Managing Project Trackers in Azure DevOps

This article applies to Azure DevOps.

Overview

Project trackers in LinearB define what work belongs to a given team. They allow you to scope specific Azure projects, teams, areas, and backlog items—ensuring metrics and delivery insights accurately reflect your team’s actual workload.

This article outlines how to create and manage project trackers using Azure DevOps as your project management tool.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure your Azure DevOps integration is connected. If it’s not, follow the instructions here: Connect LinearB to Azure DevOps.

Creating an Azure Project Tracker

1. In the LinearB side menu, click Projects > Delivery.
2. On the Projects page, click Create Project. The Create new project form opens.

1. Enter a unique Project Name. (The name cannot match an existing team.)
2. Under Project Scope, click + Add filter to define the scope of the project. For Azure, this means selecting a combination of:
   • Project
   • Team
   • Area(s)
   You can select one or multiple options within each scope to include relevant work items.
   Example: Selecting E2E SCRUM project, E2E SCRUM Team, and the relevant area path.

1. Under Methodology, choose either Scrum or Kanban.
2. Apply additional filters depending on how your work is structured. These filters help limit the tracker to specific initiatives, work types, or labels.
   Example: Filtering by Tag or Product Backlog Item.
   Click the + Add Filter option to refine your project tracker using the following Azure DevOps fields:
   • Project
   • Feature
   • Epic
   • Tag (leads to tags drop-down menu)
   • Field (leads to fields drop-down menu

     

3. Once your filters are in place, click Save to activate the project tracker.

Building Queries Using LinearB's Project Rules

LinearB's Project Rules allow you to create powerful, customized queries by combining multiple filters, such as projects, teams, or areas. By understanding how these filters interact, you can fine-tune your rules to collect precisely the issues you need.

How Filters Work Together in Azure

• Adding multiple filters of the same type (e.g., projects, teams):
  Filters of the same type are combined using an OR operator. For example, if you add two projects, the rule will collect all issues from either project.
• Combining different filter types:
  Filters of different types are combined using an AND operator. For instance, if you add an area to your rule, LinearB will collect issues from the specified projects that also contain the added area.

Rule-Writing in Boolean Terms

To better visualize how rules work, think of them as Boolean logic:

• Adding multiple items within a single filter type (e.g., several projects) creates an OR relationship:
  (Project A OR Project B)
• Adding another filter type (e.g., a team) creates an AND relationship with the previous filters:
  (Project A OR Project B) AND TEAM X

This approach ensures you can refine your results to match your project’s specific needs, collecting only the issues that meet all the defined criteria.

Editing an Azure Project Tracker

Once a project is created, its issue collection rules are displayed under the associated project name. As your project evolves, you can modify these rules to adapt to changing requirements by adding or removing filters as needed.

1. Click the ellipse ⋮ located next to your Project Delivery Tracker, and select Edit Project.
2. Make the required changes:
   1. Add or remove rules to refine how issues are collected.
   2. Switch the project's workflow between Scrum and Kanban as needed.
   3. Save your updates. The project updates take effect within 15 minutes.

By keeping your project rules up to date, you can ensure that the data collected remains aligned with your team’s current goals and workflow.

Deleting a Project Tracker

Click the ellipse ⋮ located next to the Project Delivery Tracker you want to delete, and select Delete Project.

Notes

• Azure DevOps supports complex area path structures; ensure all relevant paths are selected during setup.
• Tracker filters can be edited anytime, but large changes may impact delivery metrics.
• A team may have multiple trackers if needed to separate different types of work.