Visual Studio Team

• Visual Studio Team Services Documentation
• Visual Studio Team Explorer
• Visual Studio Team Project
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server
• Visual Studio Team Explorer 2017

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015 is a source-code-control, project-management, and team-collaboration platform at the core of the Microsoft suite of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM. A plug-in to Visual Studio, this tool provides an add-in to the Team menu and a new section on the Work Items page in Team Explorer. Use this tool to create new work items with default values, or to easily apply values to existing work items.

DEPRECATION NOTICE:This extension is no longer receiving updates.Learn more here.

This extension allows you to connect to Azure DevOps Services and Team Foundation Server and provides support for Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC).It allows you to monitor your builds and manage your pull requests and work items for your TFVC or Git source repositories. The extension uses your local repository informationto connect to either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2 (and later).

Here is the Walkthrough of the Azure Repos extension for Visual Studio Codevideo that shows many of the features of the extension.

Prerequisites

Azure DevOps Services

If you are using the extension with Azure DevOps Services, ensure you have an Azure DevOps Services organization. If you donot have one, sign up for Azure DevOps Services.

Team Foundation Server

If you are planning on using the extension with Team Foundation Server, you must be running Team FoundationServer 2015 Update 2 or later. Earlier versions of Team Foundation Server are not supported.

Clone your Git repository

With Git, the extension uses the remote origin of your repository to determine how to connect to Azure DevOps Services (or your Team Foundation Server), in most cases you will need to have a Git repository already cloned locally. If you intend on cloning an existing repository, do so before proceeding. If you do not have a Git repository cloned locally but already have an Azure DevOps Services organization (or a Team Foundation Server instance), you may create a local repository (via git init) and once you set the 'origin' remote for that local repository, the extension will detect the change to the remote and attempt to contact Azure DevOps Services (or Team Foundation Server).

Create your TFVC workspace

With TFVC, the extension uses information about the current workspace to determine how to connect to Azure DevOps Services (or your Team Foundation Server). Workspaces can be created using the Visual Studio IDE, Eclipse or with the JetBrains IDEs (e.g, Android Studio, IntelliJ).

Note: At this time, you will need to have a local TFVC workspace already available on your local machine. More information about the difference between the two types (and how to determine which one you're using) can be found here. The issue tracking support for Server workspaces is here.

Installation

First, you will need to install Visual Studio Code1.12.0 or later.

To install the extension with the latest version of Visual Studio Code (version 1.13.1 is the latest as of this writing), bring up the Visual Studio Code Command Palette (F1), type install and choose Extensions: Install Extensions. In the Search Extensions in Marketplace text box, type team. Find the Azure Repos extension published by Microsoft and click the Install button. Restart Visual Studio Code.

Authentication

Azure DevOps Services

If you are connecting to Azure DevOps Services, you will need a personal access token (PAT). With the release of v1.121.0 of the extension, you have a choice of whether you would like to create a token yourself manually and provide it when prompted, or use a new experience in which you are authenticated to Azure DevOps Services using your web browser. In the new experience, a personal access token is still created on your behalf but only after you are authenticated. The created token has All Scopes permissions but can be updated in your profile settings. Both tokens (manual or the new experience) are stored securely on your machine.

Manual Token Creation

Should you wish to create a personal access token yourself, go here to read how. You can also view our video on how to do the same.

• Git repositories require that you create your token with the Build (read), Code (read) and Work items (read) scopes to ensure full functionality. You can also use All Scopes, but the minimum required scopes are those listed above.
• TFVC repositories require tokens with All Scopes. Anything less will cause the extension to fail.

Browser-based Authentication

When using the new authentication experience, you will be prompted to copy a device code used to identify yourself to the authentication system. Once you accept the prompt to begin authentication, your default web browser will be opened to a login page. After supplying that device code and having it verified, you will then be prompted to authenticate with Azure DevOps Services normally (e.g., username and password, multi-factor authentication, etc.). Once you are authenticated to Azure DevOps Services, a personal access token will be created for you and the extension will be initialized normally. To see what this experience is like, view this video.

Team Foundation Server

If you are connecting to Team Foundation Server, you will only need your NTLM credentials (domain name, server name and password). It is assumed that you have the proper permissions on the TFS Server.

Details on how to connect to either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server are found in the next section.

TFVC Support

Once you have a local TFVC workspace available, you must configure the TFVC support in Visual Studio Code. You can find that information (including demo videos) in our TFVC documentation.

Open a local Repository folder

Once you have installed the extension, open either the root folder or a sub-folder of the repository. Once an Azure DevOps Servicesor Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2 (or later) repository is detected by the extension, you will need to provideyour credentials (if credentials weren't already found). If you are required to provide your credentials, there will be anindicator in the status bar whose message will indicate that you need to sign in.

The indicator looks like this:

To sign in, run the team signin command or simply click on that indicator. If your repository is hosted on Azure Repos,you will be prompted to enter your personal access token. When you do, it will be stored securely on yourcomputer and used to connect. If your repository is on Team Foundation Server 2015 Update2 or later, you will be prompted to enter your username and password. After both are provided, they willbe stored securely on your computer and used to connect to your TFS server.

Once your credentials are verified, the status bar indicators will be active and the remaining commands willbe ready to use. The stored credentials will be used for each connection to the server until they are eitherremoved by the team signout command or overwritten by a subsequent team signin command.

Note: In order for the extension to be activated, a repository folder must be opened. The extensionwon't be activated if only a single file in the repository is opened.

Status Bar Indicators

• – This status bar item is populated with the nameof the team project to which the repository belongs. Clicking on the item will open your browser to the team website.

• – Git only This status bar item is a count of activepull requests that you either requested yourself or were added to explicitly as a reviewer. Clicking theitem will display that list of pull requests in the quick pick list. Choosing one will take you to thatpull request in your browser. This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – This status bar item shows the status ofthe build for this particular repository and branch. Hovering over the item will provide additionalinformation about which build was referenced (if any). Clicking on the item will take you to that build'ssummary page in your browser. This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – This status bar item showsthe number of items returned by your pinned work item query. If you have not configured a pinned query itdefaults to the work items assigned to you. Clicking the item will show you the work items the query returns.This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – Clicking this status bar item allows you to quickly sendfeedback about the Azure Repos extension.

Commands

In addition to the status bar integrations, the extension also provides several commands for interacting withAzure DevOps Services and Team Foundation Server. In the Command Palette (F1), type team and choose a command.

• team associate work items – Prompts you to choose a work item that is assigned to you (or from the resultsof your custom query). Choosing a work item will add it to the current commit/check-in message.

• team create bug – Opens your browser to the webpage used to create a new bug. If a single line of text ishighlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the bug. The bug will be assigned to you.You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team create pull request – Git only Opens your browser for a new pull request based on the current repository andbranch. Before creating the pull request, ensure that you save, commit and push any changes you have beforerunning the command. Doing so will ensure that all of your latest changes are part of the pull request.

• team create task – Opens your browser to the webpage used to create a new task. If a single line of textis highlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the task. The task will be assigned toyou. You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team create work item – Prompts you to choose a work item type from the list available in your team project.Once you make a selection, your browser is opened to the webpage used to create the work item. If a single linef text is highlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the task. The work item will beassigned to you. You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team send feedback – Prompts you to either send a smile or a frown. After choosing, you can provide usfeedback of up to 1000 characters. Optionally, provide your email address so we can contact if you needed. Ifyou do not want to provide your email address, just leave it empty (we'll still get your feedback). Note:Feedback can be sent even if telemetry reporting is disabled.

• team signin – Use this command to sign in to an Azure DevOps Services organization or Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2(and later) server. When your credentials are provided, they will be stored securely on your computer. The savedcredentials will be used for that organization until they are removed by the team signout command or overwritten by asubsequent team signin command. See the 'Secure Credential Storage' topic below for more details.

• team signout – Use this command to sign out from an Azure DevOps Services organization or Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2(and later) server. Signing out will remove your credentials from your local computer. To sign back in, you willneed to run the team signin command again.

• team view blame – Git only If a file in the repository is opened in the editor, it will open your browser to theblame page for that file in the current branch in the server repository.

• team view build summary – Same behavior as clicking on the Build Status status bar item.

• team view history – If a file in the repository is opened in the editor, it will open your browser to thehistory page for that file in the current branch in the server repository. Otherwise, the history of the currentbranch in the server repository will be opened. This command does support TFVC repositories.

• team view pull requests – Git only Same behavior as clicking on the Pull Requests status bar item.

• team view website – Same behavior as clicking on the team project status bar item.

• team view work items – Prompts you to choose a work item that is assigned to you, sorted by ChangedDate descending.Choosing a work item will open it in your browser. This command will return a maximum of 200 results with an optionto 'Browse additional work items..'. Choosing that option will open your browser to show all of the results of your query.

• team view work item queries – Prompts you to choose a query stored in your 'My Queries' folder in your team project.Choosing a query will run it and display the results in the Quick Pick list. Choosing one of the results will open thatwork item in your browser. This command will return a maximum of 200 results with an option to 'Browse additionalwork items..'. Choosing that option will open your browser to show all of the results of your query.

Secure Credential Storage

When you run the team signin command, the credentials that you provide will be stored securely on your computer. OnWindows, your credentials wil be stored by Windows Credential Manager. On macOS, your credentials will be stored in theKeychain. On Linux, your credentials will be stored in a file on your local file system in a subdirectory of yourhome folder. That file is created only with RW rights for the user running Visual Studio Code. It is not encryptedon disk.

How to disable telemetry reporting

The Azure Repos extension collects usage data and sends it to Microsoft to help improve our productsand services. Read our privacy statement to learn more.

If you don't wish to send usage data to Microsoft, add the following entry to Settings (File > Preferences > Settings):

Polling interval

The polling interval for the pull request and build status bar indicators defaults to ten minutes. You can change thisvalue in the Visual Studio Code Settings by adding an entry like the one below. The minimum value is 10.

Logging

There may be times when you need to enable file logging to troubleshoot an issue. There are five levels of logging (error,warn, info, verbose and debug). Since logging is disabled by default, you can add an entry like the one shown belowto Visual Studio Code's Settings. Once you are finished logging, either remove the setting or set it to an empty string.

The log file will be placed at the root of your workspace and will be named team-extension.log.

Private builds

In order to facilitate more debugging, you may be provided with a 'private build' of the extension. The private build willlikely come in the form of a .ZIP file named similarly to the VSIX that gets deployed to the Marketplace (e.g., team-0.117.0.vsix.zip).

To install the private build, you must uninstall the previous version and then side load the new one. First, remove the.ZIP extension from the file and then follow these instructions to install the VSIX.

Pinned Work Item Queries

You can customize the pinned work item query by adding the following in the Visual Studio Code Settings. You need toprovide the following:

• account: For Azure DevOps Services, set account to either organization.visualstudio.com or dev.azure.com/organization.For Team Foundation Server, if your server URL is http://servername:8080/tfs then set account to servername:8080.
• queryText or queryPath

Using Query Text

Using Query Path

You can also create a global pinned query which will be the default if you have not configured one byreplacing dev.azure.com/organization with global in the previous examples.

Using External (non-Microsoft) Source Repositories

Visual Studio Team Services Documentation

Starting with version 1.113.0, you can now use the extension with repositories that are not hosted with either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server. You will be able to monitor your builds (for a specific build definition) and work items that are hosted with either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server by specifying your server information. To do this, set the following settings in VS Code. It is recommended that you set these in your Workspace Settings (and not User Settings). You will, of course, still need to authenticate (provide credentials).

Note: If you're using a Team Foundation Version Control repository, you should not use these settings. Have a look at the TFVC Quick Start.

If you are planning on using the extension with Team Foundation Server, you must be running Team FoundationServer 2015 Update 2 or later. Earlier versions of Team Foundation Server are not supported.

Clone your Git repository

With Git, the extension uses the remote origin of your repository to determine how to connect to Azure DevOps Services (or your Team Foundation Server), in most cases you will need to have a Git repository already cloned locally. If you intend on cloning an existing repository, do so before proceeding. If you do not have a Git repository cloned locally but already have an Azure DevOps Services organization (or a Team Foundation Server instance), you may create a local repository (via git init) and once you set the 'origin' remote for that local repository, the extension will detect the change to the remote and attempt to contact Azure DevOps Services (or Team Foundation Server).

Create your TFVC workspace

With TFVC, the extension uses information about the current workspace to determine how to connect to Azure DevOps Services (or your Team Foundation Server). Workspaces can be created using the Visual Studio IDE, Eclipse or with the JetBrains IDEs (e.g, Android Studio, IntelliJ).

Note: At this time, you will need to have a local TFVC workspace already available on your local machine. More information about the difference between the two types (and how to determine which one you're using) can be found here. The issue tracking support for Server workspaces is here.

Installation

First, you will need to install Visual Studio Code1.12.0 or later.

To install the extension with the latest version of Visual Studio Code (version 1.13.1 is the latest as of this writing), bring up the Visual Studio Code Command Palette (F1), type install and choose Extensions: Install Extensions. In the Search Extensions in Marketplace text box, type team. Find the Azure Repos extension published by Microsoft and click the Install button. Restart Visual Studio Code.

Authentication

Azure DevOps Services

If you are connecting to Azure DevOps Services, you will need a personal access token (PAT). With the release of v1.121.0 of the extension, you have a choice of whether you would like to create a token yourself manually and provide it when prompted, or use a new experience in which you are authenticated to Azure DevOps Services using your web browser. In the new experience, a personal access token is still created on your behalf but only after you are authenticated. The created token has All Scopes permissions but can be updated in your profile settings. Both tokens (manual or the new experience) are stored securely on your machine.

Manual Token Creation

Should you wish to create a personal access token yourself, go here to read how. You can also view our video on how to do the same.

• Git repositories require that you create your token with the Build (read), Code (read) and Work items (read) scopes to ensure full functionality. You can also use All Scopes, but the minimum required scopes are those listed above.
• TFVC repositories require tokens with All Scopes. Anything less will cause the extension to fail.

Browser-based Authentication

When using the new authentication experience, you will be prompted to copy a device code used to identify yourself to the authentication system. Once you accept the prompt to begin authentication, your default web browser will be opened to a login page. After supplying that device code and having it verified, you will then be prompted to authenticate with Azure DevOps Services normally (e.g., username and password, multi-factor authentication, etc.). Once you are authenticated to Azure DevOps Services, a personal access token will be created for you and the extension will be initialized normally. To see what this experience is like, view this video.

Team Foundation Server

If you are connecting to Team Foundation Server, you will only need your NTLM credentials (domain name, server name and password). It is assumed that you have the proper permissions on the TFS Server.

Details on how to connect to either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server are found in the next section.

TFVC Support

Once you have a local TFVC workspace available, you must configure the TFVC support in Visual Studio Code. You can find that information (including demo videos) in our TFVC documentation.

Open a local Repository folder

Once you have installed the extension, open either the root folder or a sub-folder of the repository. Once an Azure DevOps Servicesor Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2 (or later) repository is detected by the extension, you will need to provideyour credentials (if credentials weren't already found). If you are required to provide your credentials, there will be anindicator in the status bar whose message will indicate that you need to sign in.

The indicator looks like this:

To sign in, run the team signin command or simply click on that indicator. If your repository is hosted on Azure Repos,you will be prompted to enter your personal access token. When you do, it will be stored securely on yourcomputer and used to connect. If your repository is on Team Foundation Server 2015 Update2 or later, you will be prompted to enter your username and password. After both are provided, they willbe stored securely on your computer and used to connect to your TFS server.

Once your credentials are verified, the status bar indicators will be active and the remaining commands willbe ready to use. The stored credentials will be used for each connection to the server until they are eitherremoved by the team signout command or overwritten by a subsequent team signin command.

Note: In order for the extension to be activated, a repository folder must be opened. The extensionwon't be activated if only a single file in the repository is opened.

Status Bar Indicators

• – This status bar item is populated with the nameof the team project to which the repository belongs. Clicking on the item will open your browser to the team website.

• – Git only This status bar item is a count of activepull requests that you either requested yourself or were added to explicitly as a reviewer. Clicking theitem will display that list of pull requests in the quick pick list. Choosing one will take you to thatpull request in your browser. This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – This status bar item shows the status ofthe build for this particular repository and branch. Hovering over the item will provide additionalinformation about which build was referenced (if any). Clicking on the item will take you to that build'ssummary page in your browser. This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – This status bar item showsthe number of items returned by your pinned work item query. If you have not configured a pinned query itdefaults to the work items assigned to you. Clicking the item will show you the work items the query returns.This indicator will update its status every 5 minutes.

• – Clicking this status bar item allows you to quickly sendfeedback about the Azure Repos extension.

Commands

In addition to the status bar integrations, the extension also provides several commands for interacting withAzure DevOps Services and Team Foundation Server. In the Command Palette (F1), type team and choose a command.

• team associate work items – Prompts you to choose a work item that is assigned to you (or from the resultsof your custom query). Choosing a work item will add it to the current commit/check-in message.

• team create bug – Opens your browser to the webpage used to create a new bug. If a single line of text ishighlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the bug. The bug will be assigned to you.You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team create pull request – Git only Opens your browser for a new pull request based on the current repository andbranch. Before creating the pull request, ensure that you save, commit and push any changes you have beforerunning the command. Doing so will ensure that all of your latest changes are part of the pull request.

• team create task – Opens your browser to the webpage used to create a new task. If a single line of textis highlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the task. The task will be assigned toyou. You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team create work item – Prompts you to choose a work item type from the list available in your team project.Once you make a selection, your browser is opened to the webpage used to create the work item. If a single linef text is highlighted in Visual Studio Code, it will be used as the title of the task. The work item will beassigned to you. You can then choose to update the fields, save, cancel, etc.

• team send feedback – Prompts you to either send a smile or a frown. After choosing, you can provide usfeedback of up to 1000 characters. Optionally, provide your email address so we can contact if you needed. Ifyou do not want to provide your email address, just leave it empty (we'll still get your feedback). Note:Feedback can be sent even if telemetry reporting is disabled.

• team signin – Use this command to sign in to an Azure DevOps Services organization or Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2(and later) server. When your credentials are provided, they will be stored securely on your computer. The savedcredentials will be used for that organization until they are removed by the team signout command or overwritten by asubsequent team signin command. See the 'Secure Credential Storage' topic below for more details.

• team signout – Use this command to sign out from an Azure DevOps Services organization or Team Foundation Server 2015 Update 2(and later) server. Signing out will remove your credentials from your local computer. To sign back in, you willneed to run the team signin command again.

• team view blame – Git only If a file in the repository is opened in the editor, it will open your browser to theblame page for that file in the current branch in the server repository.

• team view build summary – Same behavior as clicking on the Build Status status bar item.

• team view history – If a file in the repository is opened in the editor, it will open your browser to thehistory page for that file in the current branch in the server repository. Otherwise, the history of the currentbranch in the server repository will be opened. This command does support TFVC repositories.

• team view pull requests – Git only Same behavior as clicking on the Pull Requests status bar item.

• team view website – Same behavior as clicking on the team project status bar item.

• team view work items – Prompts you to choose a work item that is assigned to you, sorted by ChangedDate descending.Choosing a work item will open it in your browser. This command will return a maximum of 200 results with an optionto 'Browse additional work items..'. Choosing that option will open your browser to show all of the results of your query.

• team view work item queries – Prompts you to choose a query stored in your 'My Queries' folder in your team project.Choosing a query will run it and display the results in the Quick Pick list. Choosing one of the results will open thatwork item in your browser. This command will return a maximum of 200 results with an option to 'Browse additionalwork items..'. Choosing that option will open your browser to show all of the results of your query.

Secure Credential Storage

When you run the team signin command, the credentials that you provide will be stored securely on your computer. OnWindows, your credentials wil be stored by Windows Credential Manager. On macOS, your credentials will be stored in theKeychain. On Linux, your credentials will be stored in a file on your local file system in a subdirectory of yourhome folder. That file is created only with RW rights for the user running Visual Studio Code. It is not encryptedon disk.

How to disable telemetry reporting

The Azure Repos extension collects usage data and sends it to Microsoft to help improve our productsand services. Read our privacy statement to learn more.

If you don't wish to send usage data to Microsoft, add the following entry to Settings (File > Preferences > Settings):

Polling interval

The polling interval for the pull request and build status bar indicators defaults to ten minutes. You can change thisvalue in the Visual Studio Code Settings by adding an entry like the one below. The minimum value is 10.

Logging

There may be times when you need to enable file logging to troubleshoot an issue. There are five levels of logging (error,warn, info, verbose and debug). Since logging is disabled by default, you can add an entry like the one shown belowto Visual Studio Code's Settings. Once you are finished logging, either remove the setting or set it to an empty string.

The log file will be placed at the root of your workspace and will be named team-extension.log.

Private builds

In order to facilitate more debugging, you may be provided with a 'private build' of the extension. The private build willlikely come in the form of a .ZIP file named similarly to the VSIX that gets deployed to the Marketplace (e.g., team-0.117.0.vsix.zip).

To install the private build, you must uninstall the previous version and then side load the new one. First, remove the.ZIP extension from the file and then follow these instructions to install the VSIX.

Pinned Work Item Queries

You can customize the pinned work item query by adding the following in the Visual Studio Code Settings. You need toprovide the following:

• account: For Azure DevOps Services, set account to either organization.visualstudio.com or dev.azure.com/organization.For Team Foundation Server, if your server URL is http://servername:8080/tfs then set account to servername:8080.
• queryText or queryPath

Using Query Text

Using Query Path

You can also create a global pinned query which will be the default if you have not configured one byreplacing dev.azure.com/organization with global in the previous examples.

Using External (non-Microsoft) Source Repositories

Visual Studio Team Services Documentation

Starting with version 1.113.0, you can now use the extension with repositories that are not hosted with either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server. You will be able to monitor your builds (for a specific build definition) and work items that are hosted with either Azure DevOps Services or Team Foundation Server by specifying your server information. To do this, set the following settings in VS Code. It is recommended that you set these in your Workspace Settings (and not User Settings). You will, of course, still need to authenticate (provide credentials).

Note: If you're using a Team Foundation Version Control repository, you should not use these settings. Have a look at the TFVC Quick Start.

To determine your build definition id, open the build summary for the build you'd like to monitor and grab the value of the buildId= parameter in the url.

Support

Support for this extension is provided on our GitHub Issue Tracker. Youcan submit a bug report, a feature requestor participate in discussions.

Contributing to the Extension

See the developer documentation for details on how to contribute to this extension.

Code of Conduct

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Privacy Statement

The Microsoft Visual Studio Product Family Privacy Statementdescribes the privacy statement of this software.

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License. Please see the third-party noticesfile for additional copyright notices and license terms applicable to portions of the software.

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2020 | Azure DevOps Server 2019 | TFS 2018 - TFS 2013

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2017 | Visual Studio 2015

You use Team Explorer to coordinate your code efforts with other team members to develop a software project. In addition, you can manage work and that is assigned to you, your team, or your projects. Team Explorer is a plug-in that installs with Visual Studio and Team Explorer Everywhere is a plug-in that installs with Eclipse. Developers can effectively collaborate using Team Explorer connected to projects hosted on Azure DevOps Services or an on-premises Azure DevOps Server (previously named Team Foundation Server (TFS)).

Tip

You can install the latest version of Visual Studio clients from the Visual Studio downloads page.

Additional options for connecting to Azure DevOps Services or TFS include:

For information about compatibility among client and server versions, see Requirements and compatibility.

If you don't need Visual Studio, but want to connect to a project in Azure DevOps, you can install the free Visual Studio Community.

Prerequisites

• You must have a project in Azure DevOps. If you need to add a project, see Create a project.
• You must be a member of the project you connect to. To get added, see Add users to a project or team.

Connect to a project or repository

Team Explorer connects Visual Studio to projects in Azure DevOps. You can manage source code, work items, and builds. The operations available to you depend on which source control option—Git or Team Foundation version control (TFVC) —was selected to manage source code when the project was created.

Tip

If you open Visual Studio and the Team Explorer pane doesn't appear, choose the View>Team Explorer menu option from the tool bar.

From the Connect page, you can select the projects you want to connect to and quickly switch connection to a different project and or repository. For details, see Connect to a project.

The Git and TFVC repos support different pages and functions. For a comparison of the two version control systems, see Choosing the right version control for your project.

Git version control and repository

The following images show the pages available when you connect to a Git repository from Team Explorer.

Visual Studio Team Explorer

Note

Visual Studio 2019 now includes a new Git tool that provides an improved experience when connecting to a Git repository. When you enable this tool, the Team Explorer tool is effectively disabled when connected to a Git repository. You can acquire the new tool by downloading Visual Studio 2019 version 16.6. To enable and use the new tool, see Git experience in Visual Studio (Preview).

To learn more about each page, see the following articles.

Team Foundation version control

The following images show the pages available when you connect to a TFVC repository from Team Explorer.

To learn more about each page, see the following articles.

Team Explorer plug-in for Eclipse

If you work in Eclipse or on a non-Windows platform, you can install the Team Explorer plug-in for Eclipse. Once installed, you can share your Eclipse projects by adding them to Azure DevOps Services or TFS using Git or TFVC.

To learn more about each page, see the following articles.

Reports

Note

Some pages, such as Reports, only appear when an on-premises TFS is configured with the required resources, such as SQL Server Reporting Services and SharePoint.

The Reports page opens the Reporting Services report site. This page appears only when your project has been configured with SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services. Also, the option to Create Report in Microsoft Excel appears only when reporting has been configured for the project.

If your project is missing one or more pages, you may be able to add functionality to your on premises TFS deployment.

Reports and Documents

Note

Visual Studio Team Project

Some pages, such as Reports and Documents, only appear when an on-premises TFS is configured with the required resources, such as SQL Server Reporting Services and SharePoint.

The Reports page opens the Reporting Services report site. This page appears only when your project has been configured with SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services. Also, the option to Create Report in Microsoft Excel appears only when reporting has been configured for the project.

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server

From the Documents page, you can open project portal and manage documents and document libraries. This page appears only if your project has been configured with a SharePoint Products portal.

If your project is missing one or more pages, you may be able to add functionality to your on premises TFS deployment.

Settings

From the Settings page, you can configure administrative features for either a project or project collection. To learn more about each page, see the following articles. Most of the links open to a web portal administration page. Not all settings are available from the Team Explorer plug-in for Eclipse.

Visual Studio Team Explorer 2017

To learn more about settings, see About team, project, and organizational-level settings.

Refresh Team Explorer or Team Explorer Everywhere

If data doesn't appear as expected, the first thing to try is to refresh your client. Refreshing your client updates the local cache with changes that were made in another client or in TFS. To refresh Team Explorer, do one of the following actions:

• To refresh a page that you are currently viewing, choose Refresh in the menu bar (or choose F5).
• To refresh the project you currently have selected, choose Home, and then choose Refresh (or choose F5).
• To refresh the set of teams defined for the project that you currently have selected, choose Connect, and then choose Refresh (or choose F5).

To avoid potential errors, you should refresh your client application under the following circumstances:

• Process changes are made.
• Work item type definitions are added, removed, renamed, or updated.
• Area or iteration paths are added, removed, renamed, or updated.
• Users are added to or removed from security groups, or permissions are updated.
• A team member adds a new shared query or changes the name of a shared query.
• A build pipeline is added or deleted.
• A team or project is added or deleted.

Resolve images that don't display in Team Explorer

If an inline image isn't displayed in a work item form that you view in Visual Studio Team Explorer, but the image is displayed in the web portal, your credentials might have expired. You can resolve this by completing the following steps:

1. In Visual Studio, select View > Other Windows > Web Browser (or use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+R).
2. In the web browser, locate your organization.
3. Sign in with your credentials.
4. Refresh your work item in Team Explorer.

Related articles

Additional tools provided with TFS Power Tools

By installing TFS Power Tools, you gain access to these additional tools through the Team Explorer plug-in for Visual Studio:

• Process Template Editor
• Additional check-in policies for Team Foundation Version Control
• Team Explorer enhancements including Team Members
• Team Foundation Power Tool Command Line
• Test Attachment Cleaner
• Work Item Templates

Additional requirements may apply.