Install guide

BranchDeploy is an extension for Azure DevOps that adds a deploy action to work items. Installation takes around five minutes.

Requirements

• An Azure DevOps organisation hosted on dev.azure.com
• Azure Repos for source control in your project
• Azure Pipelines with at least one pipeline that the current user can trigger
• Organisation-level permission to install Marketplace extensions (or an administrator to install on your behalf)

Step 1: Install from the Marketplace

1. Open BranchDeploy on the Azure DevOps Marketplace.
2. Click Get it free.
3. Select the Azure DevOps organisation to install into.
4. Click Install, then Proceed to organisation.

The extension is now available across all projects in that organisation.

Step 2: Link a branch or pull request to a work item

BranchDeploy deploys the branch that is linked to the work item. Before you can deploy, you need a link.

To link a branch:

1. Open an Azure DevOps work item.
2. In the Development section of the work item panel, click create a branch or use the Links tab to add an existing Azure Repos branch link.

To link a pull request:

1. Open a pull request in Azure Repos.
2. In the work item section of the PR, link the target work item.

BranchDeploy only follows linked Azure Repos branches and pull requests. It does not infer branches from work item titles or commit messages.

Step 3: Configure BranchDeploy for your project

1. Open your Azure DevOps project.
2. Go to Project Settings (bottom-left cog icon).
3. Find BranchDeploy in the left sidebar under extensions.
4. Enter your pipeline settings and click Save settings.

See the configuration guide for details on each setting.

Step 4: Deploy from a work item

1. Open any work item that has a linked Azure Repos branch or pull request.
2. Click the BranchDeploy action in the work item toolbar (three-dot menu or ribbon).
3. BranchDeploy resolves the branch and shows a confirmation prompt.
4. Click Deploy to queue the pipeline run.
5. The run ID and a link to the pipeline result appear immediately.

Verifying permissions

BranchDeploy uses your current Azure DevOps session to trigger pipelines. If you cannot trigger the pipeline manually from Azure Pipelines, BranchDeploy will also fail.

Common permission requirements:

• Queue builds permission on the pipeline (Build > Queue builds).
• The pipeline must allow the Build.RequestedFor source branch pattern if it has branch filters.

Next steps

• Configuration guide — set up pipeline parameters and branch rules
• Pipeline YAML examples — configure your pipeline to accept BranchDeploy parameters
• Troubleshooting — fix common problems