Step 1: Navigate to the Project1 Repository
In your browser, go to your Azure DevOps organization:https://dev.azure.com/{YourOrganizationName}
In the left menu, select the project named Project1.
In the left menu under Repos, click on Files.
Step 2: Initialize the Main Branch (if it doesn’t exist)
If the main branch doesn’t exist (because the repo is empty):
In the Repos > Files view, you’ll see a message: “This repository is empty.”
Click on the Initialize button.
Choose the default branch name as main and create a README file (or any file to initialize).
Click Initialize.
This creates the main branch in your repository.
Step 3: Set Up Branch Protection for the Main Branch
Branch protection ensures that all changes go through a pull request (PR), and that PRs are linked to work items (for traceability).
In the Repos view, click on Branches in the left menu.
Locate the main branch in the list.
Click on the three dots (...) next to main and select Branch policies.
Step 4: Configure Branch Policies for main
In the Branch policies for the main branch:
Require a minimum number of reviewers:
Check for linked work items:
Enable the Check for linked work items option.
This ensures that every PR has at least one linked work item.
Require a linked work item:
Optionally, you can also:
Enable build validation if you have a pipeline to validate builds.
Enforce merge strategies (like squash merge).
Click Save changes at the bottom.
Submit