Adding repository custom instructions for GitHub Copilot

Introduction

Repository custom instructions let you provide Copilot with repository-specific guidance and preferences on GitHub. To find out how to set up custom instructions in an IDE, see Adding repository custom instructions for GitHub Copilot in your IDE. For more information about custom instructions, see GitHub Copilot 응답을 사용자 지정하는 방법에 대한 정보.

리포지토리 사용자 지정 지침의 필수 조건

• 사용자 지정 지침 파일이 있어야 합니다(아래 지침 참조).

• For Copilot 코드 검토, your personal choice of whether to use custom instructions must be set to enabled. This is enabled by default. See Enabling or disabling repository custom instructions later in this article.

Creating custom instructions

Copilot on GitHub supports three types of repository custom instructions. For details of which GitHub Copilot features support these types of instructions, see GitHub Copilot 응답을 사용자 지정하는 방법에 대한 정보.

• Repository-wide custom instructions apply to all requests made in the context of a repository.

  These are specified in a copilot-instructions.md file in the .github directory of the repository. See Creating repository-wide custom instructions.

• Path-specific custom instructions apply to requests made in the context of files that match a specified path.

  These are specified in one or more NAME.instructions.md files within or below the .github/instructions directory in the repository. See Creating path-specific custom instructions.

  If the path you specify matches a file that Copilot is working on, and a repository-wide custom instructions file also exists, then the instructions from both files are used.

• Agent instructions are used by AI agents.

  리포지토리 내의 어느 곳에나 저장된 하나 이상의 AGENTS.md 파일을 만들 수 있습니다. 작업 중인 경우 Copilot 디렉터리 트리에서 가장 AGENTS.md 가까운 파일이 우선합니다. 자세한 내용은 agentsmd/agents.md 리포지토리를 참조하세요.

  Alternatively, you can use a single CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md file stored in the root of the repository.

Creating repository-wide custom instructions

You can create your own custom instructions file from scratch. See Writing your own copilot-instructions.md file. Alternatively, you can ask Copilot 클라우드 에이전트 to generate one for you.

Asking Copilot 클라우드 에이전트 to generate a copilot-instructions.md file

1. Go to the agents tab at github.com/copilot/agents.

   You can also reach this page by clicking the button next to the search bar on any page on GitHub, then selecting Agents from the sidebar.

2. In the prompt field dropdown, select the repository you want Copilot to generate custom instructions for.

3. Copy the following prompt and paste it into the prompt field, customizing it if needed:

   Markdown

   Your task is to "onboard" this repository to Copilot cloud agent by adding a .github/copilot-instructions.md file in the repository that contains information describing how a cloud agent seeing it for the first time can work most efficiently.
   
   You will do this task only one time per repository and doing a good job can SIGNIFICANTLY improve the quality of the agent's work, so take your time, think carefully, and search thoroughly before writing the instructions.
   
   <Goals>
   - Reduce the likelihood of a cloud agent pull request getting rejected by the user due to
   generating code that fails the continuous integration build, fails a validation pipeline, or
   having misbehavior.
   - Minimize bash command and build failures.
   - Allow the agent to complete its task more quickly by minimizing the need for exploration using grep, find, str_replace_editor, and code search tools.
   </Goals>
   
   <Limitations>
   - Instructions must be no longer than 2 pages.
   - Instructions must not be task specific.
   </Limitations>
   
   <WhatToAdd>
   
   Add the following high level details about the codebase to reduce the amount of searching the agent has to do to understand the codebase each time:
   <HighLevelDetails>
   
   - A summary of what the repository does.
   - High level repository information, such as the size of the repo, the type of the project, the languages, frameworks, or target runtimes in use.
   </HighLevelDetails>
   
   Add information about how to build and validate changes so the agent does not need to search and find it each time.
   <BuildInstructions>
   
   - For each of bootstrap, build, test, run, lint, and any other scripted step, document the sequence of steps to take to run it successfully as well as the versions of any runtime or build tools used.
   - Each command should be validated by running it to ensure that it works correctly as well as any preconditions and postconditions.
   - Try cleaning the repo and environment and running commands in different orders and document errors and misbehavior observed as well as any steps used to mitigate the problem.
   - Run the tests and document the order of steps required to run the tests.
   - Make a change to the codebase. Document any unexpected build issues as well as the workarounds.
   - Document environment setup steps that seem optional but that you have validated are actually required.
   - Document the time required for commands that failed due to timing out.
   - When you find a sequence of commands that work for a particular purpose, document them in detail.
   - Use language to indicate when something should always be done. For example: "always run npm install before building".
   - Record any validation steps from documentation.
   </BuildInstructions>
   
   List key facts about the layout and architecture of the codebase to help the agent find where to make changes with minimal searching.
   <ProjectLayout>
   
   - A description of the major architectural elements of the project, including the relative paths to the main project files, the location
   of configuration files for linting, compilation, testing, and preferences.
   - A description of the checks run prior to check in, including any GitHub workflows, continuous integration builds, or other validation pipelines.
   - Document the steps so that the agent can replicate these itself.
   - Any explicit validation steps that the agent can consider to have further confidence in its changes.
   - Dependencies that aren't obvious from the layout or file structure.
   - Finally, fill in any remaining space with detailed lists of the following, in order of priority: the list of files in the repo root, the
   contents of the README, the contents of any key source files, the list of files in the next level down of directories, giving priority to the more structurally important and snippets of code from key source files, such as the one containing the main method.
   </ProjectLayout>
   </WhatToAdd>
   
   <StepsToFollow>
   - Perform a comprehensive inventory of the codebase. Search for and view:
   - README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and all other documentation files.
   - Search the codebase for build steps and indications of workarounds like 'HACK', 'TODO', etc.
   - All scripts, particularly those pertaining to build and repo or environment setup.
   - All build and actions pipelines.
   - All project files.
   - All configuration and linting files.
   - For each file:
   - think: are the contents or the existence of the file information that the cloud agent will need to implement, build, test, validate, or demo a code change?
   - If yes:
      - Document the command or information in detail.
      - Explicitly indicate which commands work and which do not and the order in which commands should be run.
      - Document any errors encountered as well as the steps taken to workaround them.
   - Document any other steps or information that the agent can use to reduce time spent exploring or trying and failing to run bash commands.
   - Finally, explicitly instruct the agent to trust the instructions and only perform a search if the information in the instructions is incomplete or found to be in error.
   </StepsToFollow>
      - Document any errors encountered as well as the steps taken to work-around them.
   
   

4. Click or press Enter.

Copilot will start a new session, which will appear in the list below the prompt box. Copilot will create a draft pull request, write your custom instructions, push them to the branch, then add you as a reviewer when finished, triggering a notification.

Writing your own copilot-instructions.md file

1. In the root of your repository, create a file named .github/copilot-instructions.md.

   Create the .github directory if it does not already exist.

2. Add natural language instructions to the file, in Markdown format.

   Whitespace between instructions is ignored, so the instructions can be written as a single paragraph, each on a new line, or separated by blank lines for legibility.

Creating path-specific custom instructions

1.        `.github/instructions` 디렉터리가 아직 없는 경우, 새로 만듭니다.
   

2. 필요에 따라 .github/instructions의 하위 디렉터리를 만들어 명령 파일을 체계적으로 정리할 수 있습니다.

3. 하나 이상의 NAME.instructions.md 파일을 만드세요. 여기서 NAME은 지침의 목적을 나타냅니다. 파일 이름은 .instructions.md로 끝나야 합니다.

4. 파일의 시작 부분에, applyTo 키워드를 포함하는 프론트매터 블록을 만드세요. glob 구문을 사용하여 지침이 적용될 파일이나 디렉터리를 지정합니다.

   예시:

   ---
   applyTo: "app/models/**/*.rb"
   ---
   

   쉼표로 여러 패턴을 구분하여 지정할 수 있습니다. 예를 들어, 리포지토리의 모든 TypeScript 파일에 지침을 적용하려면, 다음과 같은 프론트매터 블록을 사용할 수 있습니다.

   ---
   applyTo: "**/*.ts,**/*.tsx"
   ---
   

   Glob 예제:

   •      `*` - 현재 디렉터리의 모든 파일과 일치합니다.
     

   •      `**` 또는 `**/*` - 모든 디렉터리에 있는 모든 파일과 일치합니다.
     

   •      `*.py` - 현재 디렉터리의 모든 `.py` 파일과 일치합니다.
     

   •      `**/*.py` - 모든 디렉터리에 있는 모든 `.py` 파일을 재귀적으로 일치합니다.
     

   •      `src/*.py` - `.py` 디렉터리 내 모든 `src` 파일을 일치시킵니다. 예를 들어, `src/foo.py` 와 `src/bar.py` 그러나 _아니_`src/foo/bar.py`.
     

   •      `src/**/*.py` - 디렉터리의 모든 `.py` 파일 `src` 과 재귀적으로 일치합니다. 예: `src/foo.py`, `src/foo/bar.py`및 `src/foo/bar/baz.py`.
     

   •      `**/subdir/**/*.py` - 모든 `.py` 디렉터리의 깊은 곳에 있는 모든 `subdir` 파일을 재귀적으로 일치시킵니다. 예를 들어 `subdir/foo.py`, `subdir/nested/bar.py`, `parent/subdir/baz.py`, `deep/parent/subdir/nested/qux.py`와 같은 경우에는 사용되지만, _디렉터리_`foo.py`가 포함되지 않은 `subdir` 경로에서는 사용되지 않습니다.
     

5. 파일이 Copilot 클라우드 에이전트 또는 Copilot 코드 검토에 의해 사용되는 것을 방지하려면, 프런트매터 블록의 앞부분에 excludeAgent 키워드를 추가하십시오. 또는 "code-review"``"cloud-agent".를 사용합니다.

   예를 들어 다음 파일은 Copilot 클라우드 에이전트에서만 읽힙니다.

   ---
   applyTo: "**"
   excludeAgent: "code-review"
   ---
   

   키워드가 excludeAgent 프론트 머터블록에 포함되지 않은 경우, Copilot 코드 검토와 Copilot 클라우드 에이전트는 둘 다 귀하의 지침을 사용합니다.

6. Markdown 형식을 사용하여 자연어로 사용자 지정 지침을 추가합니다. 지침 사이의 공백은 무시되므로 지침을 새 줄에 각각 단일 단락으로 작성하거나 가독성을 위해 빈 줄로 구분할 수 있습니다.

          <a href="https://docs.github.io/success-test/yes.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-outline mt-3 mr-3 no-underline">
          <span>예</span></a><a href="https://docs.github.io/success-test/no.html" target="_blank" class="btn btn-outline mt-3 mr-3 no-underline"><span>아니오</span></a>

사용 중인 사용자 지정 지침

파일의 지침은 파일을 저장하는 즉시 Copilot가 사용할 수 있습니다. 제출한 요청에 지침이 Copilot자동으로 추가됩니다.

In 공동 파일럿 채팅 (github.com/copilot), you can start a conversation that uses repository custom instructions by adding, as an attachment, the repository that contains the instructions file.

Whenever repository custom instructions are used by 공동 파일럿 채팅, the instructions file is added as a reference for the response that's generated. To find out whether repository custom instructions were used, expand the list of references at the top of a chat response in the Chat panel and check whether the .github/copilot-instructions.md file is listed.

You can click the reference to open the file.

Enabling or disabling custom instructions for Copilot 코드 검토

Custom instructions are enabled for Copilot 코드 검토 by default but you can disable, or re-enable, them in the repository settings on GitHub.com. This applies to Copilot's use of custom instructions for all code reviews it performs in this repository.

1. GitHub에서 리포지토리의 기본 페이지로 이동합니다.

2. 리포지토리 이름 아래에서 Settings를 클릭합니다. "설정" 탭이 표시되지 않으면 드롭다운 메뉴를 선택한 다음 설정을 클릭합니다.

   

3. In the "Code & automation" section of the sidebar, click Copilot, then Code review.

4. Toggle the “Use custom instructions when reviewing pull requests” option on or off.

Further reading

• 다양한 유형의 사용자 지정 지침 지원
• 사용자 지정 지침—a curated collection of examples
• 사용자 지정 지침을 사용하여 Copilot 코드 검토의 기능 잠금 해제