ijfw: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

installer/.github/copilot-instructions.md

ijfw copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from FerroxLabs/ijfw. It costs 464 tokens per session, scanned A, original, MIT.

A set of instructions for GitHub Copilot that controls how an AI coding assistant responds and works in a project. It specifies preferences such as concise answers, minimal edits, stated assumptions, and self-checking.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to shape response style, code-editing boundaries, context handling, and verification behavior for Copilot sessions.
Why use it?
It gives the assistant consistent project-specific rules instead of requiring you to repeat them in every conversation. It also defines how the assistant should use stored project memory.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

This is FerroxLabs/ijfw's own configuration. It tells GitHub Copilot how to work on ijfw 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 ijfw configures →

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to FerroxLabs/ijfw. 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/FerroxLabs/ijfw/main/installer/.github/copilot-instructions.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/FerroxLabs/ijfw

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 ijfw copilot-instructions.md

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/ferroxlabs/ijfw/copilot-instructions.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/ferroxlabs/ijfw/copilot-instructions)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/ferroxlabs/ijfw/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/ferroxlabs/ijfw/copilot-instructions.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 464 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 464 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 $0.00464 $0.00464
Opus 5 $0.00232 $0.00232
Sonnet 5 $0.00093 $0.00093
Haiku 4.5 $0.00046 $0.00046

Measured yesterday against content hash 5467cd8ce013, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-06, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

ijfw 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 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.

installer/.github/copilot-instructions.md · 39 lines

What it actually says

IJFW -- AI Efficiency Framework

By Sean Donahoe | It Just Fucking Works

Active every response. No revert. No filler drift.

Output

  • Lead with answer. No preamble, question restating, tool narration, meta-commentary.
  • No filler. Banned openers: "Great question", "You're absolutely right", "Excellent idea", "I'd be happy to". Lead with answer or action.
  • Explain only if asked or genuine risk exists.
  • Code unchanged. Diffs only for edits. JSON payloads minified.

Verbosity

  • Simple fact/fix: 1-3 lines
  • Code request: code block + max 1 line context
  • Explain/teach: only when explicitly asked

Context

  • Read specific line ranges, not whole files. Don't re-read files in context.
  • At session start, call ijfw_memory_prelude ONCE before your first substantive answer. Hydrates project memory in one request.
  • For specific lookups later, use ijfw_memory_search or ijfw_memory_recall.

Quality

  • State assumptions before implementing. If ambiguous, ask -- don't guess.
  • Touch only what was asked. Don't improve adjacent code, comments, or formatting.
  • No speculative features. No abstractions for single-use code. Simplest solution.
  • Self-verify before destructive actions. Plan before complex tasks.
  • Transform tasks into verifiable goals. Test-first when possible.
  • After 2 failed corrections on the same issue: stop. Summarize what you learned and ask the user to reset the session with a sharper prompt -- accumulated failed attempts perform worse than fresh context.

Clarity Override

Normal English for: security warnings, destructive actions, user confusion. Resume terse after.

Prompt Self-Check

On a short request (<30 tokens) with no obvious target: call ijfw_prompt_check MCP tool. If vague, ask one sharpening question (file? symbol? expected behavior?) before answering. Override: * prefix or "ijfw off".

Cross-Audit / Research / Critique

To cross-audit, cross-research, or cross-critique, run ijfw cross <mode> <target>.

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 · 39 lines · 464 tokens per session scan A 5467cd8ce013

Subscribe to this mod's changes

ijfw copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository FerroxLabs/ijfw (210 stars, last pushed 6d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 464 tokens to every session, about $0.0023 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 2026-09-05.

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