteration\ must follow after the \ProjectName, which distinguishes it from an area path. Example: --path \ProjectName\Iteration\IterationName. If spaces are used within a node, then enclose in double-quotes, for example,--path "\Fabrikam Fiber\Iteration\Sprint 1". When not specified, lists iteration paths from the root level.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project. Example: --project "Fabrikam Fiber".
Example
For example, the following command lists the area paths to a depth of 3 for the Fabrikam Fiber project. For more information on other output format options, see Output formats for Azure CLI commands
Add and modify iterations from Project settings > Project configuration > Iterations.
For Scrum-based projects, you see the following set of sprints.
To schedule the start and end dates for each sprint that your teams use, highlight the sprint and choose Set dates. Or, select Actions
for the iteration path and choose Edit.
To select new dates, choose the calendar icon.
When you finish, you have a set of sprints scheduled - similar to the following image:
From Iterations, add iterations that teams can then select for their use.
Add and modify area paths from the Work > Iterations page from the project admin or settings context.
For Scrum-based projects, you see the following set of sprints.
To schedule the start and end dates for each sprint your teams use, Highlight the sprint and choose Set dates. Or, select Actions
context menu for the iteration path and choose Edit.
To select new dates, choose the calendar icon.
When you finish, you have a set of sprints scheduled - like this:
az boards iteration project create --name[--finish-date][--path][--project][--start-date]
Parameters
name: Required. Enter the name of the iteration path.
finish-date: Optional. Finish date of the iteration. Example: "--finish-date 2019-06-21".
path: Optional. Absolute path of an iteration. Example: \ProjectName\Iteration\IterationName. When not specified, adds an iteration at the root level.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project. Example: --project "Fabrikam Fiber".
start-date: Optional. Enter the start date of the iteration path. Example: "2019-06-03". Must be earlier than the finish-date.
Example
For example, the following command adds Sprint 36, which starts on September 1, 2019 and ends September 30, 2019 as an iteration path to the default project at the root node.
Azure DevOps CLI commands aren't supported for Azure DevOps Server.
List team iterations
Set team defaults from team settings. If you're not a team administrator, get added as one. Only team or project administrators can change team settings.
Define both areas and iterations from Project settings > Boards > Team configuration. Quickly navigate to it from a team work tracking backlog, board, or dashboard.
Open a backlog or board for a team and choose Team profile and then Team Settings.
Here we open the Board for the Web team and from there the team profile.
Choose Iterations and areas.
To switch the team context, use the team selector within the breadcrumbs.
az boards iteration team list --team[--project][--timeframe]
Parameters
team: Required. Name or ID of the team.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project.
timeframe: Optional. A filter for which iterations are returned based on relative time. Only Current is supported.
Example
For example, the following command lists the area paths for the Service Delivery team. For other output format options, see Output formats for Azure CLI commands
Azure CLI
az boards iteration team list --team"Service Delivery"--project"Fabrikam Fiber"--output table
ID Name Start Date Finish Date Time Frame Path
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c7063041-ff3a-4d7f-bb46-c433c7030d59 Sprint 12019-01-01T00:00:00+00:002019-01-18T00:00:00+00:00 past Fabrikam Fiber\Release 1\Sprint 1
dd10f1bf-bedd-4c6f-926f-b2abea81bb50 Sprint 22019-01-21T00:00:00+00:002019-02-08T00:00:00+00:00 past Fabrikam Fiber\Release 1\Sprint 2862e961a-ac7a-4fcc-9ebc-8afd0c12fed5 Sprint 32019-03-11T00:00:00+00:002019-03-29T00:00:00+00:00 current Fabrikam Fiber\Release 1\Sprint 3
Azure DevOps CLI commands aren't supported for Azure DevOps Server.
Select team sprints and set the default iteration path
You define sprints for the project and then select them to be active for each team. You assign the default iteration to use when creating new work items.
Open Project settings > Boards > Team Configuration > Iterations for a team.
Here, we navigate to the Fabrikam Fiber Team.
Backlog iteration. Only work items assigned to an iteration equal to or under this backlog iteration appear in the team's backlogs and boards.
Also, all work items added through a team's backlog or board are assigned the backlog iteration.
Default iteration. The default iteration defines the iteration to use when you create a work item from the team backlog or board. specify any iteration defined under the Backlog iteration path. To assign new work items to the current iteration, specify @CurrentIteration. The same macro used in queries to list work items assigned to the currently active iteration assigned to the team is used.
For example, you might want all new work items added to a future iteration path, which you use to triage and assign to specific sprints at periodic intervals.
Note
New work items added through the Work Items page or the New Work Items widget on a team dashboard don't reference the Default Iteration Path assigned to the team. Instead, new work items are assigned the last Iteration Path selected by the user. New work items added through a team's Sprints backlog or taskboard are always assigned the Iteration Path associated with the selected sprint.
Active sprints. Add an iteration for each sprint backlog you want active for the team. Add each sprint, one by one, by selecting it from the menu.
When you finish, you should see a list of sprints, similar to the following.
If you don't see the sprints or dates that you need, add or edit iterations for the project, provided you have the required permissions. For more information, see Define iteration (sprint) paths.
To see the newly activated sprint backlogs, refresh your team's product backlog page.
az boards iteration team add --id--team[--project]az boards iteration team set-default-iteration --team[--default-iteration-macro][--id][--project]az boards iteration team set-backlog-iteration --id--team[--project]
Parameters
team: Required. Name or ID of the team.
default-iteration-macro: Optional. Default iteration macro, the only valid entry is @CurrentIteration.
id: Optional. Enter the ID of an iteration path. To determine the ID, list the iteration paths using az boards iteration project list.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project. Example: --project "Fabrikam Fiber".
Example
For example, the following command adds \Fabrikam Fiber\Iteration\Release 2 path to the Service Delivery team for the Fabrikam Fiber project.
Azure DevOps CLI commands aren't supported for Azure DevOps Server.
Rename or move an iteration
When you rename an iteration, or move the node within the tree hierarchy, the system automatically updates the work items and queries that reference the existing paths.
To rename or move a project iteration path, use the az boards area project update command.
Azure CLI
az boards iteration project update --path[--child-id][--finish-date][--name][--project][--start-date]
Parameters
path: Required. Absolute path of an iteration. Example: \ProjectName\Iteration\IterationName.
child-id: Optional. Moves an existing iteration path and adds it as a child node for the specified path name or path ID.
name: Optional. New name of the iteration path.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project. Example: --project "Fabrikam Fiber".
finish-date: Optional. Finish date of the iteration. Example: "2019-06-21".
start-date: Optional. Start date of the iteration path. Example: "2019-06-03". Must be earlier than the finish-date.
yes: Optional. Don't prompt for confirmation.
Example
For example, the following command updates the start and end dates of the Sprint 3 iteration path for the Fabrikam Fiber project.
Azure CLI
az boards iteration project update --path"\Fabrikam Fiber\Iteration\Release 1\Sprint 3"--finish-date2019-08-31--start-date2019-08-01--project"Fabrikam Fiber"--output table
ID Identifier Name Start Date Finish Date Path Has Children
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------55340862e961a-ac7a-4fcc-9ebc-8afd0c12fed5 Sprint 32019-08-01T00:00:00Z 2019-08-31T00:00:00Z \Fabrikam Fiber\Iteration\Release 1\Sprint 3 False
Azure DevOps CLI commands aren't supported for Azure DevOps Server.
Delete an Iteration Path
Important
Deleting Area Paths or reconfiguring Iteration Paths causes irreversible data loss. For example, burndown and burnup widget charts, sprint burndown, and velocity charts for teams with changed Area Paths won't display accurate data. Historical trend charts reference the Area Path and Iteration Path as they were defined at the time for each work item. Once deleted, you can't retrieve historical data for these paths.
You can only delete area and iteration paths that are no longer used by any work items.
When you delete an Iteration Path, you must provide an Iteration Path to use to update the work items assigned to the Iteration Path you want to delete.
To delete an Iteration Path, open the web portal Project settings>Project configuration>Iterations page.
Choose the
context menu for the node, and select Delete or Remove.
In the dialog that opens, select the Iteration Path to reassign work items to, and then choose Delete path.
az boards iteration project delete --path[--project][--yes]
Parameters
path: Required. Absolute path of an iteration. Example: \ProjectName\Iteration\IterationName.
project: Optional. Name or ID of the project. Example: --project "Fabrikam Fiber".
yes: Optional. Don't prompt for confirmation.
Azure DevOps CLI commands aren't supported for Azure DevOps Server.
Export/import iteration paths
You can't export or import the structure of tree paths for one project to use with another project.
Using the Azure CLI, you can use the az boards iteration command to list the iterations defined for one project and then add them to another project. Once you add the iterations to another project, you can then use the az boards iteration team command to add them to a team and set the default and backlog iteration path for the team.
You can use the Classification Nodes (REST API) to list the iterations defined in one project. Once you add the iterations to another project, use the Teams (REST API) to add them to a team and set the default and backlog iteration path for the team.
Archive iteration paths
After a while, you might want to archive iteration paths that were used for sprints that are a year or more out of date. You can do so by moving the iteration path under a node that you label "Archive". All work items are updated with the moved iteration path. Also, teams can de-select those sprints that have past. All data is maintained in the data store with the new iteration path assignments.
Before you archive the iterations, consider if you captured all the reports that you want.