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what-are-analytics-views.md

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title About Analytics views
titleSuffix Azure DevOps
description Learn how Analytics views work with Azure DevOps and Power BI integration. Analytics include both custom and default views.
ms.subservice azure-devops-analytics
ms.custom analytics-views, engagement-fy23
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ms.topic overview
monikerRange <=azure-devops
ms.date 03/12/2025

About Analytics views

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

An Analytics view provides a simplified way to specify the filter criteria for a Power BI report based on Analytics data. Analytics views support Azure Boards data. Each view corresponds to a flat-list of work items. Work item hierarchies aren't supported.

[!INCLUDE analytics views warning]

You can use a default Analytics view or create a custom view. Create custom views in the web portal for Azure DevOps. After you define a view that supports the data of interest, you can then open the view using Power BI Data Connector to create a report.

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE prerequisites simple]

Users with Stakeholder access don't have access to view or edit Analytics views.

[!INCLUDE boards disabled note]

Default Analytics views

Azure DevOps provides default Analytics views. The default views are immediately accessible from Power BI. The view you select determines the set of records, fields, and history to pull into Power BI.

The following screenshot shows the default views created for a project based on the Agile process. For more information, see Manage Analytics views.

:::image type="content" source="./media/default-views/default-views.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the default Analytics views available in Azure Boards.":::

[!INCLUDE labels for default analytics differences]

When you use the Power BI Data Connector, these same default views appear in the Navigator dialog. The view you select determines the set of records, fields, and history that is loaded into Power BI.

::: moniker range="azure-devops"

  1. Select Azure DevOps as your data connector.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/get-data-connector.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Get Data dialog box where you can select Azure DevOps.":::

  2. Enter your account information.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/enter-account.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Azure DevOps dialog box where you can enter your organization and project.":::

  3. Select the data that you want to use.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/navigator-select-data.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Navigator dialog box where you can select the data to pull into Power BI Desktop.":::

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="<azure-devops"

  1. Select Azure DevOps Server as your data connector.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/get-data-server-connector.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Get Data dialog box where you can select Azure DevOps Server.":::

  2. Enter your server information.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/enter-server.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Azure DevOps Server dialog box where you can enter your URL and project.":::

  3. Select the data that you want to use.

    :::image type="content" source="./media/navigator-select-data.png" alt-text="Screenshot shows the Navigator dialog box where you can select the data to pull into Power BI Desktop.":::

::: moniker-end

Options for work item types and historical data

Default Analytics views work well for customers with small datasets. Each default Analytics view provides a combination of options for work item types and historical data. The following tables describe each set of options.

Work item type option Description
Bugs Load current or historical state of Bugs only
Requirement Backlog Load current or historical state of Stories, Backlog Items, or Requirements
Tasks Load current or historical state of Tasks
Work Items Load current or historical state of all work items
Historical option Description
Today Loads only the most recent revision for each work item
Last 30 days Loads work item history for the last 30 days, on a daily interval
Last 26 weeks Loads work item history for the last 26 weeks, on a weekly interval
All history by month Loads all work item history, on a monthly interval

When a default view doesn't meet your needs

The default Analytics views return all the specified data in a project. They work well for customers with smaller datasets. For larger datasets, the amount of data generated by a default view might be too large for Power BI to load.

In these cases, you can create a custom Analytics view to fine-tune the records, fields, and history loaded into Power BI.

Custom Analytics views

If the default Analytics views don't meet your needs, you can create custom views to fine-tune the records, fields, and history returned to Power BI. With a custom view, you can define the following options:

  • Sharing options
  • Work item filters
  • Team and area path filters
  • Backlog and work item type filters
  • Field-specific filters
  • Fields to display
  • View history and trend options

For more information, see Create an Analytics view.

Common reportable fields

Default views automatically include the most common fields for the included work item types used for reporting. All custom fields are included.

For example, the following fields are included when filtered for bugs and work items. You can look up the description of most of these fields from the Entities and properties reference for Azure Boards or Work item field index.

  • Area Path
  • Assigned To
  • Date
  • Is Current
  • Iteration Path
  • State
  • Title
  • Work Item ID
  • Work Item Type

Two fields that are reported on are only available from Analytics data: Cycle Time Days and Lead Time Days. For more information about how these days are calculated, see Lead time versus cycle time.

For more information on how the dataset is modeled when you use the Power BI Data Connector, see Analytics views dataset design.

Related content

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Create an Analytics view

These articles provide more information: