| title | Get started with Stakeholder access |
|---|---|
| titleSuffix | Azure DevOps |
| description | Learn how to add and update work items and view work tracking progress with Stakeholder access in Azure Boards. |
| ms.service | azure-devops-boards |
| ms.assetid | D76507F1-3154-4EE5-A23A-9179C2F5A365 |
| ms.author | chcomley |
| author | chcomley |
| ms.topic | how-to |
| monikerRange | <= azure-devops |
| ms.date | 12/22/2025 |
[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]
::: moniker range="azure-devops" Stakeholders are users with free but limited access to Azure DevOps features and functions. With Stakeholder access, you can add and modify work items, manage build and release pipelines, and view dashboards. You can check project status and provide direction, feedback, feature ideas, and business alignment to a team. For more information, see Create your first pipeline and Supported source repositories. ::: moniker-end
::: moniker range="< azure-devops" Stakeholders are users with free but limited access to Azure DevOps features and functions. With Stakeholder access, you can add and modify work items, view and approve pipelines, and view dashboards. You can check project status and provide direction, feedback, feature ideas, and business alignment to a team. ::: moniker-end
For more information, see the Stakeholder access quick reference and the feature matrix.
::: moniker range="azure-devops"
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Private project: | |
| Access levels | Stakeholder access. To get access as a Stakeholder, ask your organization owner or Project Collection Administrator to add you to a project with Stakeholder access. For more information, see Add organization users and manage access. |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group. You can view boards, open and modify work items, and add child tasks to a checklist. You can't reorder or reparent a backlog item by using the drag-and-drop method. You can't update a field on a card. |
| Public project: | |
| Access levels | Stakeholder access. |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group for full access. For more information, see Default permissions quick reference. |
::: moniker-end
::: moniker range="< azure-devops"
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Private project: | |
| Access levels | Stakeholder access. To get access as a Stakeholder, ask your server administrator to add you to a security group that has Stakeholder access. For more information, see Change access levels. |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group. You can view boards, open and modify work items, and add child tasks to a checklist. You can't reorder or reparent a backlog item by using the drag-and-drop method. You can't update a field on a card. |
| Public project: | |
| Access levels | Stakeholder access. |
| Permissions | Member of the Contributors or Project Administrators group for full access. For more information, see Default permissions quick reference. |
::: moniker-end
-
Select the link provided in your email invitation or open a browser window and enter the URL for the web portal.
::: moniker range="azure-devops"
https://dev.azure.com/{OrganizationName}/{ProjectName}::: moniker-end ::: moniker range="< azure-devops"http://ServerName:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection/ProjectNameFor example, to connect to the server named FabrikamPrime and the project named Contoso, enter
http://FabrikamPrime:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection/Contoso. ::: moniker-end -
Enter your credentials. If you can't sign in, ask the organization owner or Project Administrator to add you as a member of the project with Stakeholder access.
Work items support planning and tracking work. Each work item is based on a work item type and is assigned a unique identifier within an organization or project collection.
Different work items track different types of work. The work item types available are based on the process used when your project was created: Agile, Basic, Scrum, or Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), as illustrated in the following images. For more information, see About work items and work item types.
[!INCLUDE work item types]
After you connect to a project, you can view work items.
::: moniker range="azure-devops"
-
In your project, select Boards > Boards. From the dropdown menu, select a team board.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/open-kanban-board-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows opening your board, cloud version.":::
You can also enter a keyword in the search box or select View Board directory to see a list of available team boards.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/select-kanban-team-board.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows selecting another team's board.":::
[!TIP] Select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorite-star.png" border="false"::: star icon to make a team board a favorite. Favorite artifacts (:::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorited.png" border="false"::: favorite icon) appear at the top of the team selector list.
-
Ensure that for the backlog level, you select:
- Stories for Agile.
- Issues for Basic.
- Backlog items for Scrum.
- Requirements for CMMI.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/select-product-backlog-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows the menu to select the product backlog level option of Backlog items, Stories, Issues, or Requirements.":::
::: moniker-end ::: moniker range="<azure-devops"
-
In your project, select Boards > Boards. From the dropdown menu, select a team board.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/open-kanban-board-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows opening your board in on-premises versions.":::
To select another team's board, open the selector. Then select a different team, or select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/home-icon.png"::: Browse all team boards option. Or, you can enter a keyword in the search box to filter the list of team backlogs for the project.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/select-kanban-team-board.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows selecting another team's board in on-premises versions.":::
[!TIP] Select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorite-star.png" border="false"::: star icon to make a team board a favorite. Favorite artifacts (:::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorited.png" border="false"::: favorite icon) appear at the top of the team selector list.
-
Check that for the backlog level you selected:
- Stories for Agile.
- Issues for Basic.
- Backlog items for Scrum.
- Requirements for CMMI.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/select-product-backlog-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows selecting the product backlog level option of Backlog items, Stories, Issues, or Requirements for on-premises versions.":::
::: moniker-end
::: moniker range="azure-devops" From your board, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/add-icon.png" border="false"::: plus sign, enter a title, and then press Enter.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/quickstart/add-new-item-agile-s155.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows the highlighted New item button."::: ::: moniker-end
::: moniker range="< azure-devops" From the board, you can't add work items, but you can open them and add comments. To add work items, open the backlog by selecting the Backlog link. Also, you can't update the status of a work item by using the drag-and-drop method to move to a different column or reorder cards within a column. ::: moniker-end
For more information, see View and add work items.
::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"
Your work item forms might differ from the following images, but the functionality is the same.
Drag a work item downstream as you finish work.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/boards/media/alm-cc-move-card.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows a board that uses an Agile template to update the status of a work item.":::
::: moniker-end
To open a work item, double-click the title or highlight it, and then select Enter. This example shows how to assign work. You can only assign work to a user who was added to the project.
This example assigns the story to Raisa Pokrovskaya and at-mentions Raisa in a discussion note. When you're finished, select Save & Close.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/get-started/media/plan-track-work/user-story-form-add-details.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows details in the Discussion box on the User Story work item form.":::
This example assigns the issue to Raisa Pokrovskaya and at-mentions Raisa in a discussion note. When you're finished, select Save & Close.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/get-started/media/track-issues/issue-form-add-details.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows details in the Discussion box on the Issues work item form.":::
This example assigns the Product backlog item to Jamal Hartnett and adds a description and tags. When you're finished, select Save & Close.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/media/pbi-form-cloud.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows adding details to the Scrum Product backlog work item form.":::
This example assigns the Requirement work item to Jamal Hartnett. When you're finished, select Save & Close.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/media/requirement-form-cloud.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows the Requirement work item form.":::
[!INCLUDE cmmi field descriptions]
To add more details, change field values, add a description or tags, and add comments. For more information, see:
- Plan and track work in Azure Boards.
- Add tags to work items. As a Stakeholder, you can add existing tags to a work item, but you can't create new tags.
- Capture comments in the Discussion section.
Check the product backlog to see how the team prioritized their work. Backlog items appear in priority order. Work item types might include bugs, depending on the process used when your project was created. For more information, see About default processes and process templates.
::: moniker range="azure-devops" From the board, select View as backlog.
:::image type="content" source="../../boards/media/switch-to-backlog-cloud.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows View as backlog in a cloud version."::: ::: moniker-end
::: moniker range=" < azure-devops" From the board, select View as backlog. :::image type="content" source="../../boards/media/switch-to-backlog-2019.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows View as backlog in an on-premises version."::: ::: moniker-end
The list of backlog items appears in priority order. You can add a backlog item, which goes to the bottom of the list. With Stakeholder access, you can't reprioritize work.
::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"
Select Boards > Work Items. Then select an option from the dropdown menu. For example, select Assigned to me.
:::image type="content" source="media/stakeholder/work-items-assigned-to-me.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows selections of work on the Work Items page and choosing Assigned to me.":::
For more information, see:
::: moniker-end
[!div class="nextstepaction"] Create your product backlog