Query by field value comparisons

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

You can create queries based on how one field's value compares to another using the comparison field operators. This query is useful to filter work items based on:

  • Is the person who created the work item the same as or different than the person assigned to it? Or, who closed it
  • Which Tasks were closed before or after their Target Date.

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.

  • 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 you want to add the query to. By default, the Contributors group doesn't have this permission.

Supported data types

You can use the comparison field operators—=[Field], <>[Field], >[Field], <[Field], >=[Field], <=[Field]—with the following field data types. The data type you select for the Field and the Value must match.

  • Boolean (supports =[Field], <>[Field]
  • Date/Time
  • Double, Integer
  • GUID
  • Identity
  • String (excluding Tags)

Note

Some combinations of data type and comparison field operator might not make sense to use, such as Title >=[Field] or Assigned To <=[Field].

Sample filters

Filter for

Include these query clauses

Work items closed by someone other than the person who created the work item

Created By <>[Field] Closed By State = Closed

Tasks whose Original Estimate is less than Completed Work

Original Estimate <=[Field] Completed Work

Closed tasks completed before their target date

Target Date <=[Field] Closed Date State = Closed

Fields that support field comparison

The following table provides an index to those fields that support field comparison queries.

Note

Not all fields listed are supported for all projects or work item types. However, you can customize a process or work item type by adding custom fields which you can use for the purposes of queries and field comparisons. For more information, see Add a custom field to a work item type (Inheritance process) or Add or modify a field (Online XML process).

REST API

To programmatically interact with queries, see one of these REST API resources: