AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement a source control strategy
This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement a source control strategy. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
You receive a webhook notification from Azure Pipelines with the above payload. The build for the 'feature/logging' branch failed. You want to automatically create a work item to track the fix. What should you configure in Azure DevOps?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable the 'Create work item on failure' option in the pipeline settings.
Option B is correct because Azure Pipelines provides a built-in setting called 'Create work item on failure' that automatically generates a work item (e.g., a bug or task) in Azure Boards whenever a pipeline run fails. This directly meets the requirement to track the fix for the failed build on the 'feature/logging' branch without requiring external integrations or manual steps.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Add a branch policy on 'feature/logging' to require a successful build before merging.
Why it's wrong here
Policy does not create work items.
✓
Enable the 'Create work item on failure' option in the pipeline settings.
Why this is correct
Automatically creates a work item when a build fails.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a GitHub Actions workflow to create an issue on failure.
Why it's wrong here
GitHub Actions is for GitHub, not Azure Repos.
✗
Create a service hook subscription to listen for build failures and call Azure Boards API.
Why it's wrong here
Possible but not the simplest option.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may overcomplicate the solution by choosing a manual or external integration (like service hooks or GitHub Actions) when Azure Pipelines already provides a simple, built-in configuration option for automatic work item creation on failure.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The 'Create work item on failure' setting leverages the Azure Pipelines and Azure Boards integration, automatically mapping pipeline run failures to work items in the project's process (e.g., Agile, Scrum, CMMI). Under the hood, when a pipeline run fails, Azure DevOps triggers a system-defined service hook that creates a work item with details such as the failed stage, job, and task, linking it to the build run for traceability. In a real-world scenario, this ensures that every build break is immediately captured as a trackable item, preventing issues from being overlooked in fast-paced CI/CD workflows.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-400 question in full detail.
Design and implement a source control strategy — This question tests Design and implement a source control strategy — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable the 'Create work item on failure' option in the pipeline settings. — Option B is correct because Azure Pipelines provides a built-in setting called 'Create work item on failure' that automatically generates a work item (e.g., a bug or task) in Azure Boards whenever a pipeline run fails. This directly meets the requirement to track the fix for the failed build on the 'feature/logging' branch without requiring external integrations or manual steps.
What should I do if I get this AZ-400 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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