Azure DevOps organization and projects - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

When you want to manage your software development work in one place, Azure DevOps helps by organizing your teams and projects. It lets you keep code, tasks, and builds tidy and easy to find.

When you want to keep your team’s code and work organized in one online place.

When you need to track tasks and bugs for a software project.

When you want to set up automated builds and tests for your app.

When you want to share code and collaborate with others securely.

When you want to manage multiple projects under one company or team.

Commands

This command sets your default Azure DevOps organization and project so you don't have to type them every time.

Terminal

az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg project=exampleproject

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

→

--defaults - Sets default values for organization and project

This command creates a new project named 'exampleproject' inside the specified Azure DevOps organization.

Terminal

az devops project create --name exampleproject --organization https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg

Expected Output

{

  "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",

  "name": "exampleproject",

  "url": "https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg/exampleproject"

}

→

--name - Specifies the project name

→

--organization - Specifies the Azure DevOps organization URL

This command lists all projects in the specified Azure DevOps organization so you can see what projects exist.

Terminal

az devops project list --organization https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg

Expected Output

[

  {

    "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",

    "name": "exampleproject",

    "url": "https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg/exampleproject"

  }

]

→

--organization - Specifies the Azure DevOps organization URL

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else, remember: an Azure DevOps organization holds projects, and projects hold your code and work items.

Common Mistakes

Not setting the default organization and project before running commands.

Commands will fail or require you to specify the organization and project every time.

Run 'az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/exampleorg project=exampleproject' once to set defaults.

Trying to create a project with a name that already exists in the organization.

Azure DevOps will reject duplicate project names within the same organization.

Choose a unique project name or check existing projects with 'az devops project list'.

Summary

Set your default Azure DevOps organization and project to simplify commands.

Create new projects inside your organization to organize your work.

List projects to see what is available in your organization.