Backlog Guard
Now public and free!
A product of Baytek, part of Agile Analytics.
Website: ado-analytics.baytekdev.com
Marketplace: Visual Studio Marketplace
Contact: henry.sword@baytekdev.com
Sponsored by Agile Analytics.
Catch the 5 backlog problems that break sprint planning — before standup.
Backlog Guard scans your Azure Boards work items and tells you exactly what's wrong, why it matters, and how to fix it. Free, client-side, no backend.
The problem
You sit down to plan a sprint. Three stories have no estimate. Two have no acceptance criteria. One has been "Active" for 41 days. A bug has no repro steps. Half the team's items are missing tags.
You discover this during planning. Planning runs long. Stories slip. Velocity tanks.
What Backlog Guard does
Open the Backlog Guard hub on your Boards. The first thing you see is Top Fixes — the 3 to 5 things that will most hurt your next sprint, ranked. Each one has a one-click "Create remediation task" button.
That's it. That's the product.
If you want more, the same hub has tabs for:
- All Findings — every issue across the backlog, with bulk actions and CSV/JSON/HTML compliance exports
- Sprint — a focused readiness view of just the current iteration
- Portfolio — health scores rolled up across teams (and optionally cross-project)
- Settings — rules, thresholds, field mappings, optional AI key
What it catches (built-in rules)
|
|
| Missing estimates |
Stories without story points / effort |
| Missing acceptance criteria |
Stories with no AC |
| Missing repro steps |
Bugs that won't be reproducible |
| Stale items |
Active items that haven't moved in N days |
| Orphan / broken parent links |
Items missing the right hierarchy |
Plus thresholds, severity levels, and custom rules in JSON if you want more.
What makes it different
- Top Fixes hero. You don't have to learn a dashboard. The first screen tells you the 3 things to fix.
- Free. No license, no seat count, no "contact sales."
- Client-side only. Your work item data never leaves Azure DevOps. No backend, no telemetry, no account.
- Works in the room. Open it during sprint planning, click create remediation, move on.
- Optional AI. Bring your own OpenAI / Anthropic key. AI never runs unless you turn it on. (We mean it — the button doesn't even render until you save a key.)
Permissions
Backlog Guard requests:
vso.work_write — read your work items, and (only when you click "Create remediation task") create a taskvso.dashboards — render the dashboard widgetvso.analytics — read analytics for trend / readiness scoring
Nothing else. No external network calls except optional AI (only when you've supplied a key).
How to Use Backlog Guard
Quick Start:
- Install from the Visual Studio Marketplace (search for "Backlog Guard").
- In Azure DevOps, open any project and go to Boards → Backlog Guard.
- The first scan runs automatically. See your Top Fixes right away.
- Click on any card to see details and use the Create remediation task button for instant fixes.
Tabs & Features:
- Top Fixes: Highest-impact issues, ranked, with one-click remediation.
- All Findings: Full backlog scan, filters, bulk actions, CSV/JSON/HTML export.
- Sprint: Sprint readiness view.
- Portfolio: Health scores across teams/projects.
- Settings: Rules, thresholds, field mappings, optional AI key.
Contact & Support:
SEO Keywords: Azure DevOps, backlog, sprint planning, agile, compliance, AI, project management, scrum, kanban, dashboard, widget, portfolio, automation, team collaboration, risk management, productivity, free, no backend, privacy, Baytek, Agile Analytics.
Detailed walkthrough: See HOW-TO-USE.md.
Support
Made by Baytek. Free forever.
