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title Customize a project
titleSuffix Azure DevOps
description Learn how to configure and customize work tracking processes for a project by customizing an inherited process in Azure DevOps.
ms.custom inherited-process, copilot-scenario-highlight
ms.service azure-devops-boards
ms.assetid 31CA1DCB-8E3E-4B9E-A64A-D47DF23490A3
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ai-usage ai-assisted
monikerRange <=azure-devops
ms.topic tutorial
ms.date 03/25/2026

Customize a project by using an inherited process

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

Each project is based on a process that defines the building blocks for tracking work. The first project you create uses one of the default processes—Agile, Basic, Scrum, or CMMI.

You can only customize inherited processes. Any changes you make to the inherited process automatically appear in the projects that use that process. To customize a project, follow this sequence:

  1. Customize an inherited process: Modify fields, work item types, workflows, forms, and backlogs to align with your requirements.
  2. Verify your customizations: Create a test project and validate your changes.
  3. Apply the inherited process to a project: Create a new project based on the inherited process, or change the process used by an existing project.
  4. Refresh and verify: Refresh the web portal and open a work item of the type you modified.

[!INCLUDE temp]

[!INCLUDE temp]

[!INCLUDE ai-assistance-mcp-server-tip]

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE temp]

[!INCLUDE temp]

Add or modify a field

Locked :::image type="icon" source="media/process/locked-icon.png" border="false"::: fields and inherited :::image type="icon" source="media/process/inherited-icon.png" border="false"::: fields correspond to fields from a system process. You can't customize locked fields, but you can customize some options for inherited fields. You can fully customize fields that you add to a process.

  1. Sign in to your organization (https://dev.azure.com/{yourorganization}).

  2. Select gear icon Organization settings.

    Screenshot of highlighted Organization settings button.

  3. Select Process > your inherited process > the WIT you want to customize.

  4. To add a field, select the :::image type="icon" source="media/process/new-field-icon.png" border="false"::: (New Field icon).

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Process Work Item Types page, Add a field to a WIT.

    In the dialog, select the type of field that you want to add. For example: integer, picklist (dropdown menu), person-name/Identity, rich-text or HTML, or checkbox (boolean).

  5. Modify an existing field in the following ways:

Add or modify a rule for a work item type

Add rules to support specific workflow and business use cases. Rules let you clear the value of a field, copy a value into a field, and apply values based on dependencies between different fields' values.

  1. Select your inherited process and the work item type.
  2. Select Rules > New rule.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Process, WIT, Bug, Layout, New custom control.

For more information, see Rules and rule evaluation.

Add or modify work item types

Use different work item types (WITs) to plan and track different types of work. Add a custom WIT to customize the web form and workflow states for specific business use cases.

  1. Select your inherited process and the WIT you want to customize.

  2. From the Work Item Types page, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../../media/icons/blue-add-icon.png" border="false"::: New work item type.

    :::image type="content" source="media/process/cpwit-add-new-wit.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Process, Inherited process, Work Item Types, Add new work item type.":::

  3. Name the WIT and optionally specify a description, icon, and color. The icon and color appear throughout the web portal, including on the work item form, backlogs, boards, and query results.

    :::image type="content" source="media/process/cwit-create-wit-ticket.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Create new work item type dialog.":::

  4. Select Create to save.

    You can now add fields to the WIT or customize it in the following ways:

Modify the workflow of a work item type

Workflow states help you track the status of a work item as it moves from new to completed.

  1. To modify a workflow, select your inherited process, the work item type, and then the States page.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Process page, Bug WIT, States tab, Add state.

  2. Modify the workflow by using the following options:

Add a custom control

Custom controls add more functionality to a work item form.

From the Process page, select your inherited process, select the work item type, and then select Add custom control.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of inherited process, WIT, and Add custom control sequence.

Add an extension to a work item type

An extension is an installable unit that adds new capabilities to your project.

Note

Group and page extensions automatically add to all work item types (WITs) for all processes, both system and inherited. You can hide an extension for selected WITs within an inherited process.

  1. Go to the Visual Studio Marketplace, find an extension, and select Get it free.

    :::image type="content" source="media/process/marketplace-extension-work-item-checklist.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Marketplace extension, Work item checklist.":::

  2. Select the organization you want to add it to from the dropdown menu, and then select Install.

    :::image type="content" source="media/process/install-work-item-checklist-extension.png" alt-text="Screenshot of selected organization and install button.":::

  3. Return to the process and WIT and verify the extension is where you want it. You can drag it to where you want it on the form.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Group extension on Bug work item form.

Modify the backlog and boards

You can add more work item types (WITs) to a backlog level or create another portfolio backlog. For example:

  • You introduce a third-level portfolio backlog called Initiatives to track the custom Initiative WIT.
  • You rename the product backlog to Stories and Tickets to encompass both User stories and Customer tickets.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of changes made to the backlog levels.

  1. From the Process page, select your inherited process and then select Backlog levels.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Web portal, Admin context, Process page, open Backlog levels.

  2. Modify the backlog and board configuration in the following ways:

Verify your customization

Create a test project and apply your customized inherited process to verify your changes. All customizations to a process take effect immediately on all projects. To stage your changes, use one of the following methods:

Create a test project and copy your customized process

  1. From the Process page, select the … context menu for the process you want to use, and then select New team project.

    ::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of creating a project from the selected process. ::: moniker-end

  2. Enter information into the form, and then select Create. For more information, see Create a project.

  3. From your project, select Boards > Work Items, and then select the customized WIT from the New Work Item dropdown menu. In the following example, select Bug.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Work, Work Items Page, Add New Work Item, Bug sequence.

  4. Verify that the fields you added appear on the form. The :::image type="icon" source="../../../media/icons/required-icon.png" border="false"::: (exclamation mark) icon indicates the field is required.

Create a test organization and import or export your process

Use the following steps to verify the customizations you made to an inherited process.

  1. Create a test organization.
  2. Use the import/export process tool to copy the process to the test organization.
  3. Verify the process customizations in the test organization.
  4. Use the import/export process tool again to import the modified process to the production organization.

Change your project's process

For more information, see Change a project's process.

Use AI to customize your project process

[!INCLUDE ai-assistance-mcp-server-tip]

If you use GitHub Copilot, the Azure DevOps MCP Server can help you customize inherited processes for your projects through natural language prompts.

Example prompts for process customization

Task Example prompt
Plan a full process customization I'm adopting an inherited Agile process for a regulated healthcare project. Walk me through adding custom fields for Compliance Status and Regulatory Reference, a new 'Compliance Review' state, and rules that enforce sign-off before items can move to Done
Add a custom work item type Create a 'Risk' work item type in my inherited process with fields for Likelihood, Impact, Mitigation Plan, and Risk Owner. Add it to the Requirements backlog level so it shows on our board
Verify customizations in a test project I made several customizations to my inherited process — new fields, a custom WIT, and modified workflow states. Help me create a test project to validate everything works correctly before applying the process to our production project
Compare two inherited processes I have two inherited processes, TeamAlpha-Agile and TeamBeta-Agile. List the differences between them in fields, work item types, states, and rules so I can decide whether to consolidate into one process
Troubleshoot customization problems After customizing my inherited process, some fields aren't appearing on the work item form and a custom state is missing from the board. Help me diagnose what went wrong and how to fix it
Revert unwanted customizations I made changes to the Bug work item type in my inherited process that are causing problems. Show me how to revert specific field and layout changes back to the default inherited behavior without losing other customizations

Tip

For the best results, use these prompts in agent mode with the Azure DevOps MCP Server connected. Customize the prompts with your specific process name, work item types, or business requirements.

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