Roadmap

This PowerShell script retrieves Epics and Features from an Azure DevOps project, resolves their parent–child relationships, and outputs a clean roadmap.csv file containing:

• Epic title
• Feature title (or “no features” if none exist)
• Description (HTML removed)
• Status
• Area Path
• Direct link to the work item

The script automatically excludes area paths using your custom filter logic and handles API batching for large datasets.

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Features

• Retrieves all Epics and Features from an Azure DevOps project

• Filters out:

  • Removed items
  • Closed items
  • Area paths defined in exclude-areapaths.ps1

• Fetches work items in batches to avoid API limits

• Builds a clean relationship map using System.LinkTypes.Hierarchy

• Generates roadmap.csv sorted by Status → Epic → Feature

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Output Format

The generated CSV contains:

Column	Description
Theme	Epic title
Measure	Feature title (or (no features))
Description	Description (HTML stripped)
Status	Work item state
AreaPath	Work item area path
Link (Feature) / Link	Direct link to work item

Output location:

./roadmap.csv

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Prerequisites

Your environment must provide:

• PowerShell 5+ or 7+
• Network access to Azure DevOps REST API
• Config-values:

What	Where	Example value	Description
Personal access token	.azdo_pat.txt	<guid>	Needs read and write permission
Organization and project	.azdo_orgproj.txt	your-org	First line: organization
		your-project	Second line: project
System area paths to exclude (optional)	.exclude-areapaths.txt	excluded-area-path	One area path per line

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How to Run

1. Clone repo
2. Run:

.\roadmap.ps1

Expected console output:

FEATURES FOUND: <number>
EPICS FOUND: <number>
CSV stored to: <path>

roadmap.csv will appear in the same directory.

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Script Overview

Workflow Summary

1. Load helper scripts

2. Retrieve:

   • Organization
   • Project
   • Authentication headers

3. Fetch all Epic IDs and Feature IDs using WIQL

4. Retrieve work item details in batches

5. Map Epics by ID

6. Link Features to parent Epics

7. Add:

   • Epics with features
   • Epics without features

8. Sort results

9. Export to CSV

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Customization

API Version

$apiVersion = "7.0"

Fields to Include

$featureFields = @("System.Id", "System.Title", ...)

Batch Size

-BatchSize 200

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause / Fix
No Epic/Feature found	WIQL filters or area exclusions hide items
401 Unauthorized	PAT missing/expired in GetAuth
CSV is empty	No items matched criteria
Missing relations	Features are not linked to Epics
HTML appears in descriptions	Extend the regex stripping rule

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Create Child Work Items from CSV

This script bulk-creates child work items (Features, User Stories, Tasks) under an existing Azure DevOps parent work item, using data from a CSV file.

The script auto-detects the parent type, selects the correct child type, links them correctly, and logs all created items.

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Features

• Determines parent work item type automatically (Epic / Feature / User Story / PBI)

• Selects the correct child type:

  • Epic → Feature
  • Feature → User Story
  • User Story → Task
  • Product Backlog Item → Task

• Reads CSV rows as new work items

• Supports Title, Description, Tags

• Supports -WhatIf dry-run mode

• Creates a detailed log file of all created work items

• Adds parent-child link using System.LinkTypes.Hierarchy-Reverse

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CSV Format

The script expects the following headers:

Column	Required	Description
Title	Yes	Work item title
Description	No	Description (HTML allowed)
Tags	No	Semicolon-separated list of tags

Example:

Title,Description,Tags
Login page,"Implement login form","frontend;login"
Registration,"Create registration flow","frontend;registration"

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Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
-ParentId	Yes	ID of the parent work item
-CsvPath	Yes	Path to the CSV file
-Delimiter	No	CSV delimiter (default: ,)
-WhatIf	No	Simulates creation without performing it
-LogPath	No	Path to log file (auto-generated otherwise)

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How to Run

Basic usage

.\create-children.ps1 -ParentId 12345 -CsvPath .\items.csv

Dry-run simulation

.\create-children.ps1 -ParentId 12345 -CsvPath .\items.csv -WhatIf

Custom delimiter

.\create-children.ps1 -ParentId 12345 -CsvPath .\items.csv -Delimiter ';'

Custom log path

.\create-children.ps1 -ParentId 12345 -CsvPath .\items.csv -LogPath .\mylog.csv

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Script Workflow

1. Load helper scripts

2. Fetch:

   • Organization
   • Project
   • Authentication
   • Parent work item metadata

3. Determine correct child work item type

4. Read rows from CSV

5. Build JSON Patch payload

6. Create work items through Azure DevOps REST API

7. Output log file

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause / Fix
Unsupported parent type	Only Epic, Feature, User Story, PBI supported
CSV empty or unreadable	Check delimiter and header names
Unauthorized / PAT issues	Ensure PAT has Work Item Read/Write
Missing relations	Check PAT permissions
No children created	Try running without -WhatIf