Establishing the Service Connection
To connect Azure Boards with a GitHub repository, you create an OAuth-based service connection. This secure link allows Azure DevOps to interact with your GitHub account. You start by installing the Azure Boards app from the GitHub Marketplace, granting it permissions to read and write to your chosen repositories. Then, within your Azure DevOps project settings, you create a new GitHub service connection and authenticate using your GitHub credentials to finalize the link.
Configuration and Permissions
Configuring the integration involves setting the right permissions. When you install the Azure Boards GitHub app, you select which repositories it can access. It needs write permissions to create comments and links on your commits and pull requests. In Azure DevOps, you must have project administration rights to set up the service connection. This two-way permission setup ensures that code changes in GitHub can automatically update work items in Azure Boards.
Verification and Workflow Integration
After setup, you verify the integration by checking that commits and pull requests in GitHub automatically create links to corresponding work items in Azure Boards. For example, mentioning a work item number like AB#123 in a GitHub commit message will link that commit to work item 123. This creates end-to-end traceability, allowing teams to see the complete history from a work item to the code that implemented it. Monitoring these automatic updates ensures the integration remains active and supports collaborative workflows.