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workflow-and-state-categories.md

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title titleSuffix description ms.service ms.assetid ai-usage ms.author author ms.topic monikerRange ms.date
How workflow category states are used in Azure Boards backlogs and boards
Azure Boards
Learn how workflow states map to workflow category states and how to use them in Azure Boards backlogs, boards, and Analytics to manage work items effectively.
azure-devops-boards
C6FEEE5A-CD13-413E-8A3F-84A7D4F3A2C9
ai-assisted
chcomley
chcomley
conceptual
<= azure-devops
11/08/2024

About workflow states in backlogs and boards

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

Workflows are essential for managing work items, consisting of states, transitions, and reasons. Each workflow is defined for a specific work item type. Transitions allow movement between states, both forward and backward. When you add a custom state, the system automatically includes transitions to all other inherited states, except for the Removed state.

Each state is categorized to support Agile tool backlogs and board views, ensuring a streamlined and organized workflow process.

Workflow states

Workflow states define how a work item progresses from creation to closure. For the User Story (Agile process), the main states are New, Active, Resolved, and Closed. The Removed state is used to remove a work item from the backlog; for more information, see Move, change, or delete work items.

The natural progressions and regressions for work item types—user story (Agile), issue (Basic), product backlog item (Scrum), and requirement (CMMI)—are as shown.

[!INCLUDE temp]

Category states

Category states determine how Agile planning tools and dashboard widgets treat each workflow state. Work item types use state categories to track progress. These states apply across all projects using the same process and affect how work items appear on backlogs and boards. The state categories used by backlogs, boards, and widgets are Proposed, In Progress, Resolved, and Complete.

The following table shows how the default, inherited states map to the category states for the four system processes, including Test Plan work item types. The workflow states for Test Case, Test Design, and Test Suite are the same across all four system processes.

Agile process

:::row::: :::column span="2"::: Categories :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Work tracking :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Test tracking :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Proposed: Assigned to states associated with newly added work items so that they appear on the backlog. The first column on the boards and Taskboards map to a Proposed state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: New :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Design (Test Case)
:::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: In Progress: Assigned to states that represent active work. Work items assigned to states mapped to this category appear in the backlog (unless you choose to hide them) and make up the middle columns on boards. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active (Bug, Epic, Feature, User Story) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active (Test Plan) In Planning (Test Suite) In Progress (Test Suite) Ready (Test Case) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Resolved: Assigned to states that represent a solution was implemented, but not yet verified. Generally these states apply to bugs. Work items in a Resolved category state appear on the backlog by default. You can also include Resolved states in burndown charts, providing a more accurate tracking of progress. The Agile tools treat the Resolved category state exactly the same as the In Progress category state. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Resolved (Bug) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Completed: Assigned to states that represent work that's complete. Work items whose state is in this category don't appear on the backlog and do appear in the last column of the board. You can't modify states in this category nor can you add states to this category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed (Bug, Epic, Feature, User Story)
:::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed (Test Case) Completed (Test Suite) Inactive (Test Plan) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Removed: Assigned to the Removed state. Work items in a state mapped to the Removed category are hidden from the backlog and board experiences. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Removed (Epic, Feature, User Story) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

Basic process

[!INCLUDE temp]

:::row::: :::column span="2"::: Categories :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Work tracking :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Test tracking :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Proposed: Assigned to states associated with newly added work items so that they appear on the backlog. The first column on the boards and Taskboards map to a Proposed state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: To Do :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Design (Test Case)
:::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: In Progress: Assigned to states that represent active work. Work items assigned to states mapped to this category appear in the backlog (unless you choose to hide them) and make up the middle columns on boards. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Doing :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active (Test Plan) In Planning (Test Suite) In Progress (Test Suite) Ready (Test Case) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Resolved: Assigned to states that represent a solution was implemented, but not yet verified. Generally these states apply to bug work item types. Work items in a Resolved state appear on the backlog by default. You can also include Resolved states in burndown charts, providing a more accurate tracking of progress. The Agile tools treat the Resolved state category exactly the same as the In Progress state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Completed: Assigned to states that represent completed work. Work items whose state is in this category don't appear on the backlog and do appear in the last column of the board. You can't modify states in this category nor can you add states to this category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Done
:::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed (Test Case) Completed (Test Suite) Inactive (Test Plan) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Removed: Assigned to the Removed state. Work items in a state mapped to the Removed category are hidden from the backlog and board experiences. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

Scrum process

:::row::: :::column span="2"::: Categories :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Work tracking :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Test tracking :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Proposed: Assigned to states associated with newly added work items so that they appear on the backlog. The first column on the boards and Taskboards map to a Proposed state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: New (Bug, Epic, Feature, Product backlog item) Approved To Do (Task) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Design (Test Case)
:::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: In Progress: Assigned to states that represent active work. Work items assigned to states mapped to this category appear in the backlog (unless you choose to hide them) and make up the middle columns on boards. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Committed (Bug, Epic, Feature, Product backlog item) Open (Impediment) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active (Test Plan) In Planning (Test Suite) In Progress (Test Suite) Ready (Test Case) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Resolved: Assigned to states that represent a solution was implemented, but not yet verified. Generally these states apply to bugs. Work items in a Resolved category state appear on the backlog by default. You can also include Resolved states in burndown charts, providing a more accurate tracking of progress. The Agile tools treat the Resolved category state exactly the same as the In Progress state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end:::
:::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Completed: Assigned to states that represent completed work. Work items whose state is in this category don't appear on the backlog and do appear in the last column of the board. You can't modify states in this category nor can you add states to this category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Done
:::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed (Test Case) Completed (Test Suite) Inactive (Test Plan) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Removed: Assigned to the Removed state. Work items in a state mapped to the Removed category are hidden from the backlog and board experiences. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Removed :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

CMMI process

:::row::: :::column span="2"::: Categories :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Work tracking :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Test tracking :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Proposed: Assigned to states associated with newly added work items so that they appear on the backlog. The first column on the boards and Taskboards map to a Proposed state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Proposed
:::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Design (Test Case)
:::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: In Progress: Assigned to states that represent active work. Work items assigned to states mapped to this category appear in the backlog (unless you choose to hide them) and make up the middle columns on boards. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active Resolved (Epic, Feature, Requirement, Task) :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Active (Test Plan) In Planning (Test Suite) In Progress (Test Suite) Ready (Test Case) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Resolved: Assigned to states that represent a solution was implemented, but not yet verified. Generally these states apply to bugs. Work items in a Resolved category state appear on the backlog by default. You can also include Resolved states in burndown charts, providing a more accurate tracking of progress. The Agile tools treat the Resolved category state exactly the same as the In Progress state category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Resolved (Bug, Issue, Review, Risk) :::column-end:::
:::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Completed: Assigned to states that represent completed work. Work items whose state is in this category don't appear on the backlog and do appear in the last column of the board. You can't modify states in this category nor can you add states to this category. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed
:::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Closed (Test Case) Completed (Test Suite) Inactive (Test Plan) :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span="2"::: Removed: Assigned to the Removed state. Work items in a state mapped to the Removed category are hidden from the backlog and board experiences. :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: Removed :::column-end::: :::column span="1"::: n/a :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

Work item types and their boards

Understand where each work item type appears so you can manage your work effectively.

Work item type category Work items appear here
Requirement Only on the product board.
Feature Only on the Feature portfolio board.
Epic Only on the Epic portfolio board.
Custom Only on a custom portfolio board.

Tip

We recommend that you map each workflow state to a column. If it’s not mapped, it doesn’t appear on the board.

[!INCLUDE temp]

[!INCLUDE activated-resolved-by-fields]

When to add a State versus a column

Use both States and columns to track work status. Workflow states are shared across a project, while columns are shared within a team. Only project collection admins can add custom states, while team admins can add columns.

Add custom states to align all teams with the organization's business workflow. Customizing the process automatically customizes the projects and work item types that reference it.

Custom states help avoid confusion from different teams creating queries based on columns. Since teams can customize board columns and swimlanes, work item values might differ across boards. Maintain single ownership of work items by team area path or formalize columns by adding custom states shared across teams.

Auto completion of work items with pull requests

When you link a work item to a pull request (PR), you can automatically complete those work items when you complete the PR. For more information, see Auto complete work items with pull requests.

Automate work item state transitions

You can automatically update the state of a work item according to the state of its child tasks. For more information, see Automate work item state transitions.

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