Copilot

Instructions

Available instructions

Name	Description	Instruction Name	Type
Consolidated Instructions	All best practices in one file	-	General
Code Review	Expert code review guidelines	code-review	Review
Commit Message	Conventional Commits format	commit-message	Git
Pull Request	PR description best practices	pull-request	Git
General Development	Universal development practices	general	General
JavaScript/TypeScript	Scoped to JS/TS files	javascript	Language
Go	Scoped to Go files	go	Language
Bash/Shell	Scoped to shell scripts	shell	Language
TypeScript Monorepo	Complete TS monorepo setup	ts-monorepo	Architecture
Docker	Scoped to Dockerfiles	docker	Platform
Kubernetes/Helm	Scoped to K8s YAML files	kubernetes	Platform
GitHub Actions	Scoped to workflow files	github-actions	CI/CD

Usage

This collection follows GitHub's official Copilot instructions format with multiple approaches:

Option 1: Clone All Instructions (Recommended for personal machine setup)

# Clone instructions to ~/.config/copilot
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/shell/clone-subdir.sh | bash -s -- \
  -u "https://github.com/this-is-tobi/tools" \
  -b "main" \
  -s "copilot/instructions" \
  -o "$HOME/.config/copilot" \
  -d

This will clone all instruction files to ~/.config/copilot/instructions/. Then configure VS Code with absolute paths:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": "/Users/<username>/.config/copilot/instructions/code-review.md" }
  ],
  "github.copilot.chat.commitMessageGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": "/Users/<username>/.config/copilot/instructions/commit-message.md" }
  ],
  "github.copilot.chat.pullRequestDescriptionGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": "/Users/<username>/.config/copilot/instructions/pull-request.md" }
  ]
}

Option 2: Single File (For project-specific setup)

curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/copilot-instructions.md" \
  -o ".github/copilot-instructions.md"

Option 3: Git Workflow Instructions (For commit messages and PR descriptions)

# For commit message generation
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/instructions/commit-message.md" \
  -o ".github/instructions/commit-message.md"

# For PR description generation
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/instructions/pull-request.md" \
  -o ".github/instructions/pull-request.md"

# For code review
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/instructions/code-review.md" \
  -o ".github/instructions/code-review.md"

Then configure VS Code settings with relative paths:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": ".github/instructions/code-review.md" }
  ],
  "github.copilot.chat.commitMessageGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": ".github/instructions/commit-message.md" }
  ],
  "github.copilot.chat.pullRequestDescriptionGeneration.instructions": [
    { "file": ".github/instructions/pull-request.md" }
  ]
}

Option 4: Scoped Instructions (For complex multi-technology projects)

# Create instructions directory
mkdir -p .github/instructions

# Copy specific instructions
INSTRUCTION_NAME="javascript"  # or "go", "docker", "kubernetes", etc.
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/instructions/$INSTRUCTION_NAME.instructions.md" \
  -o ".github/instructions/$INSTRUCTION_NAME.instructions.md"

Features

• GitHub Official Format: Uses .github/copilot-instructions.md and .github/instructions/*.instructions.md
• Specialized Instructions: Separate files for code review, commits, and PR descriptions
• Scoped Instructions: Technology-specific instructions with applyTo frontmatter
• File Targeting: Instructions only apply to relevant file types
• Modular Design: Mix and match technologies as needed
• VS Code Integration: Configure specific instructions for different Copilot features
• Template Checking: Automatically detects and uses existing repository templates

Prompts

Name	Description	Prompt Name
Repository Review	Review a repository for code quality, security, and best practices	review

Usage

# Create instructions directory
mkdir -p .github/prompts

# Copy specific prompt
PROMPT_NAME="review" # or any other prompt name
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/this-is-tobi/tools/main/copilot/prompts/$PROMPT_NAME.md" \
  -o ".github/prompts/$PROMPT_NAME.md"

Features

• GitHub Official Format: Uses .github/prompts/<prompt_name>.md
• Comprehensive Review: In-depth analysis of code quality, security, performance, and more
• Detailed Checklist: Covers 19 critical areas of software development
• Actionable Feedback: Provides explanations and solutions for identified issues
• Customizable: Easily adapt the prompt to fit specific project needs