bulk-operations

# Bulk Operations Reference (Verified)

## Performance Insight

**Direct bash for loops are approximately 10x faster than sub-agents for bulk operations.**

This is because:
1. No agent spawning overhead
2. Direct CLI execution
3. Can use `-o none` to skip JSON parsing

## Recommended Patterns

### Fast Bulk State Update

```bash
# Update multiple work items to same state
for id in 1858 1859 1860; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --state "Done" -o none && echo "Updated $id"
done
```

### Update from Query Results

```bash
# Query IDs then update each
ids=$(az boards query --wiql "SELECT [System.Id] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.State] = 'Active' AND [System.TeamProject] = 'ProjectName'" -o tsv | cut -f1)

for id in $ids; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --state "Resolved" -o none && echo "Updated $id"
done
```

### Bulk Assignment

```bash
for id in 1001 1002 1003; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --assigned-to "user@domain.com" -o none && echo "Assigned $id"
done
```

### Bulk Field Update

```bash
for id in 1001 1002 1003; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --fields "Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority=1" -o none && echo "Updated priority for $id"
done
```

### Bulk Add Discussion Comment

```bash
for id in 1001 1002 1003; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --discussion "Reviewed in sprint planning" -o none && echo "Commented on $id"
done
```

## Output Optimization

Use `-o none` to suppress JSON output when you don't need the response:

```bash
# With output (slower)
az boards work-item update --id 1234 --state "Done" -o json

# Without output (faster)
az boards work-item update --id 1234 --state "Done" -o none
```

## Error Handling

### Continue on Error

```bash
for id in 1001 1002 1003; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --state "Done" -o none 2>/dev/null && echo "OK: $id" || echo "FAIL: $id"
done
```

### Stop on First Error

```bash
for id in 1001 1002 1003; do
  az boards work-item update --id $id --state "Done" -o none