Skip to main content

In this article

Copilot Plugin

The hve-core plugin installs the complete HVE Core component set: agents, skills, and instructions, plus canvases in VS Code. VS Code's Copilot harness and Copilot CLI both install it from the same microsoft/hve-core marketplace.

When to Use This Method​

✅ Use this when:

  • You want every HVE Core agent, skill, and instruction from one install
  • You work in VS Code, in Copilot CLI, or in both
  • You want canvases such as the RPI Workflow canvas
  • You are comfortable with content that follows main

❌ Consider alternatives when:

Prerequisites​

  • VS Code with GitHub Copilot, or GitHub Copilot CLI installed and authenticated

Install in VS Code​

  1. Run Chat: Open Customizations from the Command Palette to open the Agent Customizations editor.
  2. Select Browse, open the source menu, and select Configure Marketplaces.
  3. Select Add Marketplace and enter microsoft/hve-core.
  4. Return to Browse, choose the hve-core marketplace from the source menu, and install the hve-core plugin. The first install from a new marketplace asks you to trust it.

If your editor has no Browse page, select Plugins and then Browse Marketplace instead. In a Copilot chat session, the same install takes two commands:

/plugin marketplace add microsoft/hve-core
/plugin install hve-core@hve-core

To offer the plugin to everyone who opens a repository, commit the defaults described in Offer the Plugin to Your Team.

Install in Copilot CLI​

Register the repository as a plugin marketplace:

copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/hve-core

The registration tracks the main branch, which has no release gate or release attestation. Each push to main publishes an unattested dependency SBOM, described in Continuous Main SBOM.

List the plugins in the registered marketplace, or type /plugin in a Copilot CLI chat session to browse them:

copilot plugin marketplace browse hve-core

Install hve-core, which includes the Research, Plan, Implement, Review lifecycle:

copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core

VS Code also picks up plugins that Copilot CLI installs, so a CLI install covers both clients.

Update an Installed Plugin​

In VS Code, select Check for and Apply Updates on the Plugins page of the Agent Customizations editor, or run Chat: Update Plugins.

In Copilot CLI, refreshing the marketplace catalog and updating the installed plugin are separate actions. Because the registration tracks main, refresh the catalog first:

copilot plugin marketplace update hve-core
copilot plugin update hve-core@hve-core

After an update, run Developer: Reload Window in VS Code so new chat sessions pick up changed instructions.

Replace an Earlier Registration​

If you registered a release-channel or tag ref, such as microsoft/hve-core#release/stable or microsoft/hve-core#hve-core-v<version>, remove that registration and register the repository again to follow main. The repository does not publish release/prerelease or release/stable branches, so those refs no longer resolve, and a tag ref stays fixed at that tag:

copilot plugin marketplace remove hve-core --force
copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/hve-core
copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core

In some Copilot CLI versions, --force also uninstalls plugins installed from that marketplace. Check copilot plugin marketplace remove --help for your version.

If you previously registered or installed a retired package identity, the retired package identities section of the migration guide maps each retired extension, command, skill, and agent to its replacement.

Install From a Clone or Branch​

To try a branch or your own changes, install a clone as a plugin from source. In the Agent Customizations editor, select Plugins, select the add (+) button next to User or Workspace, and enter a Git repository URL or the clone's root folder path. Chat: Install Plugin from Source in the Command Palette does the same. For a Git URL, VS Code clones the repository and installs the plugin. A plugin installed this way can be updated or uninstalled, but not enabled or disabled.

Peer Directory Clone walks through this setup for a clone that sits next to your project.

Plugin Contents​

ComponentLoaded by CopilotDescription
AgentsYesCustom chat agents for specialized workflows
SkillsYesSelf-contained skill packages, including the RPI phase entry points
InstructionsYesGuidelines that Copilot applies to files matching each applyTo pattern
CanvasesVS CodeInteractive panels such as the RPI Workflow canvas and the Session Log

The marketplace has one entry, which resolves to the repository root. Root plugin.json lists the plugin's agents, skills, rules (instruction files), and canvas extension as repository-relative .github/... paths. The client also reads the root README and LICENSE; no generated plugin tree or plugin ZIP is involved.

Limitations​

  • The registration follows main. It has no PreRelease or Stable channel and no published-release assurance.
  • Installing the plugin next to another route, such as the extension or a declared clone, lists each agent more than once. Keep one route.
  • In VS Code, plugin skills carry the plugin name as a prefix, such as /hve-core:rpi-research.

Using Agents After Installation​

After you install the plugin, its agents and skills are available in new chat sessions.

Skills vs Agent Mode​

The plugin offers two ways to work:

ModeVS CodeCopilot CLIBehavior
Skill/hve-core:rpi-research/rpi-researchActivates one reusable capability from the default mode
AgentSelect RPI Agent in the agent picker/agent hve-core:rpi-agentSwitches to the coordinated RPI lifecycle

Skills run a specific workflow and produce structured output. Agent mode keeps the conversation with a specialized agent until you switch away.

IMPORTANT

Copilot does not switch to a custom agent on behalf of a skill. For lifecycle coordination, run /rpi (/hve-core:rpi in VS Code) from the default mode, or select RPI Agent (hve-core:rpi-agent in Copilot CLI), which preloads the same rpi skill:

/agent hve-core:rpi-agent
Research API authentication patterns before deciding whether planning is ready.

Invoke a direct phase skill such as /rpi-research for one phase. Skills that do not require an agent context work directly from the default mode.

Manual-only skills such as git-commit, git-merge, and git-setup set disable-model-invocation: true, so agents never start them for you. For their status in Copilot CLI, see github/copilot-cli#4438.

Example: Research Workflow​

Invoke the Research phase skill directly:

> /rpi-research topic="API authentication patterns"
[Skill executes the research workflow and creates a research document]

Continue with follow-up questions in the same session:

> What are common API authentication patterns for REST APIs?
[Research conversation continues]
> How do OAuth2 and API keys compare for microservices?
[Follow-up within same agent context]

Available Agents​

In Copilot CLI, these agents are available through /agent <qualified-name>:

  • hve-core:rpi-agent coordinates Research, Plan, Implement, Review, and Follow-up
  • hve-core:documentation audits, authors, and validates documentation

Start an interactive scripted invocation with the same qualified identifier:

copilot --agent hve-core:rpi-agent

Run /help in a CLI session to see every available command and agent. In VS Code, the agent picker lists the same agents by display name, such as RPI Agent and Documentation.

When to Use Each Mode​

  • Use direct skills (/rpi-research, /rpi-plan, /rpi-implement, /rpi-review) from the default mode for one bounded responsibility that does not require a custom agent.
  • Use /rpi from the default mode, or agent mode with RPI Agent, for lifecycle coordination.
  • Stay in agent mode for exploratory conversations, follow-up questions, or tasks that don't fit a predefined skill.

🤖 Crafted with precision by ✨Copilot following brilliant human instruction, then carefully refined by our team of discerning human reviewers.