Automatic Children

Rule-based child work items with cascades and a fast UI—directly from Azure Boards. Built for teams who want to save time on their projects.

Overview

What it does
Automatic Children is an Azure DevOps extension that creates child work items from a work item's context menu. You define rules (when to run, what to create) and optional cascades (multi-level hierarchies in one go, e.g. Epic → Feature → User Story → Task). Field mappings support placeholders like {{System.Title}} so children inherit parent data.

Why use it
If you repeat the same work item structures again and again, this extension is for you. It’s built for people who want to save time: configure once, then create many children—or entire hierarchies—with one action. The UI is clear and fast, and you stay inside Azure DevOps.

Features

• Rule-based creation — Multiple rules per project; each defines parent types/states, optional field conditions, and one or more child definitions with field mappings.
• Cascades — Chain rules so one run creates multiple levels (e.g. Epic → Features → User Stories → Tasks).
• Placeholders — Use {{System.Title}}, {{System.AssignedTo}}, and other parent fields in child titles and fields.
• Preview and choose — Side panel shows which rules match and which children will be created; you select what to run and see duplicate warnings.
• Export/import — Backup or share rules between your devops projects and instances.

Configuring general rules

General rules are the building blocks: they define when (parent type and optional state/field conditions) and what (child work item type and field mappings).

1. Go to Project Settings > Automatic Children and open the General tab.
2. Click Add Rule, give it a name, and ensure it’s Enabled.
3. Trigger — Under “When a work item matches these conditions”, select the parent work item type (e.g. User Story) and optionally restrict by state or other field conditions.
4. Actions — Under “Child work items to create automatically”, add one or more child items: choose the child work item type and set field mappings (e.g. Title: Task for {{System.Title}}). Use Add Field for more fields; values can be literal or placeholders.
5. Save the rule.

You can reorder rules and edit or disable them anytime.

Configuring cascades

Cascades run a master rule first, then run more rules on the items just created—level by level—so one action can build a full hierarchy.

1. Go to Project Settings > Automatic Children and open the Cascades tab.
2. Click Add Cascade, name it (e.g. “Epic to Features to Stories to Tasks”), and ensure it’s Enabled.
3. Master rule — Pick a general rule that runs on the work item you open (e.g. an Epic). It creates the first level of children.
4. Stages — Add stages in order. Each stage contains one or more general rules that run on every item created in the previous step. Stage 1 runs on the master’s children; Stage 2 on Stage 1’s children; and so on.
5. Save the cascade.

You need the general rules created first; the cascade only chains them. Example: master “Features for Epic” → Stage 1 “Stories for Feature” → Stage 2 “Tasks for Story” gives Epic → Features → User Stories → Tasks in one run.

Executing rules from the work item

When you’re ready to create children:

1. Open a work item that matches at least one rule (or cascade).
2. Open the … context menu on the work item and choose Automatic Child Items.
3. A side panel opens showing which rules/cascades match and which children would be created. You can select which rules to run and see warnings if a matching child already exists.
4. Run the creation; the new work items appear under the parent.

This way you always see what will happen before creating anything.

Requirements and support

• Azure DevOps Services or Azure DevOps Server.
• Scopes: Work Items (read/write), Extension data (write), Graph (for identity).

For detailed guides and concepts, see docs.automatic-children.com. For product and pricing, see automatic-children.com.

Release notes

1.2.0

• Cascades — Chain multiple general rules so one action creates an entire hierarchy (e.g. Epic → Feature → User Story → Task). Configure master rule and stages in the new Cascades tab.
• Side panel preview — Before creating, the sidebar shows which rules and cascades match and which children will be created. Select what to run and see duplicate warnings.
• Field conditions — General rules can now filter by field conditions (equals, contains, empty, not empty, etc.) in addition to work item type and state.
• Export/import — Backup and restore rules, or share configurations between projects and Azure DevOps instances.
• UI improvements — Refined project and organization settings layout, clearer validation messages, and faster loading.

1.1.3

• Bug fix — Fixed rules not appearing in the context menu after adding the first rule in a new project.
• Bug fix — Placeholder {{System.AssignedTo}} now correctly resolves when the parent has no assignee.
• Bug fix — Side panel no longer flickers when switching between work items.
• Improvement — Better error message when work item type or state no longer exists in the project.

1.1.2

• Bug fix — Fixed duplicate children being created when running multiple rules in quick succession.
• Bug fix — Organization Settings hub now loads correctly for organizations with many projects.
• Improvement — Rule list in Project Settings loads faster for projects with many rules.
• Improvement — Context menu action is disabled with a tooltip when no rules match the current work item.

1.1.1

• Bug fix — Fixed crash when a rule referenced a work item type that was later removed from the project.
• Bug fix — Corrected date/time placeholders in field mappings (e.g. {{System.CreatedDate}}) to use organization time zone.
• Bug fix — Save button in rule editor now correctly reflects unsaved changes.
• Improvement — Clearer validation when a required child field is missing from the mapping.

1.1.0

• General rules — Define when to run (parent type and state) and what to create (child work item type and field mappings).
• Placeholders — Use {{System.Title}}, {{System.AssignedTo}}, and other parent field references in child titles and fields.
• Context menu action — “Automatic Child Items” on work item context menu to run applicable rules.
• Project Settings hub — Configure and reorder rules under Project Settings > Automatic Children.
• Organization Settings — License and plan management, project assignment for paid plans.