Azure DevOps REST APIs FOR SWIMLANE - azure-devops

Question

I am trying to integrate Servicenow with Azure Devops Board to create/update etc etc on a work item using REST APIs
I was successful in creating and updating lot of things on the workitems
I am not able to find an API which tells the workitem to fall in a specific Swimlane
If you look in to the image I have attached, which has a default swimlane(test) and custom ones... so H have an api which moves it from "ToDo" to "Doing", but if you notice there multiple "Doing" as there are different swimlanes, so can anyone please help what the trick is or an API which tells the workitem to fall in a specific SwimLane
I did some research and found "System.BoardLane" I did use that in post and patch
ERROR:
{
"$id": "1",
"customProperties": {
"ReferenceName": null
},
"innerException": null,
"message": "TF401326: Invalid field status 'ReadOnly' for field 'System.BoardLane'.",
"typeName": "Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Server.WorkItemFieldInvalidException, Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Server",
"typeKey": "WorkItemFieldInvalidException",
"errorCode": 600171,
"eventId": 3200
}
then I used operation "op" :"move"
ERROR:
{
"$id": "1",
"innerException": null,
"message": "Move/Copy is not implemented.",
"typeName": "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.WebApi.Patch.PatchOperationFailedException, Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services.WebApi",
"typeKey": "PatchOperationFailedException",
"errorCode": 0,
"eventId": 3000
}

Answer 1

Azure DevOps REST APIs FOR SWIMLANE
In fact, you were very close to the correct answer.
The first error you faced: TF401326: Invalid field status 'ReadOnly' for field 'System.BoardLane' has indicate that if you want to modify the SwimLane by updating the System.BoardLane field via API, we does not allow that because of its read-only.
(For those fields, not only System.BoardLane is read-only, but also the System.BoardColumn)
This is by designed.
In order to update the SwimLane, here you need to update the extension fields instead of System fields via the API.
Step1:
Call the Get - Boards API to get the information about the Board. In its response body, the extension field names will display under fields -> rowField.
Sample:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{org name}/{project name}/{team name}/_apis/work/boards/Stories?api-version=5.1
The reference names for these extension fields will include a GUID that is unique for the board(e.g. WEF_6623ED31B8E04C778FB1129D3239B1A7_Kanban.Lane).
Step2:
Call the Update - Work Items API, using the field names you got above as the path (e.g. /fields/WEF_6623ED31B8E04C778FB1129D3239B1A7_Kanban.Lane) and input the lane value as the name of the row you want to move the item into:
Sample:
PATCH https://dev.azure.com/{org name}/{project name}/_apis/wit/workitems/{WIT id}?api-version=5.1
Request body:
[
{
"op": "add",
"path": "/fields/WEF_6623ED31B8E04C778FB1129D3239B1A7_Kanban.Lane",
"from": null,
"value": "Lane for product team"
}
]
Lane for product team is one of the Swimlane.
Now, you would see that the work item moved into the corresponding lane you specified.
Note: The GUID of the extension fields is unique for the board. Different boards has different extension fileds GUID value.

Answer 2

The swimlane that is used is based on the status of the workitem (I believe the field you want is System.Status) If you update that value of the workitem, it should move the workitem into the appropriate swimlane.
You can configure your team's board settings to map statuses to the swim lanes you want. If you are using an standard board process, then it should be pretty straightforward mapping between statuses and swim lanes, but if you have customized work items you will need to apply that logic to your code(IE this new item should be in a status of X to show as doing)