Co-authored-by: aaronpowell <434140+aaronpowell@users.noreply.github.com>
🤖 Awesome GitHub Copilot Customizations
Enhance your GitHub Copilot experience with community-contributed instructions, prompts, and configurations. Get consistent AI assistance that follows your team's coding standards and project requirements.
🎯 GitHub Copilot Customization Features
GitHub Copilot provides three main ways to customize AI responses and tailor assistance to your specific workflows, team guidelines, and project requirements:
| 🔧 Custom Instructions | 📝 Reusable Prompts | 🎭 Custom Chat Modes |
|---|---|---|
| Define common guidelines for tasks like code generation, reviews, and commit messages. Describe how tasks should be performed Benefits: • Automatic inclusion in every chat request • Repository-wide consistency • Multiple implementation options |
Create reusable, standalone prompts for specific tasks. Describe what should be done with optional task-specific guidelines Benefits: • Eliminate repetitive prompt writing • Shareable across teams • Support for variables and dependencies |
Define chat behavior, available tools, and codebase interaction patterns within specific boundaries for each request Benefits: • Context-aware assistance • Tool configuration • Role-specific workflows |
💡 Pro Tip: Custom instructions only affect Copilot Chat (not inline code completions). You can combine all three customization types - use custom instructions for general guidelines, prompt files for specific tasks, and chat modes to control the interaction context.
📝 Contributing
We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details on how to submit new instructions and prompts.
📋 Custom Instructions
Team and project-specific instructions to enhance GitHub Copilot's behavior for specific technologies and coding practices:
- Angular Development Instructions - Angular-specific coding standards and best practices
- ASP.NET REST API Development - Guidelines for building REST APIs with ASP.NET
- Azure Functions Typescript - TypeScript patterns for Azure Functions
- Bicep Code Best Practices - Infrastructure as Code with Bicep
- Blazor - Blazor component and application patterns
- Cmake Vcpkg - C++ project configuration and package management
- Copilot Process tracking Instructions - See process Copilot is following where you can edit this to reshape the interaction or save when follow up may be needed
- Flutter and Dart Development Instructions - Comprehensive Flutter and Dart development guidelines covering best practices, error handling, testing, and modern development patterns
- Genaiscript - AI-powered script generation guidelines
- Generate Modern Terraform Code For Azure - Guidelines for generating modern Terraform code for Azure
- Markdown - Documentation and content creation standards
- Next.js + Tailwind Development Instructions - Next.js + Tailwind development standards and instructions
- Python Coding Conventions - Python coding conventions and guidelines
💡 Usage: Copy these instructions to your
.github/copilot-instructions.mdfile or create task-specific.github/.instructions.mdfiles in your workspace's.github/instructionsfolder.
🎯 Reusable Prompts
Ready-to-use prompt templates for specific development scenarios and tasks, defining prompt text with a specific mode, model, and available set of tools.
Backend Development
- ASP.NET Minimal API with OpenAPI - Generate API endpoints with proper documentation
- Entity Framework Core Best Practices - Database operations and ORM patterns
- Multi-Stage Dockerfile - Optimized container builds for any technology
Testing & Quality
- C# Async Programming - Asynchronous programming best practices
- MSTest Best Practices - MSTest unit testing with data-driven tests
- NUnit Best Practices - NUnit testing patterns and assertions
- XUnit Best Practices - XUnit testing with modern C# features
- JavaScript/TypeScript Jest - Jest testing patterns, mocking, and structure
Documentation & Project Management
- Comment Code Generate Tutorial - Transform code into educational content
- Generate Specs as Issues - Convert requirements into GitHub issues
💡 Usage: Use
/prompt-namein VS Code chat, runChat: Run Promptcommand, or hit the run button while you have a prompt open.
📚 Additional Resources
- VS Code Copilot Customization Documentation - Official Microsoft documentation
- GitHub Copilot Chat Documentation - Complete chat feature guide
- Custom Chat Modes - Advanced chat configuration
- VS Code Settings - General VS Code configuration guide
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
🤝 Code of Conduct
Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.
™️ Trademarks
This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.