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.
npx agentmods add instructions/dotnet/maui/helix-device-testsgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dotnet/mauiWrote 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.
[](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/dotnet/maui/helix-device-tests)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/dotnet/maui/helix-device-tests"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/dotnet/maui/helix-device-tests.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>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.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.02246 | $0.02246 |
| Opus 5 | $0.01123 | $0.01123 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00449 | $0.00449 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00225 | $0.00225 |
Grade A, and why
maui helix-device-tests.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 4d 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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 214 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Helix Device Tests Guidelines
This document provides guidance for working with .NET MAUI device tests that run on Helix infrastructure using XHarness.
Overview
.NET MAUI uses .NET Engineering Services Helix with XHarness to run device tests across multiple platforms in parallel. This provides cloud-based device testing infrastructure.
Device Test Projects
Controls.DeviceTests- UI control testsCore.DeviceTests- Core framework testsGraphics.DeviceTests- Graphics and drawing testsEssentials.DeviceTests- Platform API testsMauiBlazorWebView.DeviceTests- Blazor WebView tests
Available Helix Queues
Current configuration uses:
- iOS:
osx.15.arm64.maui.open - Mac Catalyst:
osx.15.arm64.maui.open - Android:
ubuntu.2204.amd64.android.33.open
Check available queues at helix.dot.net.
Key Configuration Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
eng/helix_xharness.proj |
Main Helix configuration - defines scenarios, queues, and work items |
eng/pipelines/common/stage-device-tests.yml |
Pipeline template for device tests |
eng/test-configuration.json |
Test retry configuration |
iOS Category Splitting
For iOS, Controls.DeviceTests heavy categories are split into separate Helix work items. This mirrors the old cake-based approach and enables parallel execution for the slowest tests.
How it works:
- Heavy categories are defined in
ControlsTestCategoriesToSkipForRestOfTestsproperty inhelix_xharness.proj - The
ControlsTestCategoriesToRunIndividuallyItemGroup is populated from that property - Each heavy category becomes a separate Helix work item
- All other Controls tests run together in a single "General" work item
- XHarness passes
--set-env="TestFilter=Category=X"for individual categories - XHarness passes
--set-env="TestFilter=SkipCategories=X;Y;Z"for the "General" work item - Core.DeviceTests runs as a single work item (no splitting)
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.
- 4d ago First seen · 214 lines · 2,246 tokens per session scan A 22c720f14e28
maui helix-device-tests.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository dotnet/maui (23,317 stars, last pushed 4d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 2,246 tokens to every session, about $0.0112 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.
Other instructions, from other repositories
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AGENTS.md instructions for Azure/azure-sdk-for-net, covering azure sdk for .net - ai agent guidelines, repository overview, purpose and scope, repository structure and agent interaction guidelines.
azure-sdk-for-net copilot-instructions.md
Copilot instructions for Azure/azure-sdk-for-net, covering project overview, prerequisites, folder structure, azure generator and azure management generator.
BlazorBindings.Maui AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for Dreamescaper/BlazorBindings.Maui, covering mobile guidelines, platform, razor and component conventions and blazor bindings generation.
Maestro AGENTS.md
Instructions for mobile-dev-inc/Maestro, covering agents.md — maestro, module map, e2e test fixtures (e2e/), passing/ vs failing/ suites and test-e2e.yaml workflow contract.
ios-simulator-skill CLAUDE.md
Instructions for conorluddy/ios-simulator-skill, covering claude.md - developer guide, project overview, project structure, architecture patterns and pattern 1: class-based script design.
android-qa-kit AGENTS.md
Instructions for willbytee-sudo/android-qa-kit, covering agents.md — setting up and driving an android device, 1. how to work with the user, 2. start by finding out what's already there, 3. what you can do in each mode and 4. if there's no device: ask first.