What is polar copilot-instructions.md?

A set of instructions that helps an AI coding assistant understand and work on the Polar project, a tool for creating local Bitcoin and Lightning test networks with Docker.

Use it when contributing to Polar's Docker network setup, application state management, or visual network designer.

It gives the assistant the project's architecture and conventions so it can make changes with the right understanding of the codebase.

How jamaljsr/polar configures GitHub Copilot

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to jamaljsr/polar. 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/jamaljsr/polar/master/.github/copilot-instructions.md

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jamaljsr/polar

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.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/copilot-instructions/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/copilot-instructions)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/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.

Your own site · 80×15

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/jamaljsr/polar/copilot-instructions.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>

Per session 1,129 This file is loaded in full into every session.

When invoked 1,129 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.

Model	Per session	Once invoked
Fable 5.1	$0.01129	$0.01129
Opus 5.5	$0.00452	$0.00452
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00226	$0.00226
Haiku 4.5	$0.00113	$0.00113

Measured 2mo ago against content hash b48ea1acd335, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

polar 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 2mo 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 · 100 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 100 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Polar - AI Coding Assistant Instructions

Polar is a Bitcoin Lightning Network development tool that creates local regtest networks using Docker containers. This guide helps AI agents understand the architecture and contribute effectively.

Core Architecture

Network Orchestration via Docker Compose

Networks are composed of Bitcoin nodes (bitcoind) and Lightning nodes (LND, Core Lightning, Eclair)
Each network generates a docker-compose.yml file with pre-configured containers
Node configurations are templated in src/lib/docker/composeFile.ts with variable substitution
Lightning nodes auto-select compatible Bitcoin backends via filterCompatibleBackends()

State Management (Easy-Peasy + Redux)

Store Structure: src/store/models/ - modular stores for network, lightning, bitcoin, designer, mcp
Network Model: Manages network lifecycle, node creation, Docker orchestration
Designer Model: Handles visual chart state, drag-drop interactions, node positioning
Key Pattern: Actions update state → triggers React re-renders → auto-saves via debounced effects

Visual Designer (React Flow Chart)

Network topology represented as interactive graph in src/components/designer/NetworkDesigner.tsx
Drag-drop from sidebar adds nodes via onCanvasDrop → creates loading node → async node creation → replaces with real node
Chart state syncs with network model; positions persisted to disk
Custom components: NodeInner, Link, Port for Bitcoin/Lightning-specific rendering

Development Patterns

Node Creation Workflow

User drags node type from sidebar → onCanvasDrop triggered
Temporary loading node added to chart
network.addNode() creates node in network model
Docker compose file regenerated via dockerService.saveComposeFile()
If network running, node auto-starts via toggleNode()
Loading node replaced with actual node in chart

Testing Strategy

Unit Tests: Jest with React Testing Library, emphasis on Redux action/state testing
Mocks: Extensive Docker service mocking in src/__mocks__/
Test Utilities: src/utils/tests/ provides network factories, state builders, async helpers

Read the full file on GitHub · 100 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.

2mo ago First seen · 100 lines · 1,129 tokens per session scan A b48ea1acd335

Subscribe to this mod's changes

polar copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository jamaljsr/polar (861 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 1,129 tokens to every session, about $0.0045 per session on Opus 5.5. 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.

React bitcoin docker electron lightning-network polar

vscode buildNext.instructions.md

Working notes and architecture documentation for the new esbuild-based build system in build/next. Use when making changes to the new build pipeline (transpile/bundle commands, NLS plugin, source-map handling, resource copying, or self-hosting watch tasks).

microsoft/vscode · 9,715 tokens

polar: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot