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Pipeline Support

Understand which Azure DevOps pipeline types are supported and their limitations.

Classic Build Pipelines

Fully Supported

Traditional build pipelines created through the Azure DevOps UI with a visual editor.

What's Included

  • Build metadata (run number, date, status, duration)
  • Work items linked to commits
  • Pull requests associated with changes
  • Test results from the build
  • Code coverage metrics
  • Change history comparison (current vs previous successful run)

How to Use

  1. In DeployBrief, click Generate New Brief
  2. Select Build as the pipeline type
  3. Choose your build definition
  4. Select the specific build run
  5. Click Generate Brief

API Endpoint: POST /api/briefs/build

Classic Release Pipelines

Fully Supported

Multi-stage release pipelines that orchestrate deployments across environments (Dev, QA, Prod).

What's Included

  • Release metadata (name, ID, created date, status)
  • Environment deployment information
  • Primary artifact details (build, version, branch)
  • Work items from associated builds
  • Pull requests from the deployment
  • Test results from all stages
  • Code coverage from source builds

How to Use

  1. In DeployBrief, click Generate New Brief
  2. Select Release as the pipeline type
  3. Choose your release definition
  4. Select the specific release and environment
  5. Click Generate Brief

API Endpoint: POST /api/briefs/release

YAML Pipelines

Partial Support

Modern pipelines defined as code in YAML files within your repository.

Current Support

  • Build YAML pipelines can be accessed via the Build API
  • All build-related data (work items, PRs, tests, coverage) is available
  • Multi-stage YAML pipelines with deployment jobs are partially supported

Limitations

  • Environment-specific deployment tracking may be limited
  • Some advanced YAML features (e.g., templates, complex dependencies) may not be fully reflected
  • Stage-specific test results may require manual filtering

Workaround: Use the Build API for YAML pipelines. Specify the pipeline ID and run ID to generate briefs.

Coming Soon: Full YAML multi-stage pipeline support with environment tracking is planned for a future release.

Best Practices

Link Work Items to Commits

Use Azure DevOps work item linking in commit messages (e.g., #123) to ensure work items appear in deployment briefs.

Enable Test Publishing

Configure your pipelines to publish test results using the PublishTestResults task to include test data in briefs.

Enable Code Coverage

Use the PublishCodeCoverageResults task in your build to include coverage metrics in briefs.

Use Descriptive Pipeline Names

Give your pipelines clear, descriptive names to make brief generation and history easier to navigate.

Create Pipeline Presets

Set up presets for frequently-deployed pipelines to generate briefs with a single click. Learn more →

Troubleshooting

No Work Items Found

Cause: Work items are not linked to commits or pull requests.
Solution: Use #WorkItemID in commit messages or link PRs to work items manually in Azure DevOps.

No Test Results Available

Cause: Pipeline doesn't publish test results.
Solution: Add the PublishTestResults@2 task to your pipeline YAML or configure it in classic pipelines.

Coverage Data Missing

Cause: Code coverage is not enabled or not published.
Solution: Add the PublishCodeCoverageResults@2 task and ensure your test framework generates coverage reports.

Pipeline Not Found

Cause: PAT permissions insufficient or pipeline doesn't exist.
Solution: Verify your PAT has Build (Read) and Release (Read) permissions. Check that the pipeline ID is correct.

API Endpoints

POST /api/briefs/build

Generate a brief from a build pipeline run

POST /api/briefs/release

Generate a brief from a release pipeline deployment

GET /api/briefs/build-definitions

List available build definitions

GET /api/briefs/release-definitions

List available release definitions

For complete API documentation, see the REST API Reference.