Create an MCP for Azure DevOps To Use With Genie Code

emma_s — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:56:41 GMT

Overview

Prompted by a customer question, I wanted to see what was possible in terms of MCP integration into Genie Code, in order to try this out I decided to look at Azure Dev Ops, as it's a common workflow to want to see your tickets alongside the work you're doing. When I dug into it I realised the Azure out of the box MCP did not have the right protocols to enable Genie code to use it. Given the common nature of this kind of request I thought I'd share my learnings here. After some testing I found the best way to achieve this was using a python udf in devops and then setting this up as a Genie Code MCP server. If you want to give this a go, here are the instructions and code.

What You'll Build

Two Python UDFs in Unity Catalog that connect to Azure DevOps — search_work_items and list_project_backlog. No extra infrastructure. Add them to Genie Code via the UC Function browser and start asking natural language questions immediately.

Prerequisites

A Databricks workspace with Apps enabled
Databricks CLI installed and authenticated
An Azure DevOps organisation with a project
A Personal Access Token (PAT) for Azure DevOps with Work Items (Read) scope

Step 1: Create an Azure DevOps Project & Personal token

Create DevOps Project

Go to https://dev.azure.com and sign in (or create a free account)
Create a new organisation
Create a project
Add some work items (Epics, Issues, Tasks) to have data to query

Create a Personal Access Token

Click the user settings icon (top right) → Personal access tokens
Click New Token
Name: <set-your-name>
Scopes: Full access (tighten for production)
Copy the token — you'll need it in Step 3

Step 2: Enable Prerequisites

Before creating the UC Functions, enable outbound networking for UDFs:

In your Databricks workspace, go to Settings > Preview features

Enable "Enable networking for UDFs in Serverless SQL Warehouses"

Restart your SQL warehouse after enabling. Changes can take up to 15 minutes to propagate.

Step 3: Create the UC Functions

First, create a schema to hold the functions:

CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS <your-catalog>.<your-schema> COMMENT 'Azure DevOps MCP tools for Genie Code';

Note: Python UDFs do not support default parameter values — all parameters are required.

Function 1: search_work_items

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION <your-catalog>.<your-schema>.search_work_items( query STRING COMMENT 'Text to search for in work item titles and descriptions', max_results INT COMMENT 'Maximum number of results to return, e.g. 20' ) RETURNS STRING LANGUAGE PYTHON COMMENT 'Search Azure DevOps work items by text in title or description. Use this to find tasks, issues, and epics matching a keyword.' AS $$ import urllib.request, json, base64 PAT = "<your-pat-token>" ORG = "<your-org-name>" PROJECT = "<your-project-name>" BASE = f"https://dev.azure.com/{ORG}" creds = base64.b64encode(f":{PAT}".encode()).decode() def api_call(path, body=None, extra_params=''): url = f"{BASE}/{path}?api-version=7.0{extra_params}" headers = {"Authorization": f"Basic {creds}", "Content-Type": "application/json"} if body: req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=json.dumps(body).encode(), headers=headers) else: req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers) return json.loads(urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30).read()) wiql = f"SELECT [System.Id] FROM workitems WHERE [System.Title] CONTAINS '{query}' OR [System.Description] CONTAINS '{query}' ORDER BY [System.ChangedDate] DESC" result = api_call(f"{PROJECT}/_apis/wit/wiql", {"query": wiql}, f"&$top={max_results}") ids = [wi["id"] for wi in result.get("workItems", [])] if not ids: return f"No work items found matching '{query}'." fields = "System.Id,System.Title,System.State,System.AssignedTo,System.WorkItemType" id_str = ",".join(str(x) for x in ids[:200]) data = api_call(f"{PROJECT}/_apis/wit/workitems", extra_params=f"&ids={id_str}&$fields={fields}") lines = [f"Search results for '{query}' ({len(data.get('value', []))} items):", ""] for item in data.get("value", []): f = item.get("fields", {}) assigned = f.get("System.AssignedTo", {}) if isinstance(assigned, dict): assigned = assigned.get("displayName", "Unassigned") lines.append(f"- #{item['id']} [{f.get('System.WorkItemType', '?')}] {f.get('System.Title', 'Untitled')} - {f.get('System.State', '?')} (Assigned: {assigned})") return "\n".join(lines) $$;

Function 2: list_project_backlog

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION <your-catalog>.<your-schema>.list_project_backlog( max_results INT COMMENT 'Maximum number of backlog items to return, e.g. 50' ) RETURNS STRING LANGUAGE PYTHON COMMENT 'List the active project backlog showing all open Epics, Issues, and Tasks grouped by type.' AS $$ import urllib.request, json, base64 PAT = "<your-pat-token>" ORG = "<your-org-name>" PROJECT = "<your-project-name>" BASE = f"https://dev.azure.com/{ORG}" creds = base64.b64encode(f":{PAT}".encode()).decode() def api_call(path, body=None, extra_params=''): url = f"{BASE}/{path}?api-version=7.0{extra_params}" headers = {"Authorization": f"Basic {creds}", "Content-Type": "application/json"} if body: req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=json.dumps(body).encode(), headers=headers) else: req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers=headers) return json.loads(urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30).read()) wiql = "SELECT [System.Id] FROM workitems WHERE [System.WorkItemType] IN ('Epic', 'Issue', 'Task') AND [System.State] NOT IN ('Closed', 'Removed', 'Done') ORDER BY [Microsoft.VSTS.Common.BacklogPriority] ASC" result = api_call(f"{PROJECT}/_apis/wit/wiql", {"query": wiql}, f"&$top={max_results}") ids = [wi["id"] for wi in result.get("workItems", [])] if not ids: return "The backlog is empty." fields = "System.Id,System.Title,System.State,System.AssignedTo,System.WorkItemType" id_str = ",".join(str(x) for x in ids[:200]) data = api_call(f"{PROJECT}/_apis/wit/workitems", extra_params=f"&ids={id_str}&$fields={fields}") by_type = {} for item in data.get("value", []): wtype = item.get("fields", {}).get("System.WorkItemType", "Other") by_type.setdefault(wtype, []).append(item) type_order = ["Epic", "Issue", "Task"] lines = [f"Active Backlog ({len(data.get('value', []))} items):", ""] for wtype in type_order: items = by_type.get(wtype, []) if items: lines.append(f"{wtype}s ({len(items)}):") for item in items: f = item.get("fields", {}) assigned = f.get("System.AssignedTo", {}) if isinstance(assigned, dict): assigned = assigned.get("displayName", "Unassigned") lines.append(f" - #{item['id']} {f.get('System.Title', 'Untitled')} - {f.get('System.State', '?')} (Assigned: {assigned})") lines.append("") return "\n".join(lines) $$;

Step 4: Test the Functions

SELECT <your-catalog>.<your-schema>.search_work_items('inspection', 5); SELECT <your-catalog>.<your-schema>.list_project_backlog(50);

Step 5: Add to Genie Code

Open Genie Code in your workspace
Switch to Agent Mode
Click Settings (gear icon)
Under "Unity Catalog Function", click Browse
Navigate to mcga_catalog.devops_tools
Select the functions and Save

Result

You can now ask Genie Code natural language questions like:

"What's on the backlog?"
"Find work items related to vessel inspections"
"Search for anything about compliance"

Key Notes for UC Functions Approach

Python UDFs cannot have default parameter values — all params must be required
The "Enable networking for UDFs" preview must be enabled for outbound HTTP calls
Functions use urllib.request (standard library) — no pip dependencies needed
The Azure DevOps PAT is embedded in the function body. For production, consider using UC service credentials instead.

Re: Create an MCP for Azure DevOps To Use With Genie Code

AndrewWooster — Sun, 17 May 2026 15:09:33 GMT

Azure DevOps now has a remote MCP server. This would be much easier to use than creating a function for individual ADO API endpoints as you described above. How can I configure a connection to this remote MCP from Databricks?

I'd like to use EntraID Service Prinicipal authrntication with OAuth U2M per User. When I try to setup this with the Unity Catalog HTTP connection I get "AADSTS900971: No reply address provided" error.

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