PixelPilot uiux-microcopy.instructions.md

Writing guidance for the small pieces of text in an interface, such as error messages, empty-state notices, buttons, and tooltips.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to write or review interface wording, including validation errors, no-results messages, calls to action, and help text.
Why use it?
It helps make interface messages clear, specific, respectful, and useful when users need to recover from a problem.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

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 instructions/dev-lou/pixelpilot/uiux-microcopy
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dev-lou/PixelPilot

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Per session 3,751 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 3,751 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. 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 $0.03751 $0.03751
Opus 5 $0.01876 $0.01876
Sonnet 5 $0.00750 $0.00750
Haiku 4.5 $0.00375 $0.00375

Measured yesterday against content hash 3664b56b5875, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

PixelPilot uiux-microcopy.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 yesterday.

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.

vscode/.github/instructions/uiux-microcopy.instructions.md · 621 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 621 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Microcopy — Words That Work

The smallest words have the biggest impact. This file covers error messages, empty states, button labels, tooltips, and all the tiny text that makes the difference between "I hate this app" and "this app gets me."


CRITICAL RULES

  1. Human first — Write like a helpful person, not a robot.
  2. Blame the system, not the user — "We couldn't find that" not "You typed it wrong."
  3. Always offer a way forward — Don't just state the problem.
  4. Be specific — "Password must be 8+ characters" not "Invalid password."
  5. Match the brand voice — Consistent tone everywhere.

THE MICROCOPY SPECTRUM

[Functional]                                              [Delightful]
   |                                                            |
"Error"                                              "Oops! That didn't work.
                                                      Let's try again."
   
"Submit"                                              "Send my message →"
   
"No results"                                          "Nothing here yet.
                                                       Time to create something!"

Rule: Professional apps lean left, consumer apps lean right. Never be cold.


ERROR MESSAGES

The Formula

[What happened] + [Why it might have happened] + [What to do now]

Bad vs. Good Examples

Bad ❌ Good ✅
Error 500 Something went wrong on our end. We're looking into it. Try again in a few minutes.
Invalid input Please enter a valid email address (e.g., [email protected])
Authentication failed That password doesn't match our records. Forgot your password?
Network error We can't reach the server right now. Check your connection and try again.
File too large This file is 25MB, but the limit is 10MB. Try compressing it or choosing a smaller file.
Permission denied You don't have access to this page. Contact your admin to request access.

Read the full file on GitHub · 621 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. yesterday First seen · 621 lines · 3,751 tokens per session scan A 3664b56b5875

Subscribe to this mod's changes

PixelPilot uiux-microcopy.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository dev-lou/PixelPilot (2 stars, last pushed 4mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 3,751 tokens to every session, about $0.0188 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.