Skip to content

Testing and Sandbox

Jump to bottom
Varnier Gatto edited this page Oct 6, 2026 · 2 revisions

Testing and Sandbox Setup

This page describes how to run the automated tests and set up a safe, isolated sandbox environment to test the Azure DevOps MCP server tools without impacting production projects.

Caution

CRITICAL WARNING: Destructive Actions & Work Item Deletions

  • Using the testing commands or playing with the API can lead to unintended deletions.
  • Azure DevOps does NOT keep a recycle bin or trashcan for work items deleted via the REST API. Always test deletions and other modification tools inside a sandbox environment rather than a live production organization.

🧪 1. Set Up a Sandbox Environment

To test the tools safely, we recommend creating a free Azure DevOps sandbox organization:

  1. Go to Azure DevOps (dev.azure.com).
  2. Sign in with a personal Microsoft Account (MSA) or corporate identity.
  3. Create a new organization (e.g., my-mcp-sandbox-org).
  4. Create a new private project (e.g., TestProject).

📁 2. Populate Test Data

To make sure all tools (Git, WIT, Pipelines, and Identities) have resources to interact with, populate the project with some test data:

Git Repository

  1. Navigate to Repos > Files.
  2. If the repository is empty, click Initialize to create a default repository with a main branch and a README.md.
  3. Optionally, add a folder (e.g., src/) and a few dummy files (e.g., src/index.html or src/config.json).

Work Items

  1. Navigate to Boards > Work Items.
  2. Create at least two work items:
    • A Bug with the title Test Bug and a basic description.
    • A Task with the title Test Task.
  3. Note the IDs of these work items (they will be integers like 1, 2, etc.).

Pipelines

  1. Navigate to Pipelines > Pipelines.
  2. Click Create Pipeline.
  3. Choose Azure Repos Git and select your repository.
  4. Select Starter pipeline (this generates a simple pipeline that runs echo commands).
  5. Click Save and Run.
  6. Note the Pipeline ID (visible in the URL, e.g., definitionId=1).

Identities

  1. Navigate to Project Settings > Permissions or Teams.
  2. Invite a second test email or note your own display name and email address to verify identity search.

🏃 3. Running Automated Tests

The codebase includes an integrated test suite in src/test.ts that tests internal helper functions (URL parser, crypto, config store, offline API database).

To run these tests:

npm run test

⚠️ Important Test Suite Note

The tests are self-contained and use placeholder organizations (my-org, anotherorg) with fake tokens, so no changes to src/test.ts are required and no network access to Azure DevOps is needed.

However, the configuration-store test writes these dummy entries into your local encrypted credential file (.azure-devops-config.enc in the project folder). If you already saved real credentials there, back the file up before running the tests and restore it afterwards (or simply re-run npm run setup).

Quick Navigation Sidebar

Clone this wiki locally