Challenge 04 - Customizing GitHub Copilot in Your IDE

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Introduction

GitHub Copilot becomes significantly more useful when it understands the context, standards, and expectations of your project. In this challenge, you will customize Copilot within your IDE by creating custom instructions and installing a custom agent to interact with Copilot in specialized ways.

Description

GitHub Copilot can be customized within the IDE in multiple ways. Custom instructions define behavior that applies across all Copilot interactions, while custom agents (also known as chat modes) provide specialized, task-focused assistance.

In this challenge you will:

• Create Custom Instructions
  Define custom instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md that guide Copilot’s behavior across all Copilot interactions, such as coding style, architectural preferences, or project-specific assumptions.

• Install and Use a Custom Agent
  Install and select a custom agent (chat mode) from the Awesome Copilot collection, then use it in the IDE to create a specialized interactive experience while working in the codebase.

Success Criteria

You will have successfully completed this challenge when you:

• Show a custom instructions file you created and explain how it guides Copilot’s behavior
• Demonstrate a custom agent installed from the Awesome Copilot collection and show it being selected and used in the IDE
• Show Copilot responding in a way that reflects your custom instructions

Learning Resources

• Customizing GitHub Copilot with Custom Instructions
• VS Code Chat Modes and Custom Agents