customizing Stakeholders's setting so that they can only see the shared dashboard in Azure Devops!

hi rebornlately​ adding some more points on top of Kidd_Ip​ , Firstly, its great question — this is a common need when you want to give executives, auditors, or clients limited visibility in Azure DevOps without exposing sensitive details like Assigned To or backlog-level information.

Unfortunately, Stakeholder access level in Azure DevOps has limited customization options — it’s designed for basic visibility across work items, dashboards, and queries, not fine-grained control. However, you can still achieve your goal with a combination of security group permissions and custom dashboards.

Understand Stakeholder access limitations:

By default, users with the Stakeholder access level can:

View dashboards (if shared with them)

View work items and boards (in read-only mode)

Cannot edit or create items (read-only)

However, they can still see the "Assigned To" field and backlog items if they have project-level read access. Azure DevOps doesn’t provide a field-level security model for built-in fields like Assigned To.

Use Security Permissions to Restrict Access

You can restrict Stakeholders from viewing boards and backlogs by modifying security group permissions:

Go to Project Settings → Boards → Area Paths

For the Area Path in question, set:

View work items in this node → Deny for the Stakeholders group.

This prevents them from seeing the backlog, boards, and queries associated with those work items.

They will still be able to see shared dashboards, since dashboards are controlled separately.

Share dashboards explicitly

You may need to follow the access level with security group and area path permissions:

1. Use Stakeholder Access Level
   Stakeholders in Azure DevOps already have limited access by default:
   •    They can view dashboards and analytics views
   •    They cannot edit boards or backlogs
   •    But they can still see work item details, including “Assigned To,” unless further restricted
   
   
   2. Restrict Work Item Visibility via Area Path Permissions
   To hide backlog/board details:
   1.    Go to Project Settings > Project configuration > Areas.
   2.    Select the Area Path used by your team.
   3.    Click Security, then select the Stakeholders group (or create a custom group for limited users).
   4.    Set these permissions: 
   o    View work items in this node → Deny
   o    Edit work items in this node → Deny
   o    View work items in this node → Deny is the key to hiding backlog/board items.
   This prevents Stakeholders from seeing any work items under that area path, including “Assigned To.”
   
   3. Allow Dashboard and Analytics Access
   Stakeholders can still:
   •    View Dashboards (Project > Dashboards)
   •    Access Analytics views (if enabled in your org)
   To ensure this:
   •    Go to Project Settings > Dashboards and confirm the dashboard is shared with Project Readers or Stakeholders.
   •    For Analytics: 
   o    Enable Analytics extension if not already active.
   o    Use Power BI or Analytics views to create filtered reports (e.g., exclude “Assigned To”).

Stakeholder access quick reference - Azure DevOps | Microsoft Learn