Azure DevOps PAT scopes for DevOps

Release version: Yokohama

Updated July 31, 2025

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Summary of Azure DevOps PAT scopes for DevOps

This document explains the required Azure DevOps personal access token (PAT) scopes needed to integrate Azure DevOps with ServiceNow using the ServiceNow DevOps extension. Proper PAT scope configuration ensures seamless access to Azure DevOps capabilities during setup without manual webhook or service connection configuration by Azure DevOps administrators.

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When onboarding projects or organizations, the PAT owner must have the appropriate administrative privileges within Azure DevOps to enable required access levels.

Scope Access Levels and Their Practical Use

Each Azure DevOps capability requires specific PAT scopes to enable corresponding functionality in ServiceNow:

Boards (Work items): Read scope enables discovery of boards and retrieval of work items via import, polling, or webhooks.
Repos (Code): Read scope allows discovery of repositories and access to branches, commits, and tags.
Build pipelines: Read & Execute scopes are needed. Read accesses pipeline details (stages, artifacts, test results, security results), and Execute enables pausing/resuming pipelines during change control steps.
Release pipelines and gates: Read, Write & Execute scopes are required. Read retrieves pipeline execution details, while Write and Execute manage pausing/resuming pipelines.
Test build and release pipelines (Test management): Read scope retrieves test results from pipeline executions.
Service Connections: Read, Query & Manage scopes enable automatic creation of service connections for ServiceNow tasks such as change acceleration and artifact registration.
Packaging: Read scope allows discovery of artifact repositories and access to feeds and packages.

Note: The Azure DevOps user must have the Update build information permission on pipelines for all pipeline-related features to function properly. Contact your Azure DevOps Project Administrator if this permission is missing.

Important Considerations

For project onboarding, the PAT owner must be a member of the project's Project Administrators group.
For organization onboarding, the PAT owner must be a member of the organization's Project Collection Administrators group.
If you create an Azure tool with custom access levels and later reconfigure it due to credential changes, existing service hooks for releases are not updated; instead, new hooks are created causing duplication.
To avoid duplicate service hooks, it is recommended to create the Azure tool with full access level initially.

Scope access levels are required when using a personal access token (PAT) to access Azure DevOps during setup.

Scope access level settings are based on the capability you have configured. Set the corresponding access level for seamless functionality. For information on creating a PAT, see Personal access token (PAT).

Important:

With the access level permissions specified in the following table in Azure DevOps, and the ServiceNow DevOps extension, you can connect to Azure DevOps from ServiceNow. Your Azure DevOps admin does not have to manually configure webhooks and service connections in Azure DevOps.

Important:

When onboarding a Project, the Project Administrators privilege requires the owner of the PAT to be a member of the project's Project Administrators group.
When onboarding an Organization, the Project Administrators privilege requires the owner of the PAT to be a member of the organization's Project Collection Administrators group.

Table 1. Scope access level settings per capability and their impact
Capability	Scope	Access level	Impact
Boards	Work item	Read	Required to discover the boards and receive the work items either through import/polling or real time with a configured webhook.
Repos	Code	Read	Required to discover repositories and receive branches, commits, and tags either through import/polling or real time with a configured webhook.
Build pipelines	Build	Read & Execute	Read: Required to discover the build pipelines and receive pipeline execution details like stages, artifacts, test results, code security results, etc., either through import/polling or real time with a configured webhook. Execute: Required to pause/resume the pipelines based on the change control step.
Release pipelines and gates	Release	Read, write and execute	Read: Required to discover the release pipelines and receive pipeline execution details like stages, artifacts, test results, code security results, etc, either through import/polling or real time with a configured webhook. Write and Execute: Required to pause/resume the pipelines based on change control step.
Test build and release pipelines	Test management	Read	Required to receive test results for pipeline execution.
Service Connections	Service connection	Read, query, and manage	Required to create Service connection automatically which is used to configure ServiceNow tasks like change acceleration, artifact and package registration, etc.
Packaging	Packaging	Read	Required to discover the artifact repositories and receive the feeds and packages either through import/polling or real-time with a configured webhook.

Note:

You must have the Update build information permission on your pipeline for all pipeline features to work seamlessly. Contact your ADO Project Administrator if you don't have this permission.

Limitation of Azure DevOps

If you create an Azure tool with custom defined access level, and you reconfigure such a tool because of change in your Integration user credentials, then the existing service hooks for release created and release deployment are not updated. Instead, two new service hooks are created with new configuration details. To avoid the duplication of these service hooks, you must create the tool with full access level.