awesome-copilot/skills/azure-devops-cli/references/advanced-usage.md

Advanced Usage: Output, Queries & Parameters

Table of Contents

• Output Formats
• JMESPath Queries
• Advanced JMESPath Queries
• Global Arguments
• Common Parameters
• Git Aliases
• Getting Help

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Output Formats

All commands support multiple output formats:

# Table format (human-readable)
az pipelines list --output table

# JSON format (default, machine-readable)
az pipelines list --output json

# JSONC (colored JSON)
az pipelines list --output jsonc

# YAML format
az pipelines list --output yaml

# YAMLC (colored YAML)
az pipelines list --output yamlc

# TSV format (tab-separated values)
az pipelines list --output tsv

# None (no output)
az pipelines list --output none

JMESPath Queries

Filter and transform output:

# Filter by name
az pipelines list --query "[?name=='myPipeline']"

# Get specific fields
az pipelines list --query "[].{Name:name, ID:id}"

# Chain queries
az pipelines list --query "[?name.contains('CI')].{Name:name, ID:id}" --output table

# Get first result
az pipelines list --query "[0]"

# Get top N
az pipelines list --query "[0:5]"

Advanced JMESPath Queries

Filtering and Sorting

# Filter by multiple conditions
az pipelines list --query "[?name.contains('CI') && enabled==true]"

# Filter by status and result
az pipelines runs list --query "[?status=='completed' && result=='succeeded']"

# Sort by date (descending)
az pipelines runs list --query "sort_by([?status=='completed'], &finishTime | reverse(@))"

# Get top N items after filtering
az pipelines runs list --query "[?result=='succeeded'] | [0:5]"

Nested Queries

# Extract nested properties
az pipelines show --id $PIPELINE_ID --query "{Name:name, Repo:repository.{Name:name, Type:type}, Folder:folder}"

# Query build details
az pipelines build show --id $BUILD_ID --query "{ID:id, Number:buildNumber, Status:status, Result:result, Requested:requestedFor.displayName}"

Complex Filtering

# Find pipelines with specific YAML path
az pipelines list --query "[?process.type.name=='yaml' && process.yamlFilename=='azure-pipelines.yml']"

# Find PRs from specific reviewer
az repos pr list --query "[?contains(reviewers[?displayName=='John Doe'].displayName, 'John Doe')]"

# Find work items with specific iteration and state
az boards work-item show --id $WI_ID --query "{Title:fields['System.Title'], State:fields['System.State'], Iteration:fields['System.IterationPath']}"

Aggregation

# Count items by status
az pipelines runs list --query "groupBy([?status=='completed'], &[result]) | {Succeeded: [?key=='succeeded'][0].count, Failed: [?key=='failed'][0].count}"

# Get unique reviewers
az repos pr list --query "unique_by(reviewers[], &displayName)"

# Sum values
az pipelines runs list --query "[?result=='succeeded'] | [].{Duration:duration} | [0].Duration"

Conditional Transformation

# Format dates
az pipelines runs list --query "[].{ID:id, Date:createdDate, Formatted:createdDate | format_datetime(@, 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm')}"

# Conditional output
az pipelines list --query "[].{Name:name, Status:(enabled ? 'Enabled' : 'Disabled')}"

# Extract with defaults
az pipelines show --id $PIPELINE_ID --query "{Name:name, Folder:folder || 'Root', Description:description || 'No description'}"

Complex Workflows

# Find longest running builds
az pipelines build list --query "sort_by([?result=='succeeded'], &queueTime) | reverse(@) | [0:3].{ID:id, Number:buildNumber, Duration:duration}"

# Get PR statistics per reviewer
az repos pr list --query "groupBy([], &reviewers[].displayName) | [].{Reviewer:@.key, Count:length(@)}"

# Find work items with multiple child items
az boards work-item relation list --id $PARENT_ID --query "[?rel=='System.LinkTypes.Hierarchy-Forward'] | [].{ChildID:url | split('/', @) | [-1]}"

Global Arguments

Available on all commands:

Parameter	Description
--help / -h	Show command help
--output / -o	Output format (json, jsonc, none, table, tsv, yaml, yamlc)
--query	JMESPath query string for filtering output
--verbose	Increase logging verbosity
--debug	Show all debug logs
--only-show-errors	Only show errors, suppress warnings
--subscription	Name or ID of subscription
--yes / -y	Skip confirmation prompts

Common Parameters

Parameter	Description
--org / --organization	Azure DevOps organization URL (e.g., https://dev.azure.com/{org})
--project / -p	Project name or ID
--detect	Auto-detect organization from git config
--yes / -y	Skip confirmation prompts
--open	Open resource in web browser
--subscription	Azure subscription (for Azure resources)

Git Aliases

After enabling git aliases:

# Enable Git aliases
az devops configure --use-git-aliases true

# Use Git commands for DevOps operations
git pr create --target-branch main
git pr list
git pr checkout 123

Getting Help

# General help
az devops --help

# Help for specific command group
az pipelines --help
az repos pr --help

# Help for specific command
az repos pr create --help

# Search for examples
az find "az repos pr create"