About access levels
TFS 2017 | TFS 2015 | TFS 2013
Access levels grant or restrict access to select web portal features. This is in addition to permissions granted through security groups, which provide or restrict specific tasks. Access levels enable administrators to provide their user base access to the features they need and only pay for those features.
Important
To view the content available for your platform, make sure that you select the correct version of this article from the version selector which is located above the table of contents. Feature support differs depending on the on-premises version of TFS you are using. .
To learn which on-premises version you are using, see What platform/version am I using?
When you add a user or group to a team or project, they're automatically granted access to those features supported by the default access level and those supported by the security group to which they are added. Most users can access most features by being assigned to the Basic access level and Contributors security group. For a simplified overview of the permissions assigned to the most common groups Readers, Contributors, and Project Administrators, see Default permissions.
To add user accounts or groups to specific access levels, see Change access levels. Make sure to set each user's access level based on what you've purchased for that user.
Supported access levels
Assign users or groups of users to one of the following access levels:
- Stakeholder: Provides partial access, can be assigned to unlimited users for free. Assign to users with no license or subscriptions who need access to a limited set of features.
- Basic: Provides access to most features. Assign to users with a CAL or with a Visual Studio subscription.
- Advanced (TFS 2017): Provides access to premium features. Only assign to users with a subscription to MSDN Platforms or Visual Studio Test Professional.
- VS Enterprise (TFS 2017.1 and later versions): Provides access to premium features. Assign to users with a subscription to Visual Studio Enterprise.
The following table indicates those features available for each supported access level. Visual Studio Test Professional and MSDN Platform subscriptions grant access to the same features as Visual Studio Enterprise.
Feature
Stakeholder
Basic &
Visual Studio Professional
Advanced &
Visual Studio Enterprise
Administer organization
Can configure resources when also added to a security group or role: team administrator, Project Administrator, or Project Collection Administrator.
✔️
✔️
✔️
Advanced backlog and sprint planning tools
Includes full access to all backlog and sprint planning tools.
✔️
✔️
Advanced home page
Includes access to projects, work items, and pull requests defined across projects you work in.
✔️
✔️
Advanced portfolio management
Includes full access to define features and epics from a portfolio backlog or Kanban board.
✔️
✔️
Agile boards
Stakeholders have limited access to Kanban boards and Taskboards. Stakeholders can't add work items, drag-and-drop cards to update status, update fields displayed on cards, nor view or set capacity.
✔️
✔️
✔️
Agile Portfolio Management
Includes limited access to portfolio backlogs and Kanban boards. Stakeholders can't change the backlog priority order, can't assign items to an iteration, use the mapping pane, or exercise forecasting.
✔️
✔️
✔️
Artifacts
Includes full access to all Azure Artifacts features, up to 2 GiB free storage.
✔️
Author Release Pipelines and Manage Releases
Includes defining release pipelines, multi-stage continuous deployment (CD) pipelines, and using approvals and gates to control deployments; when the Free access to Pipelines Preview feature is enabled, Stakeholders gain access to all Azure Pipelines features.
✔️
✔️
Basic backlog and sprint planning tools
Includes limited access to add and modify items on backlogs and sprint backlogs and taskboards. Stakeholders can't assign items to an iteration, use the mapping pane, or forecasting.
✔️
✔️
Build
Includes full access to all features to manage continuous integration and continuous delivery of software.
✔️
✔️
Chart Authoring
Can create work tracking query charts.
✔️
✔️
Chart Viewing
Can only view work tracking query charts. Stakeholders can't view query charts from the Queries page, however can view them when added to a dashboard.
✔️
✔️
Code
Includes full access to all features to manage code using Git repositories or using Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC).
✔️
✔️
Delivery Plans
Includes full access to add and view Delivery plans.
✔️
✔️
Request and Manage Feedback Includes full access to request and manage feedback on working software.
✔️
✔️
Standard Features
Includes working across projects, View dashboards, View wikis, and Manage personal notifications. Stakeholders can't view Markdown README files defined for repositories and can only read wiki pages.
✔️
✔️
✔️
Team rooms
Requires TFS 2017 or earlier versions. Deprecated for TFS 2018 and later versions.
✔️
✔️
Test services in build and release
Includes running unit tests with your builds, reviewing, and analyzing test results.
✔️
✔️
Test Case Management
Includes adding test plans and test suites, creating manual test cases, deleting test artifacts, and testing different configurations.
✔️
Test Execution and Test Analysis
Includes running manual, tracking test status, and automated tests.
✔️
✔️
Test summary access to Stakeholder license
Includes requesting Stakeholder feedback using the Test & Feedback extension.
✔️
✔️
✔️
View My Work Items
Access to add and modify work items, follow work items, view and create queries, and submit, view, and change feedback responses. Stakeholders can only assign existing tags to work items (can't add new tags) and can only save queries under My Queries (can't save under Shared Queries).
✔️
✔️
✔️
View Releases and Manage Approvals
Includes viewing releases and approving releases; when the Free access to Pipelines Preview feature is enabled feature is enabled, Stakeholders gain access to all Azure Pipelines features.
✔️
✔️
✔️
VS Enterprise access
Visual Studio Enterprise subscribers are entitled to VS Enterprise access as a subscriber benefit. When you add those users, be sure to assign them the VS Enterprise access level.
With VS Enterprise access, users have access to any fee-based, Marketplace extension published by Microsoft Marketplace extension published by Microsoft that is included for active Visual Studio Enterprise subscribers.
For TFS 2017.2 and later versions, assign VS Enterprise to those users for whom you've purchased Visual Studio Enterprise. These include a TFS CAL plus the rights to access VS Enterprise features. (For users with MSDN Platforms subscriptions or Test Professional, assign the Basic access level and the Test Manager extension for Azure Test Plans.) To learn more, see Assign paid extension access to users. For example, for users with Visual Studio Test Professional or Visual Studio Enterprise, assign them access to the Test Manager extension for Azure Test Plans.
Advanced access
Users assigned Advanced access can manage test cases when you have purchased the Test Manager extension for Azure Test Plans and assigned to the user accounts to gain full access to Web-based test case management tools.
Users assigned Advanced access have all the Basic features, plus web-based test case management tools. You can buy monthly access or add users who already have a Visual Studio Test Professional with MSDN or MSDN Platforms subscription.
For TFS 2017 and earlier versions, you should assign the Advanced level to those users for whom you've purchased the full Test feature set. Here are the purchasing options:
- Higher-level Visual Studio subscriptions: Visual Studio Test Professional, Visual Studio Enterprise, or MSDN Platforms subscriptions. These include a TFS CAL plus the rights to access the full set of Test features.
- A paid Azure DevOps user (which includes a TFS CAL) plus the Test Manager extension.
For TFS 2017.2, Assign Advanced access to those users for whom you've purchased MSDN Platforms or Visual Studio Test Professional subscriptions. These include a TFS CAL plus the rights to access Test Manager. To learn more, see Get extensions for TFS, Assign paid extension access to users.
Note
With TFS 2017.1, the Advanced access level was temporarily disabled. Updating to TFS 2017.2 re-enables it. If you are on TFS 2017.1 and have users with Visual Studio Test Professional or MSDN Platforms subscriptions, you should assign them Basic access. In addition, you need to open Users for the project collections in which they are a member and assign them the Test Manager extension for Azure Test Plans. To learn more, see Buy access to TFS or TFS Test.
What features are available to users who are added to two different access levels?
If a user belongs to a group that has Basic access and another group that has VS Enterprise access, the user has access to all features available through VS Enterprise, which is a superset of Basic.
Service account access
Azure DevOps Server service accounts are added to the default access level. If you make Stakeholder the default access level, you must add the service accounts to Basic or Advanced/VS Enterprise access.
Service accounts don't require a CAL or other purchase.