How do I ensure all Azure DevOps backlog items have a stack rank value?

Question

I have an Azure DevOps board in the cloud configured to use a (modified) CMMI process. I would like to export the tree of backlog items as CSV to another system, and I want to be able to replicate the exact order of the items.

Microsoft explains that:

As you drag and drop items within the backlog list, a background process updates the Stack Rank (Agile and CMMI processes) or Backlog Priority (Scrum process) fields.

The Parent field helps me reconstruct the tree hierarchy. But some of my items don't seem to have any value in the Stack Rank field, so I can't determine the correct order of sibling nodes. In particular, it looks like items created as Epics and Features might be given a Stack Rank, but items created as Requirements or Tasks may not. If I move items around, a Stack Rank value is assigned to the one that I moved, but not to its siblings.

How can I ensure that every item is given an appropriate Stack Rank value when it is created?

Or is there some operation I can do (preferably automatically via API) to add a Stack Rank to items that don't have one?

Answer 1

According to this github issue response from @msebolt, Stack Rank isn't automatically assigned unless an item is re-ordered.

It seems that for items without a Stack Rank value, I can rely on the order of the items in the CSV export.