AzureDevOps- Work item rule which only allows the work item state to progress if there is a specific work item linked

Question

In Azure Dev Ops, in defining a customised process I have created a work item 'change request' for which I have defined a number of states, two of which are 'code review' and 'test'. The 'change request' work item will progress from 'code review' to 'test' but I would like to create a rule which only allows the 'change request' work item to move from 'code review' to 'test' if there is a 'code review' work item linked to the 'change request' work item. I have looked at creating a rule for the work item but cannot see a way to do this from the drop down options available. Has anyone been able to do something like this?

TIA

In rules for the 'code review' work item I have considered the options for when a work item state is moved from code review to test but there are no options I can see which check the linked work items apart from external/internal link count which is not specific enough.

Answer 1

Currently, there's no build in feature to achieve your goal directly.

As a workaround, you could consider the below:

1.Create a custom filed in "Change Request" work item named "Check if linked"

2.Create a work item rule in "Change Request" work item to "make required" to define a value of the above "Check if linked" field to allow the work item state could change from "Code Review" to "Test".

3.When changing state, you will receive a warning message below to remind the users to check if "Code Review" work item being linked.

4.You need to link the "Code Review" work item, set a value for "Check if linked" field to process state change.

If you would like a direct feature to achieve your demands, try creating a suggestion here.

Answer 2

In my case, I wanted to enforce linking of Github pull requests when a certain state was set. So rather than setting a custom picklist field to remind the user to add the linked item, I simply created a custom text field where the pull request URL could be entered, and required that when the state is set.

Unfortunately ADO doesn't automatically recognize that it's a hyperlink, so I added the Clickable Links extension, and created a custom control under the text field which allows for convenient clicking of the PR hyperlink.

In the screenshot below, I created a custom group called "Pull Request", and inside it put the required text field "Pull Request URL"; and below it, the "Generated Hyperlink" custom control.