Avoiding Branch Deletion in Azure DevOps Without Pull Requests

In the realm of version control within Azure DevOps, branch policies are often used to prevent accidental deletions. These settings generally enforce that changes on a protected branch should be made through pull requests (PR). However, if your team hasn’t adopted PR workflow yet and you still wish to guard specific branches against being deleted without enforcing this extra step:

Understanding Branch Policies in Azure DevOps with Git

Branch policies can act as gatekeepers for branch deletions by requiring changes on a protected/protected feature branch or topic-based refactoring project through pull requests. This inherently means that to delete, push updates (including forceful ones), or manipulate the history of these branches one must submit and approve PRs first—even if you’re not using them yet for such workflow management purposes.

Alternative: Restrictive Branch Permissions Without Pull Request Dependency

If disabling “Force Push” permissions isn’t sufficient, consider leveraging the following workaround to control branch deletion without mandating pull requests in Azure DevOps paired with Git repositories:

1. Disable Force Push: To prevent forceful alterations—including deleting a repository or rewriting its history via git reset --hard commands from within another branch, you’ll need to adjust permissions at the account level rather than just for individual branches.
   • Note: This method blocks all pushes with --force, but not other forceful deletion methods like direct delete on repository hosting systems that Azure DevOps supports (e.g., GitHub). Ensure this setting is done globally if you want it to be consistently enforced across the entire organization or at a team level for granularity.
   • For guidance, see Microsoft Learn’s explanation of ‘Force Push’:
   • This step can be done through the Azure DevOps interface under User settings. Go to your user account, find “Permissions”, and adjust according to organizational requirements for branch deletion control—this way you retain flexibility while setting clear rules on what actions are allowed.

Summary: Protecting Your Workflow in a Branch-Deletion Light Environment

By understanding the capabilities of Azure DevOps’ permissions, specifically targeted at forceful operations such as git reset --hard, you can curtail unintended branch deletions without enforcing pull request procedures. While this approach is less about managing code changes and more so around governance on repository-level actions: - Keep in mind that disabling Force Push does not prevent all forms of direct or forced removal—it’s a measure primarily to control git operations when making branch updates, particularly for those who might be unfamiliar with the pull request process.

By setting these permissions correctly at an account level within Azure DevOps and Git repositories alike: - You create safeguards against accidental or unauthorized deletions of branches without requiring a formal review cycle like PRs, thus streamlining your workflow while maintaining branch integrity.

Remember to communicate these changes clearly with the team so that everyone understands their capabilities and limitations within this setup for optimal collaboration in Azure DevOps environments sans pull requests dependency requirements.