Part of the ado-aw documentation.
Global flags (apply to all subcommands): --verbose, -v (enable info-level logging), --debug, -d (enable debug-level logging, implies verbose), --log-output-dir <path> (write ado-aw logs to a specific directory; overrides ADO_AW_LOG_DIR)
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init- Initialize a repository for AI-first agentic pipeline authoring--path <path>- Target directory (defaults to current directory)--force- Bypass the GitHub-remote guard (use when running inside a GitHub-hosted repository likegithubnext/ado-awitself)- Creates
.github/agents/ado-aw.agent.md— a Copilot dispatcher agent that routes to specialized prompts for creating, updating, and debugging agentic pipelines - The agent auto-downloads the ado-aw compiler and handles the full lifecycle (create → compile → check)
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compile [<path>]- Compile a markdown file to Azure DevOps pipeline YAML. If no path is given, auto-discovers and recompiles all detected agentic pipelines in the current directory.--output, -o <path>- Optional output path for the generated YAML (only valid when a path is provided). If the path is an existing directory, the compiled YAML is written inside that directory using the default filename derived from the markdown source (e.g.foo.md→<dir>/foo.lock.yml).--force- Bypass the GitHub-remote guard (use when running inside a GitHub-hosted repository likegithubnext/ado-awitself)--skip-integrity- (debug builds only) Omit the "Verify pipeline integrity" step from the generated pipeline. Useful during local development when the compiled output won't match a released compiler version. This flag is not available in release builds. OR-ed withado-aw-debug.skip-integrity:in front matter — either is sufficient. Seedocs/ado-aw-debug.md.--debug-pipeline- (debug builds only) Include MCPG debug diagnostics in the generated pipeline:DEBUG=*environment variable for verbose MCPG logging, stderr streaming to log files, and a "Verify MCP backends" step that probes each backend with MCP initialize + tools/list before the agent runs. This flag is not available in release builds.- For
target: jobandtarget: stage, the output is an ADO YAML template (not a complete pipeline). Job names are prefixed with the agent name for uniqueness. Triggers configured viaon:are ignored with a warning.
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check <pipeline>- Verify that a compiled pipeline matches its source markdown<pipeline>- Path to the pipeline YAML file to verify- The source markdown path is auto-detected from the
@ado-awheader in the pipeline file - Useful for CI checks to ensure pipelines are regenerated after source changes
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mcp <output_directory> <bounding_directory>- Run SafeOutputs as a stdio MCP server--enabled-tools <name>- Restrict available tools to those named (repeatable)
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mcp-http <output_directory> <bounding_directory>- Run SafeOutputs as an HTTP MCP server (for MCPG integration)--port <port>- Port to listen on (default: 8100)--api-key <key>- API key for authentication (auto-generated if not provided)--enabled-tools <name>- Restrict available tools to those named (repeatable)
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execute- Execute safe outputs from Stage 1 (Stage 3 of pipeline)--source, -s <path>- Path to source markdown file--safe-output-dir <path>- Directory containing safe output NDJSON (default: current directory)--output-dir <path>- Output directory for processed artifacts (e.g., agent memory)--ado-org-url <url>- Azure DevOps organization URL override--ado-project <name>- Azure DevOps project name override--dry-run- Validate inputs but skip ADO API calls (useful for local testing and QA review)
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configure- Detect agentic pipelines in a local repository and update theGITHUB_TOKENpipeline variable on their Azure DevOps build definitions--token <token>/GITHUB_TOKENenv var - The new GITHUB_TOKEN value (prompted if omitted)--org <url>- Override: Azure DevOps organization URL (e.g.https://dev.azure.com/myorg) or just the org name (e.g.myorg, auto-prefixed to the canonical URL). Inferred from git remote by default.--project <name>- Override: Azure DevOps project name (inferred from git remote by default)--pat <pat>/AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PATenv var - PAT for ADO API authentication (prompted if omitted)--path <path>- Path to the repository root (defaults to current directory)--dry-run- Preview changes without applying them--definition-ids <ids>- Explicit pipeline definition IDs to update (comma-separated, skips auto-detection)
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enable [PATH]- Register an ADO build definition for each compiled pipeline discovered underPATH(or the current directory) and ensure it isenabled. For each fixture, matches against the existing ADO definitions byyamlFilenamefirst, then by sanitized display name; creates a new definition when neither matches, flipsqueueStatustoenabledwhen an existing definition isdisabled/paused, and skips when it is alreadyenabled. Fail-soft per fixture; exits non-zero if any fixture failed.--org <url>- Override: Azure DevOps organization (URL or bare org name). Inferred from git remote by default.--project <name>- Override: Azure DevOps project name (inferred from git remote by default).--pat <pat>/AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PATenv var - PAT for ADO API authentication (Azure CLI fallback if omitted).--folder <ado-folder>- ADO folder for newly-created definitions. Defaults to\(root). Only applied on create — existing definitions stay where they are.--default-branch <ref>- Default branch for newly-created definitions. Defaults torefs/heads/main.--dry-run- Print the planned actions (and the full POST body for creates) without calling the ADO API.--also-set-token- After creating a new definition, set itsGITHUB_TOKENvariable (as an ADO secret).--token <value>- The token value for--also-set-token. Falls back to$GITHUB_TOKEN, then to an interactive prompt. Requires--also-set-token.
Source-repo scope (Phase 1):
enablerequires the local git remote to be an Azure DevOps Git remote (the source repo is what gets registered as the definition's repository). GitHub-hosted source repos are gated on a follow-up. -
run [PATH]- Queue an ADO build for every ADO definition that matches a local fixture (underPATH). With--wait, poll each queued build until completion and exit with an aggregate result — 0 only if every queued build succeeded.--org <url>- Override: Azure DevOps organization (URL or bare org name). Inferred from git remote by default.--project <name>- Override: Azure DevOps project name (inferred from git remote by default).--pat <pat>/AZURE_DEVOPS_EXT_PATenv var - PAT for ADO API authentication (Azure CLI fallback if omitted).--branch <ref>- Source branch to queue (e.g.refs/heads/main). Defaults to the definition'sdefaultBranch.--parameters <k=v[,k=v...]>- ADOtemplateParameters. Repeatable and/or comma-separated. All values are strings (ADO coerces as the definition requires). Rejects malformed pairs (missing=).--wait- Poll each queued build to completion before exiting.--poll-interval <secs>- Polling period when--waitis set (default 10).--timeout <secs>- Hard cap on the polling loop when--waitis set (default 1800).--dry-run- Print the plannedtemplateParametersbody without calling the ADO API.