Display rollup progress or totals in Azure Boards

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019

Rollup automatically sums child work item values to display totals on parent items. Use it to track work estimates, effort, size, or story points across your backlog hierarchy. Learn how to add rollup columns to backlogs, sprint planning, and taskboards.

In the following example, Progress by Work Items shows progress bars based on the percentage of closed descendant items. For Epics, this includes all child Features and their descendants. For Features, this includes all child User Stories and their descendants.

Prerequisites

Rollup and hierarchical work items

The default set of backlog work items that supports natural hierarchical grouping varies based on the process chosen for your project. The easiest way to create a hierarchy is by mapping work items or adding them to a parent item on a board. For more information, see Organize your backlog, map child work items to parents and Board features and epics.

Open a product or portfolio backlog

Each user can customize their column options, and these settings persist across sessions for each backlog.

1. Open a product or portfolio backlog. Optionally, enable Show parents in your view options. Even if child items aren't listed, rollup for them displays.

   Open a portfolio backlog and select In Progress Items and Completed Child Items. This allows you to compare the State value of items with the rollup value.

   

2. Select Column options, or select the actions icon and then select Column options.

   

   Tip

   The Column options you select apply to the chosen backlog level and persists across your sessions until you change them.

Add a rollup column

1. From your backlog, select Column Options > Add a rollup column > From quick list, and then choose from the menu provided.

   

   The menu options vary based on the process chosen for your project, the selected backlog level, and whether the Show parents view option is enabled.

   For example, the following image shows that the Count of Tasks for the parent user stories is 2 and 4, respectively. The Count of Tasks for the parent Feature and Epic is 6.

   

2. Remaining Work of Tasks shows the sum of Remaining Work of tasks linked to the parent item.

   

   Tip

   When a task is closed, the Remaining Work field automatically sets to zero.

Get rollup data

Use the following methods to get rollup data:

• Create flat list queries:
  • Create a flat list query to include the fields you want to roll up.
  • Export the query results to Excel for further analysis.
• Use extensions:
  • Install extensions from the Azure DevOps Marketplace that support rollup functionality.
  • Example: Roll-up Board extension.
• Use the Analytics Service:
  • Use the Analytics Service to create custom reports and dashboards that include rollup data.
  • Example: Create a Power BI report that displays rollup values for your work items.

Use product and portfolio backlogs

1. Got to your product or portfolio backlog.

2. Ensure that the backlog view includes the fields you want to roll up.

   The rollup values display in the backlog view.

Use the sprint planning pane

1. Open the sprint planning pane.

2. Add the fields you want to roll up to the view.

   The rollup values display for the parent work items.

Use a sprint backlog and taskboard

1. Go to your sprint backlog or taskboards.

2. Ensure that the view includes the fields you want to roll up.

   The rollup values display for the parent work items.

Analytics, latency, and error states

Rollup data is calculated from the Analytics service. Large datasets may cause display latency. Hover over the rollup icon to check data status.

Errors appear as an info icon with empty rows, indicating the Analytics service is still processing recent changes. Rollup columns refresh automatically once processing completes.

For more information, see What is Analytics?.

Change the column order or remove a rollup column

To change the order of the fields, drag and drop the field to your desired position within the set of selected fields. To remove a field, select the .

Rollup of custom work item types or custom fields

If you add a custom work item type or field to a backlog level, you can view rollup data based on those options. For example, the Customer Request type is added to the Requirements category, and the following image shows a Count of Customer Requests.

1. From the Column options dialog, select Add a rollup column > Configure custom rollup.

2. Choose the options you want from the Custom Rollup column dialog.

   

3. Select OK > OK to complete your operations.

   Tip

   After adding custom fields or custom work item types, refresh the backlog page to see your changes.

Use keyboard shortcuts to change the column order, column width, or sort options

Change the column order, column size, or sort options using the following actions:

• Change column order: Select the field and drag it to a new location.
• Resize a column: Select the column divider to the right of the field and drag it to adjust the size.

Related articles

• Change column options
• Access the work item field index
• Create managed queries