vscode-agent-todos copilot-instructions.md

vscode-agent-todos copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from digitarald/vscode-agent-todos. It costs 5,378 tokens per session, scanned A, original, MIT.

Project instructions for a VS Code extension that gives AI assistants todo-management tools and a task tree view. The extension uses MCP, a standard for connecting assistants to external tools, and can add task information to Copilot instructions.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them when modifying or maintaining the `vscode-agent-todos` project, especially its task system, MCP server, VS Code tree view, or agent instructions.
Why use it?
They keep coding agents aligned with the extension’s architecture, performance rules, and development workflow. They also require plans, updated Copilot instructions, and compile and test checks for changes.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

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/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos/copilot-instructions
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for vscode-agent-todos copilot-instructions.md

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos/copilot-instructions.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos/copilot-instructions)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/digitarald/vscode-agent-todos/copilot-instructions.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 5,378 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 5,378 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 5.1 $0.05378 $0.05378
Opus 5 $0.02689 $0.02689
Sonnet 5 $0.01076 $0.01076
Haiku 4.5 $0.00538 $0.00538

Measured 6d ago against content hash 802ece31c520, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-06, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

vscode-agent-todos 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 · 729 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 729 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Project Overview

This extension provides VS Code agent mode with todo management tools through MCP (Model Context Protocol) and an integrated VS Code tree view. It enables AI assistants to proactively track tasks during development workflows with support for subtasks, priorities, auto-injection into Copilot instructions.

For more details:

IMPORTANT:

  • ALWAYS plan changes using detailed todos
  • ALWAYS keep .github/copilot-instructions.md up-to-date with the latest architecture and coding standards, addressing any drifts in implementation!
  • ALWAYS validate changes by running compile and test commands!
  • NEVER proactively create documentation files (*.md) or README files. Only create documentation files if explicitly requested by the User.
  • NEVER make changes backwards compatible unless explicitly requested by the User.
  • NEVER create one-off scripts to test changes.

Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph VSCodeExtension[VS Code Extension]
        EXT[Extension Entry<br/>extension.ts]
        TM[TodoManager<br/>Singleton]
        TTP[TodoTreeProvider]
        TDP[TodoDecorationProvider]
        SM[SubtaskManager<br/>Static Methods]
        TV[TodoValidator<br/>Static Methods]
        PM[PerformanceMonitor<br/>Static Class]
    end

    subgraph StorageLayer[Storage Layer]
        ITS[ITodoStorage<br/>Interface]
        WSS[WorkspaceStateStorage<br/>Default]
        IMS[InMemoryStorage<br/>Testing/Standalone]
    end

    subgraph ExportLayer[Export Layer]
        CIM[CopilotInstructionsManager<br/>Write-only Export]
        SCW[StandaloneCopilotWriter<br/>Write-only Export]
    end

    subgraph MCPIntegration[MCP Integration]
        MCP[TodoMCPServerProvider]
        MCPS[TodoMCPServer<br/>HTTP/SSE]
        TT[TodoTools<br/>read/write handlers]
        TS[TodoSync<br/>Bidirectional]
        STM[StandaloneTodoManager<br/>Singleton]

        subgraph SessionMgmt[Session Management]
            TRM[Transports Map]
            SRM[Servers Map]
            STR[StreamableHTTPServerTransport]
        end
    end

    subgraph ExternalInterfaces[External Interfaces]
        VSC[VS Code API]
        CI[todos.instructions.md]
        MC[MCP Clients<br/>AI Assistants]
        MCPAPI[VS Code MCP API]
    end

    %% Core initialization
    EXT --> TM
    EXT --> TTP
    EXT --> TDP
    EXT --> MCP

    %% Storage configuration
    TM --> WSS
    STM --> IMS
    WSS -.-> ITS
    IMS -.-> ITS
    MCP --> WSS

    %% UI and decorations
    TTP --> VSC
    TDP --> VSC
    TM --> TTP
    TM --> TDP

    %% View events
    TM -.->|onShouldOpenView| EXT
    TM -.->|onDidChange| TTP

    %% Export to markdown (write-only)
    TM -.->|auto-inject writes| CIM
    CIM -->|write-only| CI
    STM -.->|auto-inject writes| SCW
    SCW -->|write-only| CI

    %% MCP server setup
    MCP --> MCPS
    MCP --> MCPAPI
    MCPS --> TT
    MCPS --> STR
    STR --> TRM
    STR --> SRM

    %% Bidirectional sync
    MCP --> TS
    TS <--> TM
    TS <--> STM

    %% Tool handling
    TT --> STM
    TT --> TS

    %% External communication
    MC <-->|HTTP POST/GET/SSE| MCPS

    %% Utility usage
    TM --> SM
    TM --> TV
    TM -.-> PM
    STM --> TV

Read the full file on GitHub · 729 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 First seen · 729 lines · 5,378 tokens per session scan A 802ece31c520

Subscribe to this mod's changes

vscode-agent-todos copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository digitarald/vscode-agent-todos (39 stars, last pushed 11mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 5,378 tokens to every session, about $0.0269 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 2026-08-30.