How to set up the Azure DevOps integration

Connect Azure DevOps so your team can link work items to the journey-map steps they affect.

An Admin connects Azure DevOps once at the account level. After that, anyone in your workspace can search work items and link them to planning cards on any journey map.

In this guide

1. Set up the Azure DevOps integration

2. Verify the setup

3. Use Azure DevOps in planning cards

4. Troubleshooting

Set up the Azure DevOps integration

Prerequisites

• Admin role at the account level. Only Admins can configure integrations, and the connection applies to the whole account.

• An Azure DevOps organization and project, with permission to create a personal access token.

Azure DevOps uses a single authentication method: a personal access token, plus your organization and project names. The token carries your own Azure DevOps permissions, so it can only reach work items you can see.

Here's a quick look at the full setup before you start.

1

Open the Azure DevOps integration in Smaply

Go to Account Settings > Integrations and click Set up next to Azure DevOps. The Configure Azure DevOps page opens with empty fields for your organization, project, and personal access token.

Configure Azure DevOps, empty form

2

Create a personal access token in Azure DevOps

In a new tab, sign in to your organization at dev.azure.com/{your-organization}. Open User settings (the gear icon, top right next to your profile avatar) and select Personal access tokens, then click + New Token.

In the Create a new personal access token dialog, enter a Name, pick the Organization the token works against, and set an Expiration date. Under Scopes, choose Custom defined and select Work Items. Read is enough to import items into Smaply. Click Create.

Create a new personal access token

Important: copy the token before you close the dialog

Azure DevOps shows the token only once. Copy it and paste it straight into Smaply. If you lose it, create a new token and start this step again.

3

Enter your details and save

Back on the Configure Azure DevOps page, type your organization name into Azure DevOps Organization, your project name into Azure DevOps Project, and paste the token into the Personal Access Token field. Use the organization name (the {organization} part of dev.azure.com/{organization}), not the full URL. Click Save Configuration.

4

Confirm the connection

Smaply tests the connection and, once it succeeds, the page shows your saved details with a green confirmation. Azure DevOps is now available to everyone in your account.

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Verify the setup

Reopen the Configure Azure DevOps page from Account Settings > Integrations. A connected integration shows your saved organization and project with a masked token, and a green Connection setup message confirming you're connected to Azure DevOps, alongside Edit Configuration and Delete Configuration actions.

If you don't see the green confirmation, check the Troubleshooting section below.

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Use Azure DevOps in planning cards

Once Azure DevOps is connected, anyone in your workspace can add a planning card to a journey map, search your work items, and link the one it relates to. For the full flow, see How to use planning cards.

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Troubleshooting

The Configure Azure DevOps page shows the integration's current state. Pick the symptom below that matches what you're seeing.

Connection Error or the connection won't save - Connection issue

The organization name, project name, or token is wrong, or they don't belong together. Reopen Configure Azure DevOps, click Edit Configuration, and check each value:

• Azure DevOps Organization is the organization name on its own (the {organization} segment of dev.azure.com/{organization}), not the full URL.

• Azure DevOps Project matches a project you can open in that organization.

• The token is the most recent one you created, pasted with no extra spaces.

Save again. If it still fails, create a fresh token in Azure DevOps and re-enter all three values.

No items found when adding a planning card - Search issue

The connection works but Azure DevOps returns nothing for your search. Check that the search text matches a work item you can open in Azure DevOps, and that it lives in the project you connected. The connection runs with the token owner's permissions, so work items they can't see won't appear.

A connection that worked has stopped - Token expired or revoked

Personal access tokens expire on the date set when they were created, and a working connection breaks silently once the token lapses. Tokens that were revoked in Azure DevOps, or that belonged to a user who lost access to the project, fail the same way.

Create a new token from User settings > Personal access tokens in Azure DevOps, then reopen Configure Azure DevOps, click Edit Configuration, and paste in the new token.

You can't create a token or the Work Items scope is greyed out - Permission issue

Configuring the integration in Smaply needs an Admin role at the account level. If Set up or Edit Configuration isn't available, ask an account Admin to make the change.

On the Azure DevOps side, an organization admin can restrict who creates tokens and which scopes they can select. If you can't create a token or can't pick the Work Items scope, ask your Azure DevOps admin to allow it for your account.

For questions about how the connection behaves across your account, such as disconnecting Azure DevOps or what happens when you remove it, see How to manage integrations.

Still not working? Contact support at [e-mail]

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Related topics

How to manage integrations

Change, disconnect, or reconfigure an existing integration

How to use planning cards

Search and link issues from connected tools onto a journey map

Set up your first integration

Choose an integration type and connect your first tool