The “Canarys Parent Auto Close” Extension ensures the synchronization of work item statuses between parents and their corresponding child items. By examining the status of each child work item, this extension determines whether the parent work item should be closed or remain active. When all child work items are in the closed state, the parent work item is also marked as closed. Conversely, if any child work item is not in the closed or resolved state, the parent work item remains active. This mechanism establishes a standardized workflow and guarantees that the parent work item consistently reflects the appropriate state according to its child work items’ statuses.

image (DevOps marketplace image)

Once the Canarys Parent Auto Close Extension is installed, it will be accessible at the Organization Level. For additional details and visual reference, please refer to the Images below.

Click on “proceed to organization”.

To ensure proper usage, follow these detailed instructions:

1. Go to the Azure DevOps marketplace.
2. Install the “ Canarys Parent Auto Close” Extension.
3. Open the project where you wish to use the extension.
4. Configure the project settings, refer the project configuration below for more information.
5. Save the configuration.
6. Open any work item within the project.
7. Make any changes to the work item status.
8. Save the work item and see the changes reflecting on the parent work item.

Once the work item is saved, the Canarys Parent Auto Close Extension will be triggered automatically. This ensures the parent work item consistently reflects the status of its child work items.

How to Configure Project Settings:

To configure project settings, follow these detailed instructions:

1. Open the DevOps Organization where the Canarys Parent Auto Close extension is installed.
2. Open the project where you wish to enable the extension.
3. Click on the project settings.
4. Scroll down and select the extension “Parent Child State Auto Close”.
5. On the configuration window, copy and paste the “state mapping” example given below.
6. The given state mapping is an example configuration that could be used for Agile and Scrum methodologies. For custom processes you need to configure the project settings accordingly.
7. Save the configuration.

By following these steps, you should be able to configure the project settings and run the Canarys Parent Auto Close extension on your desired project(s). (Refer images).

Parent Auto Close State Mapping:

The Canarys Parent Auto Close Extension is dependent on the following configuration:

{
    "workItems": {
        "parentChild": [
            {
                "parent": "Epic",
                "finalState": "Closed",
                "initialSate":"Active",
                "children": [
                    {
                        "child": "Feature",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Closed",
                            "Removed"
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "parent": "Feature",
                "finalState": "Closed",
                "initialSate":"Active",
                "children": [
                    {
                        "child": "User Story",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Closed",
                            "Removed"
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "child": "PBI",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Closed",
                            "Removed"
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "parent": "User Story",
                "finalState": "Closed",
                "initialSate":"Active",
                "children": [
                    {
                        "child": "Task",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Closed",
                            "Removed"
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "child": "Bug",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Resolved",
                            "Closed"
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "parent": "PBI",
                "finalState": "Closed",
                "initialSate":"Active",
                "children": [
                    {
                        "child": "Task",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Closed",
                            "Removed"
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "child": "Bug",
                        "validFinalStates": [
                            "Resolved",
                            "Closed"
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}