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Problem with the description length on using az boards work-item create #33513

@gcapnias

Description

@gcapnias

Describe the bug

I was trying to use azure-cli to create issues on an Azure Board. Although, the [azure-devops-cli](https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/tree/main/skills/azure-devops-cli) skill was used from the coding agent, it took the coding agent multiple tries to create features.

At the end, the coding agent created this note:

When a skill says "publish to the issue tracker"

Create an Azure DevOps work item using az boards work-item create. Use Issue type for features and PRDs (Basic template), Task for implementation sub-tasks.

Note on large descriptions: The --description flag hits Windows command line length limits for content over ~7 000 characters. For large descriptions, use Invoke-RestMethod in PowerShell with a bearer token:

$token = az account get-access-token --resource "499b84ac-1321-427f-aa17-267ca6975798" --query accessToken --output tsv
$desc = "<html description content>"
$body = @(@{ op="add"; path="/fields/System.Description"; value=$desc }) | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Patch `
  -Uri "https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_apis/wit/workitems/{id}?api-version=7.0" `
  -Headers @{ Authorization="Bearer $token"; "Content-Type"="application/json-patch+json" } `
  -Body $body

I think this "large description" issue isn’t going away anytime soon. It should be addressed by the azure-cli tool, possibly with an extra parameter (eg. --descriptionfile) to point to an external file containing the description. Another option could be for azure-cli to support JSON payloads from files or environment variables, which would help integrate with coding agent tools.

Related command

az boards work-item create

Errors

Described above.

Issue script & Debug output

Described above.

Expected behavior

Described above.

Environment Summary

azure-cli 2.87.0

core 2.87.0
telemetry 1.1.0

Extensions:
azure-devops 1.0.3

Dependencies:
msal 1.36.0
azure-mgmt-resource 24.0.0

Python location 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\python.exe'
Config directory 'C:\Users\georg.azure'
Extensions directory 'C:\Users\georg.azure\cliextensions'

Python (Windows) 3.13.13 (tags/v3.13.13:01104ce, Apr 7 2026, 19:25:48) [MSC v.1944 64 bit (AMD64)]

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ARMaz resource/group/lock/tag/deployment/policy/managementapp/account management-groupAuto-AssignAuto assign by botLanguagePossible-SolutionService AttentionThis issue is responsible by Azure service team.Similar-Issueact-identity-squadbugThis issue requires a change to an existing behavior in the product in order to be resolved.customer-reportedIssues that are reported by GitHub users external to the Azure organization.

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