codedb: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

.github/copilot-instructions.md

codedb copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from justrach/codedb. It costs 385 tokens per session, scanned A, original, BSD-3-Clause.

Project-specific instructions for codedb, a Zig code-intelligence server that helps tools understand source code.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them when working on codedb, especially to run its Zig tests, file issues with failing tests, and follow its cleanup and test-style requirements.
Why use it?
They give coding agents the project's required build, test, issue-reporting, branching, and test-writing rules.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

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

About the project

codedb is a code-intelligence server that indexes software projects so AI agents can search files, symbols, callers, dependencies, and structural outlines. It is for coding agents that need context about a codebase through MCP or HTTP while leaving file editing to native tools. Its catalogue instructions help agents use codedb's code-understanding tools.

justrach/codedb · 1,397 stars · on GitHub · codegraff.com

Reuse

Borrowing it

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

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 codedb copilot-instructions.md

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/justrach/codedb/copilot-instructions/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/justrach/codedb/copilot-instructions)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/justrach/codedb/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/justrach/codedb/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.

agentmods 80×15 button for codedb copilot-instructions.md

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/justrach/codedb/copilot-instructions"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/justrach/codedb/copilot-instructions.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 385 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 385 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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00385 $0.00385
Opus 5.5 $0.00154 $0.00154
Sonnet 5.5 $0.00077 $0.00077
Haiku 4.5 $0.00038 $0.00038

Measured 1mo ago against content hash fc6506187e50, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

codedb 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 1mo 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 · 39 lines

What it actually says

codedb — Agent Instructions

Project

Zig 0.17.0-dev code intelligence server (pinned to 0.17.0-dev.813+2153f8143). Tests live in src/test_*.zig. Build and test with zig build test.

Rules

Filing Issues

Every GitHub issue must include a failing test case. No exceptions.

When creating an issue:

  1. Write a test "issue-XX: <description>" block in src/tests.zig that fails on the current main branch
  2. Verify it fails: zig build test 2>&1 | grep "issue-XX"
  3. File the issue via gh issue create with this structure:
    • Title: <module>: <concise description>
    • Body sections: Problem, Failing Test (the zig test block), Expected, Fix
    • Labels: bug for defects, priority:p0 for crashes, priority:p2 for correctness
  4. Commit the failing test on a branch: issue-XX-failing-test
  5. Do not fix the bug in the same commit as the failing test

If you cannot write a failing test, the issue is not well-defined enough to file.

Test Style

  • Use std.testing and testing.allocator
  • Use std.heap.ArenaAllocator for Explorer tests
  • Always defer cleanup (arena.deinit, allocator.free)
  • One test per issue, named test "issue-XX: <short description>"
  • Keep tests minimal — only exercise the specific broken code path

Code Style

  • No comments or documentation changes unless explicitly asked
  • Prefer minimal, targeted fixes over refactors
  • Follow existing patterns in the module you're editing
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. 1mo ago First seen · 39 lines · 385 tokens per session scan A fc6506187e50

Subscribe to this mod's changes

codedb copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository justrach/codedb (1,397 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed BSD-3-Clause. It adds 385 tokens to every session, about $0.0015 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.

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