title: Access the Kanban Column (a Team-Specific Field) for a Work Item
body: <p>Is there a way to programmatically access the "Kanban Column" for a WorkItem using the TFS 2012 API?</p>
  
  <p>Using the Scrum 2.2 template, the history of a Bug or Product Backlog Item shows "[MyProject\MyTeam] Kanban Column" as a changed field whenever a work item is dragged between Kanban columns on the Board, but the field is not accessible when specifically retrieving a work item through the TFS API.</p>
  
  <p>It also shows up as a changed field in the <code>WorkItemChangedEvent</code> object when implementing the <code>ProcessEvent</code> method on the <code>Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Framework.Server.ISubscriber</code> interface.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Workaround:</strong>
  A coworker found a <a href="http://gordonbeeming.azurewebsites.net/2013/05/29/get-tfs-kanban-column-state-to-the-warehouse/">blogpost</a> about creating a read-only custom field to persist the value of the Kanban Column, taking advantage of the <code>WorkItemChangedEvent</code> to capture the latest value. It is then possible to query on this column. One problem with this approach is that only a single team's Kanban Column can be tracked.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update:</strong>
  According to this <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2013/03/04/kanban-customizable-columns-under-the-hood.aspx">blogpost</a>, the Kanban Column is not a field, rather a "WIT Extension". This may help lead to an answer.</p>