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/skill-template.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/skill-template)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/skill-template"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/skill-template/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/skill-template"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/thesethrose/copilot-skills/skill-template.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 | $0.01272 | $0.01272 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00509 | $0.00509 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00254 | $0.00254 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00127 | $0.00127 |
Grade A, and why
Copilot-Skills skill-template.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 — 163 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Skill Template - Automatic Context Instructions
Related Prompt: /skill-template
Related Skill: .github/copilot-skills/skill-template/
Triggers: create skill, new skill, skill template, skill architecture, skill structure, skill patterns
Context: Skill Creation and Architecture
When working with skill-related files or when user queries contain skill creation keywords, this context is automatically activated.
Core Principles
Three-Part System
- Prompt File - Defines WHEN and HOW to use skill (
.github/prompts/) - Instructions File - Auto-loaded context rules (
.github/instructions/) - Skill Directory - Bundled scripts and detail files (
.github/copilot-skills/)
Five Constitutional Principles
- Progressive Disclosure - Load core first, details on demand
- File-Based Organization - Skills are discoverable files
- Dynamic Discovery - Index enables AI to find skills
- Deterministic Execution - Scripts produce consistent output
- Composability - Skills reference each other clearly
Default Behaviors
When user mentions "create skill" or "new skill"
- Suggest
/skill-templateskill prompt - Guide through template copying process
- Validate structure follows constitutional principles
- Help register in keyword routing map
When user mentions "skill architecture" or "skill patterns"
- Suggest
/skill-templateskill prompt - Load
.github/copilot-skills/skill-template/README.mdfor overview - Reference existing skills as examples (git-ops, pdf-handling)
When user asks about "bundled scripts" or "script templates"
- Suggest
/skill-templateskill prompt - Show example scripts in
.github/copilot-skills/skill-template/scripts/ - Reference script templates in
.github/copilot-skills/templates/
Quality Guidelines
✅ Do
- Use templates from
.github/copilot-skills/templates/ - Follow three-part system (prompt + instructions + directory)
- Validate against five constitutional principles
- Register new skills in keyword routing map (
.github/copilot-instructions.md) - Use progressive disclosure (load on-demand, not all at once)
- Make scripts deterministic (terminal output only)
- Document trigger keywords in instructions file
- Cross-reference related skills
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 · 163 lines · 1,272 tokens per session scan A efc3a2f04041
Copilot-Skills skill-template.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository TheSethRose/Copilot-Skills (3 stars, last pushed 10mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,272 tokens to every session, about $0.0051 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.
Other instructions, from other repositories
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).
next.js AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for vercel/next.js, covering next.js development guide, codebase structure, monorepo overview, core package: packages/next and other important packages.
vscode oss-third-party-notices.instructions.md
Instructions for microsoft/vscode, covering vs code oss third-party-notices pipeline, architecture, pipeline flow in ci, cache eligibility and rollout and applying the notice (cutover).
langchain AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for langchain-ai/langchain, covering global development guidelines for the langchain monorepo, corridor security analysis, project architecture and context, monorepo structure and development tools & commands.
vscode copilot-instructions.md
Copilot instructions for microsoft/vscode, covering vs code copilot instructions, project overview, root folders, core architecture (src/ folder) and built-in extensions (extensions/ folder).
deno copilot-instructions.md
Copilot instructions for denoland/deno, covering deno development guide for github copilot, network access, high level overview, key directories and key files to understand first.