# Azure Pipelines

Source: https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/ci-cd/azure-pipelines · Last updated: 2026-10-27

Upload test results from Azure Pipelines to Qualflare with the qf CLI: azure-pipelines.yml steps, a secret QF_TOKEN variable, and setting QF_BRANCH.

To upload test results from Azure Pipelines to Qualflare, add a step that runs `qf <identifier> collect <report>` after your tests, with the access token in a secret variable named `QF_TOKEN`; qf reads no Azure variables, so set `QF_BRANCH` yourself.

## Before you begin

* A project access token with **Allow writes** off, which you create in **Project Settings** > **Access Tokens** (requires the Editor role or higher in the project). See [Access Tokens](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/api/access-tokens).
* A report file your test step writes, such as JUnit XML. The examples use `ci` as the identifier.

## Store the token as a secret variable

1. Go to your project **Pipelines** > **Library**
2. Go to **Variable groups**, create or select a group, for example `qualflare`
3. Add variable: `QF_TOKEN`, value: Your Qualflare access token
4. Mark as **Secret**: **Checked**
5. Click **Save**

Then reference the group in the YAML, as `- group: qualflare` does in the pipeline below.

## Add the upload step

Add to your `azure-pipelines.yml`:

```yaml
trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
      - develop

variables:
- group: qualflare  # the variable group that holds QF_TOKEN
- name: QF_ENVIRONMENT
  value: 'staging'  # must be an environment that exists in the project

stages:
- stage: Test
  jobs:
  - job: TestAndReport
    pool:
      vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

    steps:
    - checkout: self
      displayName: 'Checkout code'

    - script: |
        VERSION=0.4.0
        curl -L "https://github.com/qualflare/qualflare-cli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/qf_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" -o qf.tar.gz
        tar -xzf qf.tar.gz && sudo mv qf /usr/local/bin/
      displayName: 'Install qf CLI'

    - script: pytest --junitxml=results.xml
      displayName: 'Run tests'

    - script: |
        BRANCH="${SYSTEM_PULLREQUEST_SOURCEBRANCH:-$BUILD_SOURCEBRANCH}"
        export QF_BRANCH="${BRANCH#refs/heads/}"
        qf login ci --force
        qf ci collect results.xml
      env:
        QF_TOKEN: $(QF_TOKEN)  # secret variables reach a script only through env
      displayName: 'Upload results to Qualflare'
      condition: always()
```

See the official [Azure Pipelines documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/) for `azure-pipelines.yml` syntax and pipeline concepts beyond what's shown here.

## Branch and commit

qf reads no Azure variable, and the Azure checkout is a detached HEAD, so qf finds the commit through local git and no branch. The first two lines of the upload script set `QF_BRANCH` from `Build.SourceBranch`, or from `System.PullRequest.SourceBranch` on a pull request build, without the `refs/heads/` prefix. Setting `QF_COMMIT: $(Build.SourceVersion)` in `env:` is optional: it is the same commit.

## Run the upload when tests fail

`condition: always()` on the upload step runs it when the test step fails.

## Parallel jobs

One `qf <identifier> collect` call is one launch, and several files in one call merge into it. With the Azure `parallel` strategy, gather every job's report and upload them all from one later job with `--shard`: see [Sharded runs](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/sharding).

## Pin the qf version

The example installs qf 0.4.0 through `VERSION=0.4.0`. To pin another release, set `VERSION` to a version from the [qf releases page](https://github.com/qualflare/qualflare-cli/releases).

## Troubleshooting

`Error: token cannot be empty` means `QF_TOKEN` didn't reach the script: map it in the step's `env:`. If `qf login` succeeds but the upload then fails with a 401 (exit code 3), check that the variable group is linked in `variables:`: Azure passes an unresolved `$(QF_TOKEN)` on as that literal text, and qf saves it as the token. Launches with no branch: keep the two `QF_BRANCH` lines at the top of the upload script. More fixes: [Troubleshooting](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/ci-cd#troubleshooting) on CI/CD integration.

## Related

* **Guides:** [CI/CD integration](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/ci-cd)
* **Reference:** [Upload results with qf collect](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/collect) · [Configuration](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/configuration)
* **CLI/API:** [Access Tokens](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/api/access-tokens)