ADO PR Helper
See the build status of your Azure DevOps pull requests directly in VS Code — without leaving your editor.
Requirements
- Azure CLI installed (
az must be on your PATH)
- A workspace with a git remote pointing to an Azure DevOps repository
Authentication
The extension uses the Azure CLI to authenticate with Azure DevOps. It never stores credentials — it reuses your existing az session.
On first use, the extension will prompt you to sign in. Click Sign in and a terminal will open running az login. Complete the browser flow, then close the terminal — the extension detects the completed login and retries automatically.
You can also sign in manually at any time:
az login
Getting Started
Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace, then open your ADO repository in VS Code. The extension activates automatically on startup and fetches the build status for your current branch.
Features
Status Bar
A status indicator appears in the bottom toolbar as soon as the extension loads. It reflects the build status of the PR associated with your current branch and updates automatically when you switch branches.
| Status |
Meaning |
⟳ PR Build |
Fetching build status |
⚡ PR Build: Running |
Build is in progress |
✓ PR Build |
Build passing, no errors |
✕ PR Build: N errors |
Build failed with N errors |
⊘ No PR |
No open PR for this branch |
⊘ No Builds |
PR exists but no builds triggered yet |
🔑 PR Build: Sign in |
Azure CLI sign-in required |
⚠ PR Build: Error |
Could not fetch build status |
Click the status bar item to open the PR Summary panel.
PR Summary Panel
Opens a panel showing:
- PR and build links — direct links to the PR and the build in Azure DevOps
- Error count — shown inline:
PR: #12345 | Build: #67890 | 7 errors
- Checks — required policy checks and their pass/fail state (collapsed by default)
- Build Errors — errors grouped by file, with clickable rows that jump to the exact line and column in your editor
The panel updates automatically while a build is running (polling every 30 seconds).
Problems Panel Integration
Build errors are also published to VS Code's native Problems panel (Cmd+Shift+M) and shown as squiggles in the editor — the same way TypeScript or ESLint errors appear. This can be disabled in settings.
Commands
| Command |
Description |
ADO: Find PR Build Errors |
Opens the PR Summary for the current branch |
ADO: Find PR Build Errors for PR… |
Prompts for a PR number, URL, or commit hash |
Access commands via the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux).
The second command also accepts a commit hash — if the commit belongs to a PR, the extension will resolve it to the correct PR automatically.
The extension parses the following error types from build logs:
| Format |
Example |
| ESLint |
src/foo.tsx 10:1 error Missing semicolon semi |
| TypeScript compiler |
src/foo.ts(10,5): error TS2345: ... |
| Heft TypeScript plugin |
Error: src/foo.ts:10:5 - (TS2345) ... |
| Jest test failures |
Failed test names with source locations |
| Jest coverage threshold |
Coverage % not meeting configured threshold |
| GraphQL fixture staleness |
Fixtures out of date with branch |
| Ownership check |
Files missing a required owner |
| Bundle size budget |
Chunk size exceeds configured budget |
| OOM kill |
Build agent ran out of memory (exit code 137) |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
adoPrHelper.orgUrl |
https://yammer.visualstudio.com |
Azure DevOps organization URL |
adoPrHelper.showInProblemsPanel |
true |
Show build errors in the Problems panel and as editor squiggles |
Troubleshooting
"🔑 PR Build: Sign in" — The Azure CLI is not logged in. Click the status bar item or run ADO: Find PR Build Errors and follow the sign-in prompt.
"Could not read git remote URL" — Make sure the workspace has a git origin remote pointing to an ADO repository.
"No open pull request found" — The current branch has no active PR in ADO.
Build errors shown for a passing PR — The extension checks the most recent run per build definition. If you see stale errors, try refreshing by clicking the status bar item.
