copilot
Installation
SKILL.md
GitHub Copilot
Overview
GitHub Copilot consumes custom instructions from a handful of well-known file paths and can be requested as a PR reviewer. This skill covers (1) where those files live and what frontmatter they accept, (2) how to enable / request code review (manual + automatic via Rulesets), and (3) the pattern for keeping Copilot's repo instructions in lockstep with this user's canonical .claude/skills/ content rather than duplicating it.
This skill complements the github skill, which covers gh CLI and Actions workflows.
Custom instructions: file locations (cheat sheet)
| File | Scope | Precedence (lowest → highest) |
|---|---|---|
| Org Settings → Copilot → Custom instructions | Whole org | 1 (org) |
.github/copilot-instructions.md |
Whole repo | 2 (repo) |
.github/instructions/NAME.instructions.md |
Path-scoped (applyTo glob) |
2 (repo, layered) |
AGENTS.md (anywhere) / CLAUDE.md / GEMINI.md (root) |
Agent-specific | 2 (repo) |
| GitHub.com → user profile → Copilot settings | Per-user | 3 (personal, wins) |
All applicable sets are layered into the request; personal beats repo beats org on conflict. PR review specifically loads instructions from the PR's base branch.