Azure DevOps PR Policy Validator

This repository contains an Azure Function to validate wether GitVersion (and/or) CHANGELOG files have been edited.

Use case

With my current project we use GitVersion.yml for source code versioning and update the CHANGELOG.md file with all the changes we do. This way we have a complete history of all changes we do to our software.

There were times when we forgot to change these files and thus we needed to add this as a PR policy. Manually checking is such a bore, so I decided to automate this.

The inner working

The function is a HTTP triggered one that receives an Azure DevOps PR WebHook (to configure in Azure DevOps) as an input. After validating the request, the code will take a look at all the files changed in the PR and will check wether the GitVersion.yml is changed (and really updated). It will also do the same for the CHANGELOG.md file.

NOTE: The function expects the GitVersion to have a next-version property with 3 digits, e.g. next-version: 0.1.0.

Options

Currently there are two options:

• By not adding parameters to the request URL the function will validate both the GitVersion.yml and CHANGELOG.md files.
• Adding ?validateChangelog=false to the request URL will skip CHANGELOG.md validation. I added this option because it's something we do but not everyone will.

How to use

• Create an Azure Function App in Azure.
• Create a PAT in Azure Devops (on https://dev.azure.com/{DEVOPS_ACCOUNT}/_usersSettings/tokens). The PAT should have the policies Code (Read, write, & manage) and Pull Request Threads (Read & write).
• Add the DEVOPS_ACCOUNT, DEVOPS_PROJECT and DEVOPS_PAT settings to the Function App Configuration (environment variables).
• Deploy the project from Visual Studio to the deployed Azure Function App.
• Add the PR Validator to your Project (on https://dev.azure.com/{DEVOPS_ACCOUNT}/{DEVOPS_PROJECT}/_settings/serviceHooks).
  • Click the + icon to add a new Service Hook, scroll down and choose Web Hook.
  • Select Pull request created as the event trigger.
  • Add repository/branch/member/reviewer filters as prefered, or leave default to enable it for every repository.
  • On the URL, enter the Azure Function App URL, e.g. https://myfunctionapp.azurewebsites.net/api/GitVersionChangeLogChecker and click finish to add it.
  • Follow the steps above again for the Pull request updated event trigger.
• Go to the repository where you want the PR Policy validator to run.
  • Navigate by Repository > Branches.
  • Click on the 3 dots on the right side of the branch you want to validate (e.g. main/master) and choose Branch Policies.
  • Scroll to Status Checks and click the + to add a new policy.
  • Select the policy from the drop down, and select the requirement as prefered.
    • Don't see the PR validator? Make sure the build has run at least once since you've added the policy in the previous steps. Otherwise it won't show up.a