How to find Azure DevOps work items from Outlook with Almo Discover
Almo’s Discover feature lets you find any Azure DevOps work item from Outlook and act on it without switching to a browser. When an email mentions a work item, you search for it from the Almo pane, open it, and update it in place. This guide covers how to open Discover, how to search, what the results tell you, and how to change the project you are searching.
If you have not connected Almo to Azure DevOps yet, start with Connect Almo to Azure DevOps and come back once your Working Project is set.
What the Discover feature is
Discover is Almo‘s search tool for existing Azure DevOps work items, built into the Outlook pane. It searches the project you are working in by phrase, work item ID, or title, and returns matching items with their status, assignee, and last activity. You open any result and update it without leaving Outlook.
Without it, replying to an email about a work item means switching to the Azure DevOps portal, searching there, and bringing the details back. Discover removes that round trip, because the search happens next to the email you are answering.
How to find a work item with Discover
- Open Discover from the Almo home screen. On the Almo home screen, select Discover. The search screen opens, set to your current Working Project.
- Check or change the project you are searching. Discover searches one project at a time, starting with your Working Project, which is shown at the top of the screen. To search a different one, select Change and pick another connected project.
- Enter your search and select Search. Type a search phrase, a work item ID, or part of a title into the search field, then select Search. Select Clear to start a new search.
- Open a result and act on it. Select any result to open the work item. From there you can add a comment, update fields, change its state, or link it to the email you are reading.
What the search results show
Each result gives you enough context to pick the right work item before you open it:
| Detail | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Work item ID | The Azure DevOps ID for the item, for example #56. |
| Title | The work item’s title, so you can confirm it is the one you mean. |
| Project | The connected project the item belongs to. |
| Assignee | Who the item is currently assigned to. |
| State | The item’s current status, such as Committed or Active. |
| Last activity | How recently the item was updated, for example 24 minutes ago. |
Searching a different project
Discover starts on your Working Project because that is the project holding most of your day-to-day work items. When the item you need belongs to another project, select Change at the top of the Discover screen and choose any project you have connected. Discover then searches that project instead.
Because Discover searches one project at a time, the quickest way to work across several is to set the project you use most as your Working Project and use Change for the occasional search elsewhere. Change your Working Project in Almo explains how to switch your default.
Acting on a work item from your results
Opening a result puts you in the same work item form you use to create items, so anything you can do to a new work item you can do here. Add a comment, reassign it, change its state, edit fields, or link it to the email you are reading so the conversation and the work item stay connected. Overview of the Almo work item form covers the form in full.
Tips for faster searches
A few habits make Discover quicker day to day. Searching by work item ID is the most precise route when you have the number from an email or a notification. A short, distinctive phrase from the title narrows results faster than a common word that appears in many items. And keeping your Working Project set to the project you are actively working in means most searches need no project switch at all.
Troubleshooting Discover
Why are no results showing for my search? Discover only searches the project shown at the top of the screen. If that is the wrong project, select Change and pick the right one. If the project is correct, try a shorter or more distinctive phrase, or search by the work item ID.
Can I search every project at once? No. Discover searches one connected project at a time, starting with your Working Project. To look in another project, use the Change link to switch, then search again.
Why is a work item I expected missing from the results? It is most likely in a different project from the one you are searching, or your search phrase does not match its title. Switch projects with Change, or search by its work item ID to find it directly.
Can I update a work item from Discover, or only view it? You can update it. Selecting a result opens the full work item form, where you can comment, reassign, change its state, edit fields, and link the item to your current email.
How is Discover different from the Recently updated list on the home screen? Recently updated shows items in your Working Project that changed lately, without you searching. Discover is for finding a specific item on demand, by phrase, ID, or title, including in projects other than your Working Project.
Every work item, one search away
Discover keeps every Azure DevOps work item one search away from the email in front of you. Rather than switching to the portal to look something up, you search, open, and update from the same pane you are already working in.
If a search does not behave as described here, the Almo team can help. Write to [email protected] or raise a support ticket from inside Almo.