Something that I always have to explain when someone uses Azure DevOps for the first time is that there are 2 levels that needs to be configured to give someone access to Azure DevOps.
The first level is the security level. By adding a user to a specific security group at the project level, the user is able to access specific features and execute specific actions
However there is also a second level, the access level. This level is related to the acquired license and also defines which features are available to you.
So only if the 2 levels align, you can use a specific feature inside Azure DevOps
A typical situation:
A project administrator adds a new user to a team inside Azure DevOps. By adding a user to a team, he is added to the Contributor group and should be able to access most features at the project level. However because he is new in Azure DevOps, the user gets a default access level assigned. If you didn’t change this default, this will be the Stakeholder access level which gives access to a rather limited set of features.
If you want to assign a different access level by default, this can be done through the following steps:
- Go to your Azure DevOps Organization
- Click on Organization settings in the bottom left corner
- Go to the Billing tab under General.
- Go to Settings and change the Access level through the dropdown. Don’t forget to click on Save to apply the changes.
More information
About access levels - Azure DevOps | Microsoft Learn
Get started with permissions, access levels, and security groups - Azure DevOps | Microsoft Learn