mcpkernel: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

.github/instructions/policy-writing.instructions.md

mcpkernel policy-writing.instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel. It costs 220 tokens per session, scanned A, original, Apache-2.0.

A guide for writing YAML policy files that decide whether tool actions are allowed, denied or recorded for review. It also describes optional links to OWASP ASI, a security-risk classification system for agentic applications.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to define tool-specific rules, match argument values with conditions, document security decisions and test policies with the project’s policy tests.
Why use it?
It gives policy files a consistent structure and makes rules easier to test, review and connect to security reporting.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

This is piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel's own configuration. It tells GitHub Copilot how to work on mcpkernel 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 mcpkernel configures →

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel. 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/piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel/main/.github/instructions/policy-writing.instructions.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel

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.

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README.md
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Your own site
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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.

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Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel/policy-writing"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel/policy-writing.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 220 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 220 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 $0.00220 $0.00220
Opus 5.5 $0.00088 $0.00088
Sonnet 5.5 $0.00044 $0.00044
Haiku 4.5 $0.00022 $0.00022

Measured 1mo ago against content hash 0031a95bf12f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

mcpkernel policy-writing.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/instructions/policy-writing.instructions.md · 28 lines

What it actually says

MCPKernel Policy Writing Guide

Policy Structure

version: "1.0"
rules:
  - id: "rule-unique-id"
    description: "What this rule does"
    tool: "tool_name"         # or "*" for all tools
    action: "allow|deny|audit"
    conditions:
      - field: "argument_name"
        operator: "equals|contains|matches|not_contains"
        value: "match_value"
    owasp_asi: "ASI-XX"      # Optional OWASP mapping

Best Practices

  • Use specific tool names over wildcards when possible
  • Always include description for audit trail clarity
  • Map rules to OWASP ASI categories for compliance reporting
  • Test policies with: python -m pytest tests/test_policy.py -v
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 · 28 lines · 220 tokens per session scan A 0031a95bf12f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

mcpkernel policy-writing.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository piyushptiwari1/mcpkernel (2 stars, last pushed 4mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 220 tokens to every session, about $0.0009 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 2026-08-31.

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