Work Item Twins
Sync Work Items Across Projects and Organizations
Work Item Twins is an extension that helps you synchronize work items between different project boards; within the same Azure DevOps organization or across separate organizations. This is particularly useful for teams that need to track the same work in multiple projects or collaborate across organizational boundaries.
Features
- Create twins: Clone a work item from one project to another with a single click.
- Cross-Organization Sync: Create and sync work item twins across different Azure DevOps organizations with full bidirectional synchronization. Changes made in either organization are automatically propagated to the other.
- Cross-Project Support: Create and maintain work item twins across different projects within your Azure DevOps organization, including proper handling of Area and Iteration paths.
- Parent Linking: Optionally select a parent work item in the target project when creating a twin.
- Automatic Field Sync: Automatic synchronization of work item fields is triggered when you save changes to either twin work item.
- Discussion Sync: Comments and discussions are automatically synced bidirectionally between twin work items. Edits to synced comments are also propagated.
- Manual Bidirectional Sync: Manually synchronize changes between twin work items using the "Manual Sync" button. The sync direction is automatically determined based on the last updated time.
- Bulk Twin Sync: Create or sync twins for multiple work items at once from query results or backlog views. Access via the toolbar button or right-click context menu.
- Flexible Field Configuration: Choose which fields to sync during twin creation. By default, all editable fields are synchronized.
- Smart Field Exclusion: Option to exclude State and/or Assigned To fields from synchronization if needed.
- Data Storage Integration: Twin configurations are stored in Azure DevOps Data Storage, ensuring they persist and are accessible only within your organization.
- Relationship Tracking: Uses the Azure DevOps extension general tag ("Work Item Twin") to identify managed work items.
- Navigate to Twin: Easily jump to the twin work item from the panel; cross-org twins open directly in the remote organization.
How to Use
Open a work item in Azure DevOps.
Click the "Work Item Twins" button in the work item toolbar.
Select the target project and work item type.
Optionally, search for and select a parent work item in the target project.
Choose which fields to synchronize (defaults to all editable fields).
Optionally exclude State and/or Assigned To fields from synchronization.
Click "Create Twin Work Item".
Once a twin exists, automatic field and comment syncing will trigger whenever you save changes to either work item.
Use the "Manual Sync" button to force synchronization at any time.
Cross-Organization Sync
Work Item Twins supports full bidirectional synchronization across separate Azure DevOps organizations.
- Open a work item and click "Work Item Twins" in the toolbar.
- Check "Cross-organization sync" to enable cross-org mode.
- Click "Connect new organization" to authenticate with Microsoft Entra ID. A popup will open for sign-in — allow popups if prompted.
- Select the remote organization from the dropdown (if your account has access to multiple organizations, a picker dialog will appear).
- Select the target project. Area Path and Iteration Path options from the remote project will load automatically.
- Click "Create twin work item" to create the twin in the remote organization.
- Changes saved to either work item — in either organization — will automatically sync to the other.
Requirements for Cross-Organization Sync
- The extension must be installed in both organizations. Each organization's observer detects changes and triggers synchronization.
- Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) authentication. The user connecting the organizations must have an Entra ID account with access to both organizations. Personal Microsoft accounts (MSA) are not supported for cross-org sync.
- Popups must be allowed. The initial authentication uses a popup window for secure OAuth sign-in.
- Network access to Azure DevOps REST APIs. The extension communicates with both organizations via the Azure DevOps REST API using OAuth tokens.
Bulk Twin Sync
- Go to Boards → Queries and run any query.
- Click the "Bulk Twin Sync" toolbar button above the query results to process all items, or select specific rows, right-click, and choose "Bulk Twin Sync".
- You can also use Boards → Backlogs, select multiple items, right-click, and choose "Bulk Twin Sync".
- In the Bulk Sync panel, configure the target project, area path, and iteration path.
- Click "Create Twins" to create twins for all items at once, or "Sync Existing" to synchronize items that already have twins.
Synchronization Details
- Twin relationships and configurations are stored in Azure DevOps Data Storage Service, accessible only within your organization.
- Work items are tagged with "Work Item Twin" for easy identification.
- Automatic Sync: Field synchronization is automatically triggered when you save changes to either twin work item.
- Comment Sync: Discussion comments are synced bidirectionally between twins. New comments are copied with a "Synced from #ID" attribution. Edits to existing comments are also propagated. Comment sync state is tracked persistently, so no duplicates occur across page reloads or browser tabs.
- Manual Sync: The "Manual Sync" button compares the
System.ChangedDate of both twins and copies field values from the more recently updated item to the older one. Only fields with different values are updated. Comments are also synced during manual sync.
- Smart Field Handling:
- System fields specific to each project (like ID, Project, Area Path, Iteration Path, Created Date, etc.) are never synced.
- Read-only and computed fields (including board-related fields) are automatically excluded.
- Work item type-specific fields are handled correctly (e.g., Description for Stories, Repro Steps for Bugs).
- Clearing a field value (e.g., removing the Assigned To) is correctly synced to the twin.
Migration from Legacy Version
If you used a previous version of this extension that stored configurations in tags, the extension will automatically migrate your twin configurations to the new Data Storage system on first use. Your existing twin relationships will continue to work seamlessly.
Use Cases
- Cross-organization collaboration: Sync work items between a vendor and client organization, or across business units with separate Azure DevOps tenants.
- Cross-project tracking: Track features or tasks across different project boards within the same organization.
- Multi-team backlogs: Maintain synchronized backlogs across multiple teams or departments.
- Shared services: Support shared services teams that work with multiple product teams across projects or organizations.
- Bulk onboarding: Onboard existing work items into twin relationships in bulk from query results or backlogs.
Support & Feature Requests
- Request Features: Use the "💡 Request a Feature" button at the bottom of the panel to easily email feature requests to support@innovaapps.ai
- Get Help: Contact our support team for assistance with the extension
| |
