azure-devops-artifacts

name	azure-devops-artifacts
description	Manage Azure Artifacts: list and create feeds, inspect package versions, promote packages between views, delete/unlist versions, and publish/download Universal Packages. Use when the user asks about Azure DevOps package feeds, NuGet/npm/Maven/Python/Universal packages, or feed views. REST/CLI-based — the Azure DevOps MCP Server has no Artifacts tools.
compatibility	Azure DevOps Services. Universal Packages publish/download requires Azure CLI with the azure-devops extension.

Azure Artifacts

Manage feeds, packages, and views in Azure Artifacts. Read azure-devops-foundation first for authentication.

No MCP tools exist for Azure Artifacts. The Azure DevOps MCP Server's pipelines_artifact tool handles build artifacts only (files attached to a build), not package feeds. For feeds and packages always use the REST API or az artifacts CLI below.

When to use

• Listing/creating feeds, checking feed permissions or upstream sources
• Listing packages and versions in a feed
• Promoting a package version to a view (@prerelease → @release)
• Deleting, unlisting, or recovering package versions
• Publishing or downloading Universal Packages

REST API

Two hosts with different roles — verify operations with microsoft_docs_search("Azure Artifacts REST API <operation>") before first use:

• feeds.dev.azure.com — feed management (feeds, views, permissions, package metadata)
• pkgs.dev.azure.com — package content and per-protocol operations (promote, delete, download)

Project-scoped feeds include /{project} in the path; organization-scoped feeds omit it.

Operation	Method and endpoint	api-version
List feeds	GET https://feeds.dev.azure.com/{org}[/{project}]/_apis/packaging/feeds	7.1
Create feed	POST .../packaging/feeds ({"name": "...", "hideDeletedPackageVersions": true})	7.1
List packages in feed	GET .../packaging/feeds/{feedId}/packages?includeAllVersions=true	7.1
List views	GET .../packaging/feeds/{feedId}/views	7.1
Promote version to view (NuGet example)	PATCH https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/{org}[/{project}]/_apis/packaging/feeds/{feedId}/nuget/packages/{name}/versions/{version}	7.2-preview.1
Delete version (NuGet example)	DELETE same URL as promote	7.2-preview.1

Promote sends a PackageVersionDetails object as application/json (not a JSON Patch array). Its views field holds a single JSON Patch operation that appends the target view to the package version's views:

# Promote my-lib 1.2.3 to the Release view (org-scoped NuGet feed)
curl -s -X PATCH -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ADO_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/{org}/_apis/packaging/feeds/{feedId}/nuget/packages/my-lib/versions/1.2.3?api-version=7.2-preview.1" \
  -d '{"views": {"op": "add", "path": "/views/-", "value": "Release"}}'

The same URL pattern exists per protocol: nuget, npm (batch endpoint npm/packagesbatch), maven/groups/{groupId}/artifacts/{artifactId}, pypi, upack (Universal), cargo.

Universal Packages (CLI required)

There is no REST endpoint to download Universal Packages — use the Azure CLI:

# Publish
az artifacts universal publish \
  --organization https://dev.azure.com/{org} --project {project} --scope project \
  --feed {feed} --name my-tool --version 1.0.0 --path ./dist \
  --description "CLI tooling bundle"

# Download (supports --file-filter for partial download)
az artifacts universal download \
  --organization https://dev.azure.com/{org} --project {project} --scope project \
  --feed {feed} --name my-tool --version 1.0.0 --path ./download

For broader CLI coverage (az devops, auth setup), see the azure-devops-cli skill.

Common workflows

Release promotion

1. Confirm the version exists: list packages with includeAllVersions=true.
2. Confirm quality gates passed (build/test status via azure-devops-pipelines).
3. PATCH-promote to Release view; consumers pinned to feed@Release pick it up automatically.

Clean up a bad release

1. Prefer unlist (hides from search, existing restores keep working) over delete when consumers may depend on it.
2. Delete moves the version to the recycle bin (recoverable for a limited time), but the version number is permanently reserved — you can never republish 1.2.3.

Guardrails

• Package versions are immutable. Deleting does not free the version number; plan a new patch version instead of republishing.
• Deleting/unlisting affects every consumer of the feed — confirm with the user and prefer unlist.
• PAT scope for package writes is Packaging (Read, write, & manage).
• Views in feeds of public projects are publicly visible; don't promote internal packages in public projects without checking visibility.
• Upstream-source packages cached in the feed are not yours to delete casually; removing them breaks restore for everyone.

Learn more

• microsoft_docs_search("Azure Artifacts Feed Management REST API")
• microsoft_docs_search("promote packages feed views REST API")
• microsoft_docs_search("Universal Packages publish download Azure CLI")
• microsoft_docs_search("Azure Artifacts delete recover packages")