Copilot customizations

Reusable instructions for GitHub Copilot, packaged as a plugin for supported clients.

Rule definitions live in com.github.copilot/rules. Read the instruction files there for their current behavior and scope.

Rules guide the agent when attached to a request. Availability and behavior depend on client support, settings, and request context; instructions cannot add tool capabilities or guarantee enforcement.

Install

In Copilot CLI:

copilot plugin install Blackhex/copilot-customizations

In VS Code, install the plugin from its GitHub repository through the Copilot plugin interface. The rules can be applied when a client supports plugin rules and the plugin is installed and enabled; no custom agent selection or skill invocation is required. File-matched instructions may not apply to questions without an associated file.

To use an editable local checkout directly in VS Code, add its absolute path to your user settings.json instead of installing a cached copy:

"chat.pluginLocations": {
  "C:\\Projects\\copilot-customizations": true
}

VS Code watches plugin rule directories and the manifest in this configuration, so changes in the checkout can be picked up without reinstalling. Start a new chat to use updated instructions in a conversation; an existing chat may retain its earlier context. For Copilot CLI, use copilot --plugin-dir C:\Projects\copilot-customizations to load the working tree for that invocation.

Verify

copilot plugin list
copilot instruction list

Confirm that copilot-customizations is installed. In a fresh interactive Copilot CLI session, use /env to inspect the loaded environment and /instructions to inspect available instruction sources. Plugin installation alone does not prove the rules were attached to a particular request. copilot instruction list may omit plugin-contributed rules depending on client settings and file context.

To update the cached installation after a repository change, run copilot plugin install Blackhex/copilot-customizations again.