Set up Vindex in Azure DevOps
Install the Vindex extension, connect it, choose which projects to score, and see your first scored work item. The whole flow is four steps and usually takes about five minutes. The free tier gives every organization 10 stories per month, re-scoring included, with no Vindex account required.
Before you begin
- An Azure DevOps organization using Azure Boards
- Organization admin access, required to install extensions and approve the connect step
- About five minutes; no credit card needed for the free tier
The walkthrough
Install the extension on your organization
From the Vindex listing on the Visual Studio Marketplace, click Get it free and choose the Azure DevOps organization you want Vindex to score. Extensions install at the organization level, so this step needs an organization admin.
Connect Vindex from the admin hub
In Azure DevOps, open Organization settings → Extensions to confirm Vindex is installed, then open the Vindex admin hub and click Connect Vindex.
A Microsoft Entra ID authorization window opens. Review and approve it; this is what lets Vindex deliver finished scores back into the extension's storage inside Azure DevOps. The authorization is a one-time step per organization, and your browser never talks to Vindex directly when reading scores.
When the window closes, the admin hub shows Connected.
Choose your scoring scope
Still in the admin hub, pick which projects Vindex should score. The extension creates a Service Hook subscription for each in-scope project automatically; work item create and update events in those projects flow to Vindex from then on.
You can widen or narrow the scope at any time; subscriptions are reconciled to match. Work items with an empty description are skipped so they never consume quota.
Score your first work item
Create or edit a work item in an in-scope project, then open it. The Vindex panel on the work item form populates within a few seconds:
- Overall score: the work item's story health, displayed as a percentage.
- INVEST breakdown: all six dimensions, each with its own score.
- Findings: plain-language explanations of what to fix, like “Acceptance criteria are missing or untestable.”
Scoring runs automatically on every create and update after this. To re-score a work item on demand, edit it and save; the panel refreshes when the new score is ready. Re-scoring is always free.
Free tier vs. linked account
Every Azure DevOps organization that installs Vindex gets 10 new stories per calendar month, free. Once a story has been scored, re-scoring it is always free; the quota only counts new stories and resets on the first of each month. No Vindex account, no credit card.
Linking the organization to a Vindex account raises the quota to your plan's limit and unlocks the analytics dashboard, score history, and team-level views. Start the link from the Vindex admin hub inside Azure DevOps.
Upgrades and re-installs
Extension updates roll out through the Marketplace and your organization picks them up automatically; the connection and your scoring scope are preserved, so no re-authorization is needed.
If you uninstall and reinstall the extension, reconnecting the same organization re-binds it to its existing Vindex record, so your score history and quota are preserved.
Troubleshooting
The Vindex panel doesn't appear on work items
Confirm the extension is installed at Organization settings → Extensions, and that the work item's project is in the scoring scope in the Vindex admin hub. The panel renders on the work item form for in-scope projects only.
The admin hub shows Not connected
Click Connect Vindex and complete the Microsoft Entra ID authorization again. This happens if the original authorization was revoked or the connecting admin's account was removed; reconnecting restores scoring without losing history.
Scores aren't updating after I edit a work item
Scoring is asynchronous and triggered by the work item update event. Give it a few seconds and refresh the work item. If scores stay stale across the whole project, check the scoring scope and connection state in the admin hub.
We used up the 10 free stories this month
The free tier covers 10 new stories per calendar month and resets on the first; already-scored work items keep re-scoring free. To raise the quota immediately, link the organization to a Vindex account from the admin hub and pick a plan.