mcp-zen-of-languages: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

.github/copilot-instructions.md

mcp-zen-of-languages copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages. It costs 1,855 tokens per session, scanned A, original, MIT.

A set of coding instructions for mcp-zen-of-languages, an MCP server that checks code in several programming languages against language-specific idiomatic best practices. MCP is a standard way for AI clients to call tools provided by a server.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when adding language rules, detectors, analyzers, server tools, or configuration. It explains the main modules, how analyses are assembled, and the expected validation process.
Why use it?
It helps contributors follow the project's analysis architecture, use its code-analysis memory system, and run the required checks before declaring a change complete.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

This is Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages's own configuration. It tells GitHub Copilot how to work on mcp-zen-of-languages itself, so it is not a mod to install elsewhere. Copy it as a starting point and replace the rules that are about this project. Everything mcp-zen-of-languages configures →

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages/main/.github/copilot-instructions.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

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README.md
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<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages/copilot-instructions/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

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Your own site · 80×15
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Per session 1,855 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 1,855 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
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 5.1 $0.01855 $0.01855
Opus 5 $0.00928 $0.00928
Sonnet 5 $0.00371 $0.00371
Haiku 4.5 $0.00186 $0.00186

Measured 6d ago against content hash a125668cb3c8, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-11, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

mcp-zen-of-languages copilot-instructions.md scanned grade A with 0 findings 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 6d 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.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.github/copilot-instructions.md · 157 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 157 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

MCP Zen of Languages - AI Agent Instructions

Use regularly Serena in the MCP Zen of Languages repository for code analysis, following the architecture and patterns established in the codebase. Serena allows saving tokens by writing, fetching, deleting, and reading memories which should be synchronized with plans. Always ensure that any code changes pass the pre-commit checks before claiming completion.

Architecture Overview

This is an MCP server for multi-language code analysis against "zen principles" (idiomatic best practices). Core components:

  • server.py: FastMCP server exposing analysis tools via @mcp.tool decorators
  • main.py: Entry point for python -m mcp_zen_of_languages or zen-mcp-server
  • config.py: Auto-loads zen-config.yaml (CWD or parent until pyproject.toml)
  • languages/*/rules.py: Canonical Pydantic models defining zen principles per language
  • analyzers/: Language-specific analyzers using Template Method pattern (see base.py)
  • analyzers/pipeline.py: Builds detector configs from rules and merges overrides
  • analyzers/detectors/: Individual violation detectors (Strategy pattern)
  • models.py: Analysis results with dict-like access for legacy compatibility
  • cli.py: Local analysis wrapper (zen check file.py)

Data flow: server/cli -> create_analyzer() -> BaseAnalyzer.analyze() (parse/metrics) -> DetectionPipeline detectors -> AnalysisResult.

Running the Server

# Via module
python -m mcp_zen_of_languages

# Via entry point (after uv sync)
zen-mcp-server

# For local CLI analysis
zen check myfile.py

Build, Test, Lint

  • Setup: uv sync --all-groups --all-extras
  • Build: uv build
  • Tests: uv run pytest
  • Single test: uv run pytest tests/test_server_routing.py::test_analyze_zen_violations_python
  • Type check: uv run ty check (preferred over mypy)
  • Lint: uv run ruff check
  • Pre-commit (all, mandatory before completion): uvx pre-commit run --all-files
  • Pre-push docs gate: uvx pre-commit run --hook-stage pre-push --all-files

Read the full file on GitHub · 157 lines

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. 6d ago Changed · -3 tokens per session a125668cb3c8
  2. 11d ago First seen · 157 lines · 1,858 tokens per session scan A 0f77de81d617

Subscribe to this mod's changes

mcp-zen-of-languages copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository Anselmoo/mcp-zen-of-languages (2 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,855 tokens to every session, about $0.0093 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

Related

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