MCP Azure DevOps Server

Instructions

    Retrieves the area paths assigned to a specific team.
    
    Use this tool when you need to:
    - Understand a team's areas of responsibility
    - Check default area path assignments
    - Determine how work is classified and routed to teams
    - Set up board and backlog configurations
    
    IMPORTANT: Area paths in Azure DevOps determine which work items appear
    on a team's backlogs and boards. The default area path is used when
    creating new work items through a team's interface.
    
    Args:
        project_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team project
        team_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team
            
    Returns:
        Formatted string containing team area path information including
        the default area path and all assigned paths, with indicators for
        paths that include sub-areas
    

Implementation Reference

• src/mcp_azure_devops/features/teams/tools.py:247-281 (handler)

  Core handler implementation that executes the tool logic: creates TeamContext, calls Azure DevOps WorkClient.get_team_field_values to retrieve team area paths, handles errors, and formats the result using a helper function.

  def _get_team_area_paths_impl(
      work_client,
      project_name_or_id: str,
      team_name_or_id: str
  ) -> str:
      """
      Implementation of team area paths retrieval.
      
      Args:
          work_client: Work client
          project_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team project
          team_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team
              
      Returns:
          Formatted string containing team area path information
      """
      try:
          # Create a TeamContext object
          team_context = TeamContext(
              project=project_name_or_id,
              team=team_name_or_id
          )
          
          # Get the team field values
          team_field_values = work_client.get_team_field_values(team_context)
          
          if not team_field_values:
              return (f"No area paths found for team {team_name_or_id} "
                      f"in project {project_name_or_id}.")
          
          return _format_team_area_path(team_field_values)
              
      except Exception as e:
          return f"Error retrieving team area paths: {str(e)}"

• src/mcp_azure_devops/features/teams/tools.py:417-452 (registration)

  MCP tool registration and public handler function decorated with @mcp.tool(), including schema description in docstring, parameter definitions, and delegation to the core implementation.

  @mcp.tool()
  def get_team_area_paths(
      project_name_or_id: str,
      team_name_or_id: str
  ) -> str:
      """
      Retrieves the area paths assigned to a specific team.
      
      Use this tool when you need to:
      - Understand a team's areas of responsibility
      - Check default area path assignments
      - Determine how work is classified and routed to teams
      - Set up board and backlog configurations
      
      IMPORTANT: Area paths in Azure DevOps determine which work items appear
      on a team's backlogs and boards. The default area path is used when
      creating new work items through a team's interface.
      
      Args:
          project_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team project
          team_name_or_id: The name or ID of the team
              
      Returns:
          Formatted string containing team area path information including
          the default area path and all assigned paths, with indicators for
          paths that include sub-areas
      """
      try:
          work_client = get_work_client()
          return _get_team_area_paths_impl(
              work_client,
              project_name_or_id,
              team_name_or_id
          )
      except AzureDevOpsClientError as e:
          return f"Error: {str(e)}"

• src/mcp_azure_devops/features/teams/tools.py:91-119 (helper)

  Helper function to format the retrieved team field values into a structured markdown string showing default and all area paths with include_children indicators.

  def _format_team_area_path(team_field_values) -> str:
      """
      Format team area path information.
      
      Args:
          team_field_values: Team field values object to format
          
      Returns:
          String with team area path details
      """
      formatted_info = ["# Team Area Paths"]
      
      # Add default area path
      if (hasattr(team_field_values, "default_value") and 
              team_field_values.default_value):
          formatted_info.append(
              f"Default Area Path: {team_field_values.default_value}")
      
      # Add all area paths
      if hasattr(team_field_values, "values") and team_field_values.values:
          formatted_info.append("\n## All Area Paths:")
          for area_path in team_field_values.values:
              value_str = f"- {area_path.value}"
              if (hasattr(area_path, "include_children") and 
                      area_path.include_children):
                  value_str += " (Including sub-areas)"
              formatted_info.append(value_str)
      
      return "\n".join(formatted_info)

• src/mcp_azure_devops/features/teams/__init__.py:5-13 (registration)

  Registration entry point for the teams feature, which calls tools.register_tools(mcp) to register all team tools including get_team_area_paths.

  def register(mcp):
      """
      Register all teams components with the MCP server.
      
      Args:
          mcp: The FastMCP server instance
      """
      tools.register_tools(mcp)