Suggest Awesome GitHub Copilot Instructions

An AI skill that recommends custom instruction configurations for GitHub Copilot, generating tailored system prompts and coding guidelines that align Copilot's suggestions with your project conventions, coding standards, and team preferences.

What Is This?

Overview

This skill generates custom GitHub Copilot instruction files based on your project's technology stack and coding style. It produces .github/copilot-instructions.md files containing rules that guide Copilot to generate code matching your conventions, covering naming patterns, error handling, preferred libraries, and testing strategies.

Who Should Use This

Ideal for teams that want consistent Copilot suggestions across all contributors, tech leads establishing coding standards, and developers who find themselves repeatedly correcting Copilot output to match project conventions.

Why Use It?

Problems It Solves

Out of the box, Copilot generates code based on general patterns that may not match your project's specific conventions. Different team members get inconsistent suggestions, leading to style drift. Developers spend time editing Copilot output to conform to project standards. Custom instructions solve this by telling Copilot exactly how your team writes code.

Core Highlights

• Convention Detection analyzes existing code to identify your established patterns
• Instruction Generation produces structured instruction files ready to commit
• Multi Language Support creates language specific rules for polyglot projects
• Team Alignment ensures all developers receive consistent Copilot suggestions
• Iterative Refinement supports updating instructions as conventions evolve

How to Use It?

Basic Usage

Describe your project and the skill generates a tailored instruction file.

<!-- Generated: .github/copilot-instructions.md -->

## General Rules
- Use TypeScript strict mode for all files
- Prefer named exports over default exports
- Use async/await instead of Promise chains
- Handle errors with custom AppError class

## Naming Conventions
- Components: PascalCase (UserProfile.tsx)
- Utilities: camelCase (formatDate.ts)
- Constants: UPPER_SNAKE_CASE
- Database columns: snake_case

## Testing
- Use vitest for all test files
- Place tests in __tests__ directory next to source
- Mock external services, never call real APIs in tests

Real-World Examples

Enterprise React Application

A team of 15 developers used this skill to generate Copilot instructions for their enterprise dashboard. The instructions enforced their custom component library usage, state management patterns with Zustand, and specific API client conventions. New team members onboarding with Copilot immediately received suggestions that matched the codebase.

<!-- Generated instructions for the team -->

## Component Patterns
- Always use our internal DesignSystem components
- Import from @company/ui not from raw HTML elements
- Every component must accept a className prop
- Use forwardRef for all interactive components

## State Management
- Use Zustand stores in src/stores/ directory
- Never use useState for data shared across components
- Name store hooks as useXxxStore

## API Layer
- Use the apiClient from src/lib/api-client.ts
- All endpoints defined in src/api/endpoints.ts
- Return types must match generated API schemas

Advanced Tips

Start with broad rules and refine based on where Copilot still deviates. Review Copilot suggestions weekly and add new rules for recurring mismatches. Keep instructions under 500 lines to avoid overwhelming the context window.

When to Use It?

Use Cases

• New Project Setup establish Copilot conventions from day one
• Team Onboarding help new developers get consistent suggestions immediately
• Convention Enforcement reduce style drift across a large team
• Stack Migration update instructions when adopting new frameworks or patterns
• Code Quality guide Copilot toward secure, tested, and accessible code patterns

Related Topics

When configuring Copilot instructions, these prompts activate the skill:

• "Generate Copilot instructions for my project"
• "Create a copilot-instructions.md file"
• "What instructions should I set for Copilot"
• "Help me configure Copilot for our team conventions"

Important Notes

Requirements

• GitHub Copilot subscription for the instructions to take effect
• Repository access to commit the instruction file to .github/ directory
• Understanding of your project conventions to validate generated rules
• Works with any language and framework supported by GitHub Copilot

Usage Recommendations

Do:

• Commit instruction files to the repository so all team members benefit
• Review generated rules against your actual codebase for accuracy
• Update instructions regularly as conventions evolve
• Keep rules specific and actionable rather than vague

Don't:

• Write contradictory rules as Copilot may produce inconsistent output
• Make instructions too lengthy since shorter focused rules work better
• Include sensitive information like API keys or internal URLs in instructions
• Expect perfect adherence as instructions guide but do not guarantee exact output

Limitations

• Instructions influence but do not guarantee Copilot behavior in every case
• Very specific or niche patterns may not be consistently followed
• Instruction file size affects Copilot context window and may reduce code suggestion quality
• Cannot enforce rules that require understanding of runtime behavior