copilot

Instructions that make GitHub Copilot Chat use a repository's .github/copilot-instructions.md file when generating or changing code. The instructions emphasize behavior-preserving refactoring, small steps, and tests after each operation.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them to guide Copilot when reviewing code smells, planning refactors, and making incremental changes from workspace context.
Why use it?
They give everyone working in the repository the same guidance without requiring the full instructions to be pasted into every chat.

Agent

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add agents/muhiminosim/code-refactoring-skill/copilot
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/MuhiminOsim/code-refactoring-skill
Per session 0 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 348 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 1 finding. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00000 $0.00348
Opus 5 $0.00000 $0.00174
Sonnet 5 $0.00000 $0.00070
Haiku 4.5 $0.00000 $0.00035

Measured 2d ago against content hash 85a8a50f86c5, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

copilot scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

curl -o .github/copilot-instructions.md \
agents/copilot.md · 57 lines

What it actually says

Setup: GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot Chat reads .github/copilot-instructions.md for workspace-level custom instructions.

mkdir -p .github
curl -o .github/copilot-instructions.md \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MuhiminOsim/code-refactoring-skill/main/PROMPT.md

Commit this file to your repo — all team members get the refactoring skill automatically.

Via VS Code Settings

  1. Open VS Code → Settings → search "copilot instructions"
  2. Add to settings.json:
{
  "github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.instructions": [
    {
      "file": ".github/copilot-instructions.md"
    }
  ]
}

Or paste inline (shorter prompts work better inline):

{
  "github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.instructions": [
    {
      "text": "You are a code refactoring specialist. Preserve behavior, one operation at a time, tests gate every step. Detect smells before acting. Revert immediately on test failure."
    }
  ]
}

Usage in Copilot Chat

@workspace Refactor the processOrder function in src/orders.ts

/explain what smells does this class have?

Refactor: extract the discount logic into a separate function

Limitations

Copilot Chat does not have direct file system access to run tests — it generates code changes that you apply manually or via the editor. Verify tests pass yourself after each suggested change.

For full automated test-gating, use an agent with shell access (Aider, Claude Code, Cursor Agent mode).

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 57 lines · 0 tokens per session scan A 85a8a50f86c5

Subscribe to this mod's changes

copilot is an agent published in the GitHub repository MuhiminOsim/code-refactoring-skill (5 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It costs nothing until one of its globs matches a file; then it loads 348 tokens. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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