wit-invoke

name	wit-invoke
description	Call Azure DevOps REST APIs via az devops invoke command. Use when you need to access Azure DevOps features not available in the CLI, such as work item comments, search, boards, backlogs, capacities, or any wit/work/search API endpoint. Use when the user mentions "invoke", "REST API", "API call", or needs features like comments, search, board columns, or team capacity.

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