Backlog hygiene for Azure DevOps
Backlog Guard scans your Azure Boards backlog and catches the issues that derail sprint planning — missing estimates, absent acceptance criteria, stale items, and broken hierarchies — then ranks the highest-impact fixes so your team walks into planning ready. It runs entirely in your browser: no backend, no licences, and your data never leaves your tenant.
Installs from the Azure DevOps Marketplace · runs client-side · no backend charges, ever.
The problem
Critical backlog gaps show up at the worst possible moment. Sprint planning.
The backlog looks fine until the team sits down to plan — then the gaps surface one by one, planning drags on, and velocity takes the hit. Backlog Guard finds these problems before the meeting, so they never get the chance to derail it.
Missing estimates
Half the candidate items have no story points or effort, so the team can’t commit to a realistic sprint and capacity planning turns into guesswork.
Absent acceptance criteria
Work items look ready until someone asks “what does done mean?” — and planning stalls while everyone reconstructs the requirement on the spot.
Stale, forgotten items
Items that haven’t moved in weeks sit quietly near the top of the backlog, pulling attention away from the work that actually matters this sprint.
Broken hierarchies
Orphaned stories with no parent and features with no children quietly break your portfolio rollups, so reporting and forecasting drift out of step with reality.
How it works
From install to top fixes in three steps
No backend to stand up and nothing to configure — install the extension and the first scan runs the moment you open Azure Boards.
- 1
Install from the Marketplace
Add Backlog Guard to your organization from the Azure DevOps Marketplace. It’s a standard extension install — no backend to provision and nothing to configure to get started.
- 2
Open Boards → Backlog Guard
Open the Backlog Guard hub inside Azure Boards. It lives right next to your backlog, using the projects and permissions you already have.
- 3
See your top fixes instantly
The initial scan runs automatically and surfaces the highest-impact backlog issues immediately — no setup, no waiting, ready before your next sprint planning session.
Features
Everything you need to keep a backlog planning-ready
From a ranked list of top fixes to portfolio-wide health scores — built to live inside the Azure DevOps you already use.
Top Fixes dashboard
The home screen ranks the 3–5 highest-impact issues in your Azure DevOps backlog by severity, so you fix what actually unblocks sprint planning first instead of scrolling a wall of warnings. Each fix can spin up a remediation task in one click.
- The 3–5 issues that matter most, ranked by severity
- One-click remediation-task creation
- Triage your backlog in minutes, not meetings
All Findings & bulk actions
When you want the full picture, the All Findings tab lists every issue across the backlog with bulk actions to clear them efficiently — and compliance-ready exports in CSV, JSON, or HTML to share evidence with stakeholders and auditors.
- Full backlog scan, every finding in one place
- Bulk actions to resolve issues at scale
- Export to CSV, JSON, or HTML for compliance
Sprint readiness view
Check whether the items you’re about to commit to are genuinely ready — estimated, with acceptance criteria, and correctly linked — before you walk into sprint planning. No more discovering gaps live in the meeting.
- Confirm candidate items are planning-ready
- Spot gaps before the meeting, not during it
- Start sprint planning from a clean backlog
Portfolio health scores
Roll backlog health up across teams and projects into clear health scores, so leads and managers can see where hygiene is slipping at a glance and direct attention to the areas that need it most.
- Cross-team and cross-project rollups
- At-a-glance health scores by area
- Spot where backlog hygiene is slipping
Built-in rules
Sensible checks work out of the box — missing estimates, missing acceptance criteria, missing repro steps, stale items, and orphaned parent links — so Backlog Guard starts catching the issues that disrupt sprint planning the moment you open it.
- Missing estimates and acceptance criteria
- Missing repro steps and stale items
- Orphaned parent links and broken hierarchies
Custom rules & optional AI
Encode your own definition of “ready” with JSON-based custom rules. AI assistance is entirely optional and runs only on keys you supply — bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, or use none at all. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to.
- JSON-based custom rules for your standards
- Optional AI on your own OpenAI/Anthropic keys
- Nothing leaves your tenant unless you opt in
Free, private, yours
Your backlog never leaves your Azure DevOps
Free forever
No licences, seat counts, or backend charges. Backlog Guard is free for every team and every project — install it and use it without a meter running.
Runs client-side
Every scan runs in your browser. There’s no Backlog Guard server in the loop, so there’s no backend to trust with your backlog and nothing to provision.
Your data stays in ADO
Your backlog never leaves your Azure DevOps tenant. The only external calls are optional AI requests — and only when you supply your own key.
Walk into your next sprint planning ready
Install Backlog Guard, open Azure Boards, and the first scan shows your top backlog fixes straight away. It’s free forever, runs entirely in your browser, and your data never leaves your tenant.