Borrowing it
Nothing to install: this file belongs to TheSethRose/Copilot-Skills. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TheSethRose/Copilot-Skills/main/.github/instructions/create-skill.instructions.mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/TheSethRose/Copilot-SkillsWrote 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/thesethrose/copilot-skills/create-skill)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/create-skill"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/create-skill/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.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/create-skill"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/create-skill.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" 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 5.1 | $0.02214 | $0.02214 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00886 | $0.00886 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00443 | $0.00443 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00221 | $0.00221 |
Grade A, and why
Copilot-Skills create-skill.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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 314 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Create Skill - Instructions
When working with skill creation files or when queries contain skill-related keywords, use this context.
Constitutional Principles (Required for All Skills)
1. Progressive Disclosure
Information organized in layers: metadata → core workflow → optional details
Checklist:
- ✓ YAML frontmatter with: description, model (optional), tools (optional)
- ✓ Core workflow scannable in <3 minutes
- ✓ Detail files are optional, not required to use skill
- ✓ Each layer independent and self-contained
Anti-pattern: Requiring users to read all documentation before using skill
2. File-Based Organization
Skills are organized as files in specific locations, not in databases or external systems.
Structure:
.github/
├── prompts/{skill-name}.prompt.md # Always required
├── instructions/{skill-name}.instructions.md # Always required
└── copilot-skills/{skill-name}/ # Optional
├── README.md
├── scripts/ # Optional
├── patterns.md # Optional
└── reference.md # Optional
Required Paths:
- Prompt:
.github/prompts/{skill-name}.prompt.md - Instructions:
.github/instructions/{skill-name}.instructions.md
Anti-pattern: Storing skill definitions in external APIs or databases
3. Dynamic Discovery
Skills are discoverable by AI agents via keywords and file patterns.
Implementation:
- Keywords defined in prompt file YAML
- Entry in
.github/copilot-instructions.md(keyword routing map) - File patterns in instructions file
description:field - Clear use cases in prompt
Example routing map entry:
#### Skill Name
**Keywords**: keyword1, keyword2, keyword3
**Suggest**: `/skill-name`
**Auto-context**: `.github/instructions/skill-name.instructions.md`
**Skill**: `.github/copilot-skills/skill-name/README.md`
Anti-pattern: Skills that can't be found without manual documentation
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.
- 1mo ago First seen · 314 lines · 2,214 tokens per session scan A 3f7be7dd3210
Copilot-Skills create-skill.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository TheSethRose/Copilot-Skills (3 stars, last pushed 10mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 2,214 tokens to every session, about $0.0089 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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