How can I create a pull request that auto includes associated work item for the commits?

I'm trying to automate post-release processing. I'm running this code:

    pull_request = {
        "title": title,
        "description": description,
        "sourceRefName": "refs/heads/" + source_branch,
        "targetRefName": "refs/heads/" + target_branch,
    }
    response = self._git_client.create_pull_request(pull_request, repository_id=repo_id)

It creates the pull request, but doesn't link any work items (like if I create it in the GUI). When I query the specific commits I can't seem to get the associated work items either, but the GUI is aware of them. Is there an option I need to specify to get this to automatically work, and if not, how can I find the associated work items to build the list myself?

Thanks,

-Derian Reuss

Start with GitClient.create_pull_request and the commit-query path described in the issue, then compare them with how the Azure DevOps GUI associates work items. Determine whether the Python API exposes an option or retrieval method; done means documenting the supported approach or clearly identifying the missing API behavior.