AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement a source control strategy
Network Topology
You have the above branch policy configuration for the main branch. A developer pushes a new commit to an existing pull request. What happens?
⚠ Common exam trap
AZ-400 often tests the misconception that approvals persist across new commits, when in fact branch policies with reset enabled invalidate them and trigger a new build.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The existing approvals are reset, and a new build is automatically queued.
When a new commit is pushed to an existing pull request and the branch policy includes a build validation with 'Reset approvals on new changes' enabled, Azure DevOps resets all existing approvals and automatically queues a new build to validate the updated code. This ensures that approvals are only valid for the exact code revision that was reviewed. The behavior is standard for branch policies that require a build and have the reset option configured.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The existing approvals are reset, but no new build is queued.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect because the branch policy's build validation setting has 'Queue new build on source update only' enabled, meaning any new push to the source branch will automatically queue a new build. Therefore, although existing approvals are reset, a new build is also queued, not omitted.
- ✗
The pull request is automatically completed.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect because no auto-complete setting is configured in the branch policy. The policy only resets approvals and queues a new build on push; it does not automatically complete the pull request, and auto-complete is a separate feature that must be explicitly enabled.
- ✓
The existing approvals are reset, and a new build is automatically queued.
Why this is correct
This is correct because the branch policy has two relevant settings: 'Reset approvals on new push' is enabled, so existing approvals are invalidated when new commits are pushed, and the build validation policy has 'Queue new build on source update only' set to true, so a new build is automatically queued. Both actions occur as a direct result of the new push to the PR source branch.
- ✗
The existing approvals remain valid, and the build is not requeued.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect because the policy is configured to reset approvals on new push, so existing approvals do not remain valid. Additionally, the build validation setting 'Queue new build on source update only' is true, which forces a new build to be queued; therefore the opposite of both conditions is true.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Implementing a Build Pipeline
Key term
Pull request
A pull request is a way for a developer to propose changes to a codebase and ask other team members to review and merge them into the main project.
Key term
Branch policy
A branch policy is a set of rules and conditions enforced on a Git branch to control how code changes are proposed, reviewed, and merged, ensuring code quality and protecting critical branches.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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