Query work items by link or attachment count

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019

You can link work items to track related work and dependencies and attach files to share information with your team. You can then list work items based on one or more of the following fields:

Attached File Count | (Discussion) Comment Count | External Link count| Hyperlink Count| Link Comment| Related Link Count|Remote Link Count

For more information about these fields, see the table provided later in this article.

Prerequisites

• Access levels:
  • To view and run shared queries, be a project member.
  • To add and save a shared query, have at least Basic access.
• Permissions: Have your Contribute permission set to Allow for the folder that you want to add a query to. By default, the Contributors group doesn't have this permission.

Note

Users with Stakeholder access for a public project have full access to query features just like users with Basic access. For more information, see Stakeholder access quick reference.

Supported operators and macros

Clauses that specify an integer field can use the following operators.

= , <> , > , < , >= , <= ,
=[Field], <>[Field], >[Field], <[Field], >=[Field], <=[Field],
In, Not In,
Was Ever

List hierarchical items in a tree view

Add a query and select Tree of work items to begin your query. You should see something similar to the following examples:

Browser

Visual Studio 2015

Note

You can't construct a query that shows a hierarchical view of Test Plans, Test Suites, and Test Cases. These items aren't linked together using parent-child link types. But, you can create a direct links query that lists test-related work items. Also, you can view the hierarchy through the Test Plans page.

Options for filters and query clauses

Change the filter options for linked work items and add query clauses via the following options.

Filter for

Include these query clauses

Only child items of work item 645

Add to Filters for top-level work items:
ID = 645

Tasks or bugs

Add to Filters for linked work items:
Work Item Type In Task,Bug

Items assigned to my team (Web)

Add to both top and bottom filters:
Assigned to In Group [Fabrikam Fiber]\Web

Parent items of tasks assigned to me

Change Filter options to Match linked work items first
Add to Filters for linked work items:
Assigned To = @Me

List items based on linked dependents

The following example shows a dependent linked query that returns items with dependencies on work managed by other teams and projects.

Browser

The following query finds work items in all projects that are linked to work items under the Fabrikam area path and project using Predecessor and Successor link types.

• Check the Query across projects checkbox to enable all dependent linked work items that match the filter criteria to be listed, no matter which project they belong to.
• Specify the Area Path Under Fabrikam clause to find only work items that are linked to work items defined under the Fabrikam project.
• Specify Only return items that have matching links, and Return selected link types to return only work items that are linked based on the Predecessor and Successor link types.

Visual Studio 2015

Use this type of query to list all dependent work items that link to active Product Backlog Items or Bugs that aren't removed, closed, or completed. Only those dependent work items that are under a product area other than the Phone Save\Phone Customers are returned.

• Remove the **Team Project = @Project** to enable all dependent linked work items that match the filter criteria to be listed, no matter which project they belong to in the collection.
• Group each of two clauses to return all Product Backlog Items on the backlog or in progress, and the second grouped clause returns all Bugs on the backlog or in progress.
• Group the two clauses with the OR operator at the start of the second clause to return work items that match either of the two filter criteria.
• Choose the Only return items that have the specified links to return only top-level work items that have dependencies.
• Choose Return links of any type to return all linked work items that match the filter criteria for linked work items, in this case, returning all work items that aren't under the Phone Saver\Phone Customers area path, and aren't completed or removed.

The following image shows the query results.

List orphan user stories

If you typically organize your user stories under features, you can quickly find them by doing the following steps.

1. Open the product backlog and turn on the Parents On view option.
2. Scroll down to the section that lists Unparented Stories (Agile) or Unparented Backlog items (Scrum).

Or, you can find unparented backlog items using a Work items and direct links query. For example, the following query lists active user stories for the Azure DevOps team that don't have a Parent link.

Fields associated with links and attachments

The following table describes fields associated with links and attachments. Most of these fields don't appear within the work item form, but get tracked for all work item types.

Attached File Count

The number of files attached to the work item and stored in the work item tracking database.
Reference Name=System.AttachedFileCount, Data type=Integer

Note

For Azure Boards (cloud service), you can add up to 100 attachments to a work item. Attempts to add more result in an error message upon saving the work item.

Comment Count

The number of comments added to the Discussion section of the work item.
Reference Name=System.CommentCount, Data type=Integer

External Link Count

The number of links from the work item to artifacts that aren't work items, such as pull requests, commits, changesets, or other link types.
Reference Name=System.ExternalLinkCount, Data type=Integer

Hyperlink Count

The number of hyperlinks that are defined for the work item.

Reference Name=System.HyperLinkCount, Data type=Integer

Link Comment

Contains comments from the team member who created the link. You can configure this field to appear as a column in a list of links on a work item form. (Not supported in query editor.)

Reference Name=System.Links.Comment, Data type=PlainText

Link Description

Contains the work item type, ID, and title of the work item that is the target of the link. You can configure this field to appear as a column in a list of links on a work item form. (Not supported in query editor.)

Reference Name=System.Links.Description, Data type=PlainText

Parent

When included as a column option in a backlog or query results list, the Title of the parent work item is displayed. Internally, the system stores the ID of the work item within an Integer field.

Note

You can add the Parent field as a column or specify it within a query clause by specifying the parent work item ID.
Reference Name=System.Parent, Data type=Integer

All

Related Link Count

The number of links defined for a work item that use a work link type, such as Parent-Child, Predecessor-Successor, and Related. For a full list, see Link type reference.
Reference Name=System.RelatedLinkCount, Data type=Integer

Remote Link Count

Available for Azure DevOps Services only. The number of links from a work item to work items defined in another organization. The same Microsoft Entra ID must manage the organizations. Supported link types include Consumes From, Produced For, and Remote Related. For more information, see Add link to work items, Link to a remote work item.
Reference Name=System.RemoteLinkCount, Data type=Integer

Related articles

• Add a link to multiple work items
• Link work items to other objects
• Query quick reference
• Query editor
• Query fields, operators, and macros
• Work item field index