Issue tracking integration for Azure DevOps

This page describes the issue tracking integration for Azure DevOps, and what you need to do to connect Polaris to Azure DevOps. Once configured, the issue tracking integration allows Polaris to create tickets in Azure DevOps for issues captured in Polaris.

Prerequisites and technical requirements

The issue tracking integration for Azure DevOps requires:

  • An Azure DevOps Services instance.
    Important: The Azure DevOps instance must be routable over the Internet. Closed networks are not supported at this time. Azure DevOps Server is not supported.
  • Only organization administrators can connect Polaris to Azure DevOps.
  • Authentication between Azure DevOps and Polaris is managed with a personal access token (PAT) that you create in Azure DevOps. The user associated with the PAT will be listed as the creator of any tickets created using the integration.
    Tip: Consider using a PAT associated with a service account to better-identify the work items Polaris creates.

Work item fields

Each ticket Polaris creates in Azure DevOps includes the following fields:

  • Title: the format of titles vary, depending on how the ticket was created:
    • Tickets for issues you export manually: 
      Polaris - Project '<Polaris project name>' contains issue '<Issue Type>'
    • Tickets created for policy violations: 
      Polaris - Project '<Polaris project name>' contains issues violating policy '<Policy name>'
  • Description: the format of descriptions vary, depending on how the ticket was created:
    • Tickets for issues you export manually: detailed information about the issue, remediation guidance, and helpful links.
    • Tickets created for policy violations: the name of the violated policy, the names of any violate rules, and links you can use to view violating issues in Polaris.
  • Created by: The user associated with the personal access token used for the integration.
Important: If other fields are required by your Azure DevOps project, exports will fail.

Connect Polaris to Azure DevOps

Connecting Polaris to an Azure DevOps organization requires the following steps:

Create a personal access token

To create an personal access token (PAT) in Azure DevOps, follow these steps:
  1. After you sign in to Azure DevOps, select User settings > Personal Access Tokens.
  2. Select + New Token.
  3. Enter a Name for the token and select your Organization.
  4. Select the token's Expiration date.
    To avoid issues, we recommend the longest setting which is one year from creation.
  5. Under Scopes, select Custom defined.
  6. Under Work Items, select Read, write, & manage.
  7. Select Create.
  8. Copy the token and store it in a safe place.

Add an Azure DevOps instance to Polaris

Now, connect Polaris to your Azure DevOps instance. Only an organization administrator can complete these steps.
  1. In Polaris, go to My Organization > Integrations.
  2. Select + Add Integration > Azure DevOps.


  3. Enter the URL for your Azure DevOps instance (for example, https://dev.azure.com/organization) in the Azure URL field.
  4. Copy and paste your Azure DevOps token into the Access Token field.
  5. Select Save.
  6. When the Integrations page opens, select Test next to your Azure DevOps URL to verify the connection is working as expected.
    If the test is successful, a green check mark appears next to the Test button.

Connect a Polaris project to Azure DevOps

After an organization administrator establishes the connection between Polaris and Azure DevOps, follow these steps to connect a project to Azure DevOps.
  1. In Polaris, go to Portfolio.
  2. Open an application and then open a project.
  3. Go to Settings > Integrations.
  4. Under Issue Tracker, select an Azure DevOps instance from the Instance dropdown menu.


    Note: Each Polaris project supports one issue tracking integration. You cannot add an issue tracking integration to a project that already has one configured.
  5. Select the Azure Project exported issues will be sent to.
  6. Select the Work Item Type used when exporting issues.
  7. Select Save.