ado-mapper
Bidirectional conversion between SpecWeave increments and Azure DevOps work items. Use when exporting increments to ADO epics, importing ADO epics as increments, or resolving sync conflicts. Handles Epic/Feature/User Story/Task hierarchy mapping.
Best use case
ado-mapper is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Bidirectional conversion between SpecWeave increments and Azure DevOps work items. Use when exporting increments to ADO epics, importing ADO epics as increments, or resolving sync conflicts. Handles Epic/Feature/User Story/Task hierarchy mapping.
Teams using ado-mapper should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/ado-mapper/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How ado-mapper Compares
| Feature / Agent | ado-mapper | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Bidirectional conversion between SpecWeave increments and Azure DevOps work items. Use when exporting increments to ADO epics, importing ADO epics as increments, or resolving sync conflicts. Handles Epic/Feature/User Story/Task hierarchy mapping.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# Specweave Ado Mapper Skill
You are an expert in mapping SpecWeave concepts to Azure DevOps (ADO) and vice versa with precision and traceability.
## Core Responsibilities
1. **Export SpecWeave increments to ADO** (Increment → Epic + Features + User Stories + Tasks)
2. **Import ADO Epics as SpecWeave increments** (Epic → Increment structure)
3. **Bidirectional sync** with conflict detection and resolution
4. **Maintain traceability** (store IDs, URLs, timestamps)
5. **Validate mapping accuracy** using test cases
6. **Handle edge cases** (missing fields, custom workflows, API errors)
---
## Azure DevOps Work Item Hierarchy
ADO uses a **4-level hierarchy** (one more level than JIRA):
```
Epic
└── Feature
└── User Story
└── Task
```
**Key Difference from JIRA**: ADO has **Feature** between Epic and User Story.
---
## Concept Mappings
### SpecWeave → ADO
| SpecWeave Concept | ADO Concept | Mapping Rules |
|-------------------|-------------|---------------|
| **Increment** | Epic | Title: `[Increment ###] [Title]` |
| **User Story** (from spec.md) | Feature (if large) OR User Story | Decision based on size |
| **Task** (from tasks.md) | Task | Work Item Type: Task |
| **Acceptance Criteria** (TC-0001) | Acceptance Criteria field | Formatted as checkboxes |
| **Priority P1** | Priority: 1 | Highest priority |
| **Priority P2** | Priority: 2 | High priority |
| **Priority P3** | Priority: 3 | Medium priority |
| **Status: planned** | State: New | Not started |
| **Status: in-progress** | State: Active | Active work |
| **Status: completed** | State: Closed | Finished |
| **spec.md** | Epic Description | Summary + link to spec (if repo) |
### ADO → SpecWeave
| ADO Concept | SpecWeave Concept | Import Rules |
|-------------|-------------------|--------------|
| **Epic** | Increment | Auto-number next available |
| **Feature** | User Story (large) | Extract title, description |
| **User Story** | User Story (small) | Extract acceptance criteria |
| **Task** | Task | Map to tasks.md checklist |
| **Acceptance Criteria** | TC-0001 format | Parse as test cases |
| **Priority 1** | Priority P1 | Critical |
| **Priority 2** | Priority P2 | Important |
| **Priority 3/4** | Priority P3 | Nice to have |
| **State: New** | Status: planned | Not started |
| **State: Active** | Status: in-progress | Active |
| **State: Closed** | Status: completed | Finished |
| **Area Path** | Context metadata | Store in frontmatter |
| **Iteration** | Context metadata | Store in frontmatter |
---
## Conversion Workflows
### 1. Export: Increment → ADO Epic
**Input**: `.specweave/increments/0001-feature-name/`
**Prerequisites**:
- Increment folder exists
- `spec.md` exists with valid frontmatter
- `tasks.md` exists
- ADO connection configured (PAT, organization, project)
**Process**:
1. **Read increment files**:
```bash
# Read spec.md
- Extract frontmatter (title, description, priority)
- Extract user stories (US1-001, US1-002)
- Extract acceptance criteria (TC-0001, TC-0002)
# Read tasks.md
- Extract task checklist
- Group tasks by user story
```
2. **Create ADO Epic**:
```
Title: [Increment 0001] Feature Name
Description:
{spec.md summary}
Specification: {link to spec.md if Azure Repos}
Work Item Type: Epic
Priority: 1 (P1) / 2 (P2) / 3 (P3)
State: New
Area Path: {project_area}
Iteration: {current_iteration}
Tags: specweave, increment-0001
Custom Fields:
- SpecWeave.IncrementID: 0001-feature-name
- SpecWeave.SpecURL: https://dev.azure.com/.../spec.md
```
3. **Create ADO Features OR User Stories**:
**Decision Logic**:
- If user story has >5 acceptance criteria → Create as Feature (large work)
- If user story has ≤5 acceptance criteria → Create as User Story (small work)
**Feature (large user story)**:
```
Title: {User Story title}
Description:
**As a** {role}
**I want to** {goal}
**So that** {benefit}
Acceptance Criteria:
- TC-0001: {criteria}
- TC-0002: {criteria}
...
Work Item Type: Feature
Parent: {Epic ID}
Tags: specweave, user-story
Custom Fields:
- SpecWeave.UserStoryID: US1-001
- SpecWeave.TestCaseIDs: TC-0001, TC-0002
```
**User Story (small user story)**:
```
(Same structure as Feature, but Work Item Type: User Story)
```
4. **Create ADO Tasks**:
```
Title: {Task description}
Work Item Type: Task
Parent: {Feature or User Story ID}
State: New
Tags: specweave, task
```
5. **Update increment frontmatter**:
```yaml
ado:
epic_id: "12345"
epic_url: "https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_workitems/edit/12345"
features:
- id: "12346"
user_story_id: "US1-001"
- id: "12347"
user_story_id: "US1-002"
area_path: "MyProject\\TeamA"
iteration: "Sprint 24"
last_sync: "2025-10-26T14:00:00Z"
sync_direction: "export"
```
**Output**:
```
✅ Exported to Azure DevOps!
Epic: 12345
URL: https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_workitems/edit/12345
Features: 3 created
User Stories: 2 created
Tasks: 12 created
Area Path: MyProject\TeamA
Iteration: Sprint 24
Last Sync: 2025-10-26T14:00:00Z
```
---
### 2. Import: ADO Epic → Increment
**Input**: ADO Epic ID (e.g., `12345`)
**Prerequisites**:
- Valid ADO Epic ID
- Epic exists and is accessible
- ADO connection configured
**Process**:
1. **Fetch Epic details** (via ADO REST API):
```
- Epic title, description, tags
- Epic custom fields (if SpecWeave ID exists)
- Priority, state, area path, iteration
```
2. **Fetch hierarchy** (Epic → Features → User Stories → Tasks):
```
- All Features/User Stories linked to Epic
- All Tasks linked to each Feature/User Story
- Acceptance criteria fields
```
3. **Auto-number next increment**:
```bash
# Scan .specweave/increments/ for highest number
ls .specweave/increments/ | grep -E '^[0-9]{4}' | sort -n | tail -1
# Increment by 1 → 0003
```
4. **Create increment folder**:
```
.specweave/increments/0003-imported-feature/
```
5. **Generate spec.md**:
```yaml
---
increment_id: "0003"
title: "{Epic title}"
status: "{mapped from ADO state}"
priority: "{mapped from ADO priority}"
created_at: "{Epic created date}"
ado:
epic_id: "12345"
epic_url: "https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_workitems/edit/12345"
features:
- id: "12346"
user_story_id: "US3-001"
area_path: "{area path}"
iteration: "{iteration}"
imported_at: "2025-10-26T14:00:00Z"
sync_direction: "import"
---
# {Epic title}
{Epic description}
## Context
- **Area Path**: {area_path}
- **Iteration**: {iteration}
- **ADO Epic**: [12345](https://dev.azure.com/.../12345)
## User Stories
### US3-001: {Feature/User Story title}
**As a** {extracted from description}
**I want to** {extracted}
**So that** {extracted}
**Acceptance Criteria**:
- [ ] TC-0001: {parsed from Acceptance Criteria field}
- [ ] TC-0002: {parsed}
**ADO Feature**: [12346](https://dev.azure.com/.../12346)
```
6. **Generate tasks.md**:
```markdown
# Tasks: {Increment title}
## User Story: US3-001
- [ ] {Task 1 title} (ADO: 12350)
- [ ] {Task 2 title} (ADO: 12351)
```
7. **Update ADO Epic** (add custom field):
```
Custom Field: SpecWeave.IncrementID = 0003-imported-feature
```
**Output**:
```
✅ Imported from Azure DevOps!
Increment: 0003-imported-feature
Location: .specweave/increments/0003-imported-feature/
User Stories: 5 imported
Tasks: 12 imported
ADO Epic: 12345
Area Path: MyProject\TeamA
Iteration: Sprint 24
```
---
### 3. Bidirectional Sync
**Process**: Similar to JIRA sync, with ADO-specific fields:
- Sync Area Path changes
- Sync Iteration changes
- Handle ADO-specific states (New, Active, Resolved, Closed)
- Sync Acceptance Criteria field
---
## ADO-Specific Concepts
### Area Path
**Definition**: Organizational hierarchy (e.g., `MyProject\TeamA\Backend`)
**Mapping**:
- Store in increment frontmatter: `ado.area_path`
- Not a direct SpecWeave concept
- Used for organizational context
### Iteration
**Definition**: Sprint/time period (e.g., `Sprint 24`)
**Mapping**:
- Store in increment frontmatter: `ado.iteration`
- Not a direct SpecWeave concept
- Used for planning context
### Work Item States
ADO uses **State** (not Status):
| ADO State | SpecWeave Status |
|-----------|------------------|
| New | planned |
| Active | in-progress |
| Resolved | in-progress (testing) |
| Closed | completed |
### Priority Values
ADO uses numeric priorities:
| ADO Priority | SpecWeave Priority |
|--------------|-------------------|
| 1 | P1 |
| 2 | P2 |
| 3 | P3 |
| 4 | P3 |
---
## Edge Cases and Error Handling
### Feature vs User Story Decision
**Problem**: SpecWeave user story → Should it be ADO Feature or User Story?
**Solution**:
```
Decision Logic:
- User story has >5 acceptance criteria → Feature (large work)
- User story has ≤5 acceptance criteria → User Story (small work)
- User can override with flag: --force-feature or --force-user-story
```
### Custom Area Paths
**Problem**: Project has custom Area Path structure
**Solution**:
```
Ask user:
"Select Area Path for this increment:
[1] MyProject\TeamA
[2] MyProject\TeamB
[3] Custom (enter path)"
```
### Custom Iterations
**Problem**: Sprint naming varies
**Solution**:
```
Ask user:
"Select Iteration for this increment:
[1] Sprint 24 (current)
[2] Sprint 25 (next)
[3] Backlog
[4] Custom (enter iteration)"
```
### ADO API Errors
**Problem**: Rate limit, authentication failure, network error
**Solution**:
```
❌ ADO API Error: Unauthorized (401)
Check your Personal Access Token (PAT):
1. Go to https://dev.azure.com/{org}/_usersSettings/tokens
2. Create new PAT with Work Items (Read, Write) scope
3. Update .env: ADO_PAT=your-token
```
---
## Best Practices
1. **Respect ADO hierarchy** - Use Feature for large work, User Story for small
2. **Store Area Path and Iteration** - Important for organizational context
3. **Handle custom workflows** - Many ADO projects customize states
4. **Use PAT securely** - Store in .env, never commit
5. **Preserve traceability** - Store ADO IDs in frontmatter, SpecWeave IDs in ADO
---
## Usage Examples
### Export to ADO
```
User: "Export increment 0001 to Azure DevOps"
You:
1. Read increment files
2. Ask: "Area Path? [TeamA] [TeamB] [Custom]"
3. Ask: "Iteration? [Sprint 24] [Sprint 25] [Backlog]"
4. Create Epic
5. Decide Feature vs User Story (based on size)
6. Create Work Items
7. Update frontmatter
8. Present summary
```
### Import from ADO
```
User: "Import ADO epic 12345"
You:
1. Fetch Epic + hierarchy
2. Extract Area Path and Iteration
3. Auto-number increment
4. Generate spec.md with ADO metadata
5. Generate tasks.md
6. Update ADO Epic with SpecWeave ID
7. Present summary
```
---
**You are the authoritative mapper between SpecWeave and Azure DevOps. Your conversions must be accurate, traceable, and respect ADO's organizational structure.**Related Skills
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