Azure Repos Integration

Follow the instructions on this page to integrate with VCS repositories that are hosted in Azure Repos.

An Azure Repos integration enables the following features in YouTrack:

Apply commands to YouTrack issues in commit messages. For more information, see Apply Commands in VCS Commits.
Track commits that are related to specific issues in the activity stream for each issue. For more information, see Commits.
Display the status of pull (merge) requests directly in the activity stream of any issue that is referenced in the title or description of the pull request. For details, see Pull Requests.

Prerequisites

YouTrack is accessible to inbound connections. Specifically, you need to make sure that your network doesn't block connections between your VCS server and YouTrack.
The account that you use to connect to Azure Repos has access to the Azure Repos repository that you want to use with this integration. This is the user account whose private token is used for authentication. You can either use an account that has Contributor access level in the project or an Azure Repo administrator account.
Your Azure Repos service is hosted in Microsoft's cloud-based Azure DevOps Services. Integrations with on-premises Azure DevOps Server installations are not supported.

Generate an Access Token in Azure DevOps

The first thing you should do is generate an access token in Azure DevOps. This token grants YouTrack access to the repository based on the access that is granted to your Azure account. You can use a single access token to set up multiple integrations.

Learn how to generate a personal access token at: Azure DevOps: Use personal access token.

The following scopes of access are required for your access token:

Build (Read)
Code (Read)

Configure the Azure Repos Integration

Now that you have a personal access token, switch to YouTrack to establish a connection with an Azure Repos repository. Make sure that you are logged in YouTrack with an account that is granted system administrator permissions.

To connect to an Azure Repos repository:

From the main navigation menu in YouTrack, select Administration > Integrations > VCS Integration.
Click the New VCS Integration button
- The New VCS Integration dialog opens.
From the Main YouTrack project list, select the name of the primary project that you want to integrate with the VCS repository. You can add integrations with additional YouTrack projects after you have set up the connection to the repository.
For the Server type, select Azure Repos.
Paste the URL that points to your Azure Repos repository into the Repository URL input field using the following format:
https://dev.azure.com/organization_name/repository_name
Paste the access token that you have generated into the Personal access token field.
Click the Save button.
- Your YouTrack project is integrated with the selected repository in Azure Repos.
- Commits from the Azure Repos repository that reference an issue in the project are displayed in the activity stream of the referenced issue.
- The sidebar displays additional settings for configuring the VCS integration.
To learn more about these settings, see Integration Settings.

Integration Settings

By default, the VCS integration processes changes that are committed to the repository by any user in any branch. Any user who has access to the issue in YouTrack can view these changes in the issue activity stream.

If you only want to process changes by specific users in designated branches or restrict the visibility of VCS changes in YouTrack, you can customize the integration settings. Use the following settings to customize the integration:

Setting	Description
Repository	Displays the path to the repository in the integrated version control system. If needed, you can edit the location of the repository after you have set up the integration. For instructions, see Edit Repository Settings.
Main YouTrack project	Sets the primary project in which the VCS integration is active.
Additional projects	Integrates the linked repository with one or more additional projects.
Committers	Restricts the ability to update issues with commands in commit messages to members of the specified group. VCS changes from users who are not members of the selected group are still attached to related issues, but any commands that are specified in their commits are ignored.
Processing scheme for VCS changes	Choose how to process VCS changes when the commit message references an issue ID. The following options are supported: Add commits, ignore commands: Add VCS changes to issues when a commit message references an ID that belongs to an issue in an integrated project. Any command in the commit message is ignored. Add commits in all projects, apply commands in main: Add VCS changes to issues when a commit message references an ID that belongs to an issue in an integrated project. Only apply commands to issues that belong to the currently selected main project. When this option is selected, the Parse commits for issue comments option becomes available. Add commits and apply commands to all projects: Add VCS changes to issues when a commit message references an ID that belongs to an issue in an integrated project. Update issues in any integrated project when commit messages include commands. Scheme is available only when at least one Additional project is specified in the integration settings. When this option is selected, the Parse commits for issue comments option becomes available.
Monitored branches	Stores the names of the branches that you want to monitor for changes. Use `+` to include a branch. Use `-` to exclude a branch. For the `branch name`, use the fully qualified name of the branch. For example, `refs/heads/<branch name>`. Use `` as a wildcard. This placeholder matches one or more characters in a string. For example, to include all feature branches, use: +:refs/heads/feature/ You can only use one wildcard character per branch pattern. If you specify a pattern that contains more than one asterisk character, only the first is evaluated as a wildcard. To monitor all branches, leave the input field empty. If the address that you entered as the Repository URL when you connected to the repository points to a specific branch, this branch is automatically added to the list of monitored branches when you set up the connection.
Parse commits for issue comments	This option is shown in the UI only when either of the following processing schemes is selected: Add commits in all projects, apply commands in main Add commits and apply commands to all projects When enabled, specific lines of text in commit messages are copied to issues as comments. When you copy parts of the commit message to the issue as comments, you can trigger @mention notifications and expose information to users who don't have access to VCS changes. This setting does not affect how commit messages are shown in VCS changes. The entire commit message, including commands and issue comments, is always shown as part of the VCS change record in the activity stream. You should only enable this option when: You want to mention other users in your commit messages and generate notifications when the text is copied to an issue comment. You restrict the visibility for VCS changes and want to make commit-related information visible to external users as comments. To learn more about how YouTrack processes commit messages, see Apply Commands in VCS Commits.
Check branch names for issue references	When enabled, the integration checks for references to issues in branch names for commits and pull requests. This option was added for teams that use a branch-per-ticket process, so their developers don't have to mention issue IDs in their commit messages explicitly.
VCS changes visibility	Restricts the visibility of VCS changes to one or more groups of users in YouTrack. When unrestricted, the list of VCS changes is visible to any user who has permission to read the issue.

Available Actions

When you select an integrated version control system in the list, the following actions are available in the toolbar:

Action	Description
Disable	Shuts off the connection between the integrated project and the VCS repository. The configuration is not changed and can be enabled at any time.
Edit	Opens the integration settings dialog in the sidebar for the selected project and repository.
Delete	Removes the settings for the integrated project from YouTrack. This action also removes all VCS changes that were added to issues for commits in the linked repository. While the action itself cannot be undone, you can use the Import action to restore VCS changes that were removed accidentally.
Import commits and open pull requests	Checks the commit history in the linked repository and adds VCS changes to issues that are referenced in commit messages. This option is only available for integrations that are currently enabled. You can use this action to restore VCS changes that were removed when an integration was accidentally deleted or to migrate links to issues in a new project.

10 September 2025