Customizing Process Templates in TFS/VSTS: Adding Fields and Inheritance

In the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) space, various management models such as Waterfall, CMMI, Agile, Scrum, and Kanban define fixed processes, roles, activities, and templates. In TFS/VSTS, these are represented by "process templates" that teams select when creating a project, but real‑world scenarios often require tailoring these templates to fit unique workflows.

TFS/VSTS provides three built‑in process templates: CMMI, Agile, and Scrum. Teams are often unsure which to pick; the recommendation is to start with the default template, become familiar with it, and then gradually introduce customizations.

Historically, customizing templates in TFS 2013 and earlier was difficult due to complex XML and workflow files. After years of demand, Microsoft finally introduced a much easier customization experience.

Adding a Custom Field

To add a field (e.g., "Target Completion Date") to a work‑item type, the old manual steps involved downloading the template, installing TFS Power Tools, editing XML, and uploading the changes. The new UI simplifies this process:

Open the work item you want to modify, click the ellipsis (…), and choose "Customize".

In the "Process Customization" pane, click "New Field" and fill in the name and type.

Switch to the "Layout" tab and choose where the field should appear.

Return to the work‑item page, refresh, and the new field is ready.

Template Inheritance

When you need a custom field to be available across multiple projects, or you want some projects to share a template while others do not, the new inheritance mechanism lets you create a child template from a built‑in Agile, CMMI, or Scrum template. Changes in the parent automatically flow to children, while child changes do not affect the parent, and you can switch projects between parent and child templates without losing historical data.

The inheritance view shows each template’s version, the number of projects it affects, and allows you to migrate existing projects to a child template.

You can also set permissions per template, enabling or disabling templates for specific users.

Other Customization Capabilities

Beyond adding fields, upcoming updates will support adding drop‑down lists, identity fields, workflow modifications, new work‑item types, validation rules, and import/export of process templates. These features roll out first to the cloud VSTS service and later to on‑premises TFS on a roughly quarterly cadence.

References

ALM Blog: Adding a custom field to a work item – http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2015/12/10/adding-a-custom-field-to-a-work-item.aspx

ALM Blog: Visual Studio Online Process Customization – Update – http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2015/07/27/visual-studio-online-process-customization-update.aspx

VSTS Online – https://www.visualstudio.com

Team Foundation Server (Enterprise) download – https://www.visualstudio.com/products/tfs-overview-vs

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