DevOps Center Work Item Management

Manages the complete work item lifecycle in DevOps Center — from creation through status transitions to promotion readiness. Provides headless CLI-driven operations for autonomous release workflows.

Scope

• In scope: List work items, create new work items, commit changes to work item branches, update work item fields (subject, description, status), transition work item status (New → In Progress → Ready to Promote), create pull requests for work item branches
• Out of scope: Promotion/deployment, conflict detection, pipeline or project management (separate skills)

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Required Inputs

Gather or infer before proceeding:

• Operation type: list, create, update, commit, or create-review
• For list: project ID (required) — obtain via sf devops project list --json if not provided
• For create: project ID (required), subject (required), description (optional)
• For commit: work item name or ID (required) to retrieve branch name, files to commit, commit message
• For update: work item name (e.g., WI-000001) or work item ID (required), fields to update (subject, description, status)
• For create-review: work item name (e.g., WI-000001) or work item ID (required)

Defaults unless specified:

• Output format: --json for headless consumption
• Work item identifier: prefer --work-item-name (WI-000001) over --work-item-id when both are available (names are human-readable)

If the user provides a clear request ("list work items for Project Alpha", "create work item to fix login bug", "move WI-12345 to In Progress", "create PR for WI-12345"), proceed immediately without unnecessary questions.

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Workflow

All operations use sf devops work-item CLI commands with --json output for structured consumption.

Phase 1 — Identify Operation

1. Determine the operation type from user intent:
   • Keywords like "list", "show", "find" → list operation
   • Keywords like "create", "new", "add" → create operation
   • Keywords like "commit", "push", "save changes", "git commit" → commit operation
   • Keywords like "update", "change", "modify", "edit", "move", "transition", "advance", "mark as" → update operation
   • Keywords like "create PR", "pull request", "code review", "review", "open PR" → create-review operation

Phase 2 — Execute Operation

2. Verify org authentication before any operation:

   sf org display --json
   

   • If no default org is set or authentication has expired, instruct the user to run:

     sf org login web --set-default --alias <alias>
     

   • Verify the authenticated org has DevOps Center enabled by attempting to list projects
   • If the user wants to target a specific org, use --target-org <alias> on all subsequent commands

3. List work items — when the user wants to see existing work items:

   sf devops work-item list --project-id <project-id> --json
   

   • --project-id is required — if the user provides a project name instead of ID, first run sf devops project list --json to resolve the name to an ID
   • Verify the command returns status 0 (success)
   • Parse the JSON output: the work items are in the .result[] array
   • Each work item has: name (e.g., WI-000001), subject, branch, environment, status, description
   • Present in a readable format showing work item name, subject, status, branch, and environment
   • If .result[] is an empty array, confirm "No work items found in project <project-name>."
   • If the user requested filtering by status (e.g., "show work items in Ready to Promote status"), run:

     sf devops work-item list --project-id <id> --json | jq '.result[] | select(.status == "<requested-status>")'
     

     Then present the matching work items

4. Create a work item — when the user wants to create a new work item:

   sf devops work-item create \
     --project-id <project-id> \
     --subject "<subject>" \
     --description "<description>" \
     --json
   

   • --project-id is required (obtain from user or via sf devops project list --json)
   • --subject is required (user-facing title)
   • --description is optional (defaults to blank if omitted)
   • Capture the returned work item name (e.g., WI-000001), branch name, and environment from JSON output for future operations
   • Idempotent: if the user attempts to create a duplicate (same subject + project), check via list first and return the existing work item

5. Execute commit operation — when operation type is commit:

   • DevOps Center creates a dedicated feature branch for each work item (returned in the create operation)
   • The user must commit and push changes to this branch before transitioning status or creating a PR
   • Standard git workflow:

     git checkout <branch-name>
     git add <files>
     git commit -m "<commit-message>"
     git push origin <branch-name>
     

   • The branch name is available from the work item's branch field (retrieve via list or create operation)
   • Changes must be committed before the work item can be marked "Ready to Promote" or before creating a PR

6. Update work item — when the user wants to change subject, description, or status:

   sf devops work-item update \
     --work-item-name <WI-name> \
     --subject "<new-subject>" \
     --description "<new-description>" \
     --status "<In Progress|Ready to Promote>" \
     --json
   

   • Work item identifier is required: use --work-item-name <WI-000001> (preferred) or --work-item-id <id>
   • If the user provides a work item by subject instead of name, resolve it to a name first:

     sf devops work-item list --project-id <id> --json | jq -r '.result[] | select(.subject == "<user-provided-subject>") | .name'
     

     Then pass the returned name (e.g., WI-000001) to the update command
   • At least one of --subject, --description, or --status must be provided
   • Valid status values: "In Progress" or "Ready to Promote" (exact strings with spaces)
   • Only include flags for fields being updated (omit unchanged fields)
   • Verify the command returns status 0 (success)
   • Parse the JSON response: .result.name, .result.subject, .result.status contain the updated values
   • For status transitions specifically: after the command completes, explicitly confirm the new status by checking .result.status in the response. If the status field is absent from the update response, re-query the work item via list to verify the status persisted

7. Create pull request — when the user wants to create a PR for code review:

   sf devops review create \
     --work-item-name <WI-name> \
     --json
   

   • Work item identifier is required: use --work-item-name <WI-000001> (preferred) or --work-item-id <id>
   • If the user provides a work item by subject instead of name, resolve it to a name first:

     sf devops work-item list --project-id <id> --json | jq -r '.result[] | select(.subject == "<user-provided-subject>") | .name'
     

     Then pass the returned name (e.g., WI-000001) to the review create command
   • Creates PR via DevOps Center API using VCS credentials stored in the org
   • No local VCS authentication required — DevOps Center handles GitHub/Bitbucket auth
   • Works with GitHub and Bitbucket
   • Verify the command returns status 0 (success)
   • Parse the JSON response: .result.pullRequestUrl contains the PR URL, .result.status contains the PR status (typically "open" for newly created PRs), .result.number contains the PR number
   • If the command fails with a VCS credentials error, instruct the user to configure VCS credentials in the DevOps Center org (Setup → DevOps Center → VCS Credentials)
   • If the command fails with "PR already exists" error, report that a PR already exists for this work item (idempotent operation)

Phase 3 — Verify and Report

8. Verify operation success:

   • For list: confirm the CLI returned status 0, parse the JSON .result[] array, and verify it contains work items (or is empty if no matches). If the user specified a project by name, confirm the resolved project ID matches.
   • For create: verify the CLI returned status 0 and the JSON output contains .result.name (work item ID like WI-000001), .result.branch (branch name), and .result.environment fields.
   • For commit: verify each git command returned exit code 0. If git push succeeds, the commit is saved to the work item branch.
   • For update (general fields): verify the CLI returned status 0 and compare the returned JSON fields against the user's requested changes. If updating subject, confirm .result.subject matches the new value.
   • For update (status transition): verify the CLI returned status 0, then explicitly confirm the status transition by checking .result.status in the JSON response matches the target status (e.g., "Ready to Promote"). If the response doesn't include the status field, re-run sf devops work-item list filtered to this work item and verify the status persisted.
   • For create-review: verify the CLI returned status 0 and the JSON output contains .result.pullRequestUrl (the PR URL) and .result.status (should be "open" or equivalent). If VCS credentials are missing, the CLI returns an error — surface this to the user.

9. Report results:

   • List: present work items in a readable format showing work item name, subject, status, branch, and environment. If filtering by status was requested, show only matching work items.
   • Create: return the work item name (e.g., WI-000001), branch name, environment, and confirm "Work item created successfully."
   • Commit: confirm which files were staged, the commit SHA (from git output), and "Changes committed and pushed to branch <branch-name>."
   • Update (general): confirm which fields changed with before/after values (e.g., "Subject updated from 'X' to 'Y'").
   • Status transition: explicitly state the transition with old → new status (e.g., "Status updated: In Progress → Ready to Promote").
   • Create-review: return the PR URL and confirm "Pull request created successfully. Status: open. URL: <url>"

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Rules / Constraints

Constraint	Rationale
All sf devops commands must use --json flag	Structured output is required for headless consumption; human-readable output is unreliable for parsing
Work item identifier required for commit, update, and create-review	Use --work-item-name (preferred) or --work-item-id; obtain from list or prior create
Project ID required for list and create	All work items belong to a project; use sf devops project list --json if not provided
At least one update field required	Update command fails if no --subject, --description, or --status flag is provided
Status values must be exact strings	"In Progress" and "Ready to Promote" (with spaces, proper capitalization); other values fail
Idempotent create operations	Check for existing work item with same subject + project before creating duplicates
Changes must be committed before status transition to Ready to Promote	DevOps Center validates that the work item branch has commits before allowing promotion readiness
PR creation requires VCS credentials in org	DevOps Center API uses stored VCS credentials; no local git auth needed
Never use interactive prompts	Skills run in headless environments; all inputs must be via CLI flags

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Gotchas

Issue	Resolution
No default org set	Run sf org display --json first; if it fails, instruct user to run sf org login web --set-default
User provides work item by subject, not name	Resolve via: sf devops work-item list --project-id <id> --json | jq -r '.result[] | select(.subject == "<subject>") | .name'; then pass the returned name to the update/create-review command
User provides project by name, not ID	First run sf devops project list --json and filter .result[] by .name field to find the project ID, then use that ID in the list/create command
Status update response missing status field	The CLI doesn't always return the status field in the update response; re-run sf devops work-item list filtered to this work item and check .result[0].status to verify the transition persisted
Work item not found	User provided invalid work item name/ID; run list command to show available work items
Invalid status value	Only "In Progress" and "Ready to Promote" are valid (exact strings with spaces); check spelling and capitalization
Project not found	User provided invalid project ID; run sf devops project list --json to show available projects
Duplicate work item subject	Idempotent create check should catch this; return existing work item name instead of creating duplicate
Git push fails - no commits or branch not found	Verify files are staged with git status and branch name retrieved from work item via list command
PR creation fails - VCS credentials	VCS credentials not configured in DevOps Center UI; instruct user to configure in Setup → DevOps Center → VCS Credentials

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Output Expectations

Deliverables vary by operation:

• List: JSON array of work items with work item name (WI-######), subject, branch, environment, repository details
• Create: Work item name (e.g., WI-000001), ID, branch name, and environment of the newly created work item
• Commit: Confirmation of git commit and push success, with commit SHA
• Update: Confirmation of updated fields (old value → new value for subject/description, or status change)
• Create-review: Pull request URL, PR number, and status

Outputs are derived from sf devops work-item CLI, sf devops review create CLI, and standard git commands.

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Verification Checklist

Before reporting results to the user:

Universal Checks

• Was org authentication verified with sf org display --json?
• Was the CLI command executed with --json flag?
• Did the CLI return a successful exit code (0)?
• Is the JSON output parseable and non-empty?
• If multi-org scenario, was --target-org specified on all commands?

List Operation Checks

• Was --project-id provided?
• Are work items displayed with work item name, subject, branch, environment?
• If the list is empty, was this communicated to the user?

Create Operation Checks

• Was a work item name (WI-######) and ID returned in the JSON output?
• Was the branch name returned in the JSON output?
• Was --subject provided and included in the command?
• Was --project-id provided (or obtained via project list)?

Commit Operation Checks

• Was the work item branch name retrieved successfully?
• Were files staged with git add?
• Did git commit succeed with exit code 0?
• Did git push succeed with exit code 0?

Update Operation Checks

• Was work item identifier provided (name or ID)?
• Was at least one update field provided (subject, description, or status)?
• If status was updated, was it a valid value ("In Progress" or "Ready to Promote")?
• Was the updated work item returned in JSON?

Create-Review Operation Checks

• Was work item identifier provided (name or ID)?
• Was a PR URL returned in JSON output?
• Was the PR creation confirmed?

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Reference File Index

File	When to read
references/cli-commands.md	When you need detailed CLI flag documentation, JSON output schemas, or error handling patterns
examples/common-workflows.md	When the user's request matches a common pattern (bulk updates, reassignment, idempotent creation, sequential transitions)