Adds a parent-child relationship between two work items. Use this tool when you need to: - Establish hierarchy between work items - Organize epics, features, user stories, and tasks - Create a structured breakdown of work - Enable rollup of effort and progress tracking IMPORTANT: The child work i...
AI agents use add_parent_child_link to create or update resources in MCP Azure DevOps Server — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your MCP Azure DevOps Server environment.
This tool modifies the structure and organization of work items by creating or updating relationships between them. It is a Write operation because it creates/updates data (parent-child links) without permanently deleting anything. The severity is medium because while the changes are reversible, incorrect hierarchical relationships could disrupt team workflow, backlog organization, and progress tracking visibility.
From the tool's definition The tool description explicitly states it 'Adds a parent-child relationship between two work items' and notes that 'The child work item will immediately appear under the parent in hierarchical views.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access add_parent_child_link gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP Azure DevOps Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for add_parent_child_link:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"add_parent_child_link": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "add_parent_child_link_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}add_parent_child_link stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
Free to start. No card required.
Adds a parent-child relationship between two work items. Use this tool when you need to: - Establish hierarchy between work items - Organize epics, features, user stories, and tasks - Create a structured breakdown of work - Enable rollup of effort and progress tracking IMPORTANT: The child work item will immediately appear under the parent in hierarchical views. This relationship affects how the items are displayed in backlogs and boards. In Azure DevOps, a work item can have only one parent but multiple children. Args: parent_id: ID of the parent work item child_id: ID of the child work item project: Optional project name or ID Returns: Formatted string containing the updated child work item details showing the new parent relationship, formatted as markdown. It is categorised as a Write tool in the MCP Azure DevOps Server MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the MCP Azure DevOps Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for add_parent_child_link: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches MCP Azure DevOps Server. Nothing to install.
add_parent_child_link is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the add_parent_child_link rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for add_parent_child_link. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
add_parent_child_link is provided by the MCP Azure DevOps Server MCP server (vortiago/mcp-azure-devops). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Deterministic rules across all 21 MCP Azure DevOps Server tools. Per-identity grants. Full audit log. Live in minutes. Nothing to install.
Free to start. No card required.
21 MCP Azure DevOps Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 42,500+ MCP servers.