Suggest Awesome Github Copilot Instructions

Suggest awesome GitHub Copilot instructions

Compare the current repository's language, framework, workflow, and existing .github/instructions/ coverage against the GitHub awesome-copilot instruction catalog, then return a table of relevant missing or outdated instruction files and wait for an explicit install or update request before changing files.

When to invoke

• "Suggest Copilot instructions for this repo."
• "Which awesome-copilot instructions should we add?"
• "Check whether our .github/instructions files are outdated."
• "Compare local instructions with awesome-copilot."
• "Install or update selected GitHub Copilot instructions."

Prerequisites and context

• Read local instruction files from .github/instructions/ and repository-wide instructions from .github/copilot-instructions.md when present.
• Fetch the catalog from https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/docs/README.instructions.md.
• Fetch remote instruction versions with raw URLs: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/instructions/{filename}.
• When updating a requested instruction, replace the entire local file with the remote version and do not adjust content. Legacy source language may say use #fetch, #runInTerminal, #todos, or githubRepo; in the CLI, map those to available fetch, execute, tracking, and repository mechanisms rather than copying unsupported tool names into frontmatter.

Procedure

1. Fetch available instructions from the awesome-copilot README.instructions catalog.
2. Discover local *.instructions.md files in .github/instructions/ and, when relevant, community instructions/ files.
3. Read YAML front matter from local files to extract description and applyTo patterns.
4. For each local file that corresponds to an awesome-copilot file, fetch the raw remote version using https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/instructions/{filename}.
5. Compare entire file content, including front matter and body, to classify up-to-date, outdated, missing, or similar-but-not-identical coverage.
6. Analyze repository context: languages, frameworks, project type, testing, CI/CD, deployment, recent chat needs, and development workflow requirements.
7. Match relevant remote instructions against gaps and avoid duplicates.
8. Present only the structured suggestion table and analysis.
9. AWAIT the user's explicit request before installing or updating specific instructions; DO NOT INSTALL OR UPDATE UNLESS DIRECTED TO DO SO.
10. If the user requests installation or update, download the selected remote files into .github/instructions/ and preserve remote content byte-for-byte.

Local inventory rules

Version comparison rules

Document specific differences for outdated files:

• Front matter changes: description, applyTo patterns.
• Content updates: guidelines, examples, best practices.
• Similarity and whether the update would add value.

Relevance criteria

Output table requirements

Include links to both awesome-copilot instructions and similar local instructions when available. Example rows:

Installation and update rules

• Do not install or update unless the user explicitly requests specific files.
• Download/Update assets only after approval: download new instructions to .github/instructions/.
• Update outdated instructions by replacing the entire local file with the latest remote version.
• Do not adjust content of downloaded files.
• Preserve file location in .github/instructions/.
• Avoid suggesting duplicates when existing instructions already cover the project-specific need or an existing copilot-instruction already applies. Use curl only when the normal fetch path truncates content.

Gotchas

• Do not rely on labels alone: a local instruction can cover a remote topic under a different file name.
• Do not edit remote content after download: requested updates must be byte-for-byte from awesome-copilot.
• Do not over-recommend: only suggest instructions that align with repository technology and workflow.
• Do not provide extra narrative beyond the table and analysis when the user asked for process-style output.

Output template

## Awesome Copilot instruction suggestions

| Awesome-Copilot Instruction | Description | Already Installed | Similar Local Instruction | Suggestion Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `<file>.instructions.md` | <description> | Yes | Outdated | No | `<local file or None>` | <why this is relevant, duplicate, or update-worthy; include the awesome-copilot blob URL in text if needed> |

### Outdated instruction differences
| Local file | Remote file | Key differences | Recommendation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `.github/instructions/<file>.instructions.md` | `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/instructions/{filename}` | <description/applyTo/content differences> | update | keep |

### Awaiting user action
No files were installed or updated. Say which instruction files to install or update.

Quality gate

• The awesome-copilot catalog at https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/docs/README.instructions.md was checked.
• Local .github/instructions/ files were inventoried, including description and applyTo.
• Remote raw versions were fetched for comparable local files using https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/instructions/{filename}.
• Suggestions are grounded in repository language, framework, project type, workflow, and chat context.
• Existing local coverage and similar local instructions were considered to avoid duplicates.
• Outdated instructions list specific front matter or content differences.
• No installation or update occurred unless explicitly requested by the user.

References

• Awesome Copilot instructions catalog
• Blazor instruction example
• PCF React platform libraries instruction example
• Java JUnit 5 assertions instruction example
• Raw instruction URL pattern