Custom instructions for GitHub Copilot chat on website

[tallior]

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I've followed the guide here - https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/customizing-copilot/adding-custom-instructions-for-github-copilot

We created a custom instructions file and pushed it to our repo, however there's no indication that this is actually working from the website.

1. From the docs it mentions that it's supported by VS Code, Visual Studio and the web browser.
2. There's no visual feedback to let me know that it picked up the instructions file from our repo.
3. In VS Code it works and seen as context added to my chat questions.

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[elliebennett]

Hi @tallior 👋 When you are chatting with Copilot on GitHub.com about a repository that contains custom instructions, you should see a visual indicator in two places:

1. In the references (see screenshot here)
2. When clicking the ... at the top right of chat window you should then see "Disable Custom Instructions" (indicating that the instructions are currently enabled).

Note: You can attach the repository to your chat by using the 📎 icon and selecting the repository with the instructions.

I hope that helps!

[elliebennett]

It's hard to tell what is happening from the screenshots you are sending. I'd be happy to get on a call next week to look further. We could discuss custom instructions and any additional feedback you have about Copilot on GitHub.com. What do you think? If a call does not work, Ill probably need a video of what your full set up is in order to help you.

[tallior]

Yes, lets do that @elliebennett

From what i can tell, i followed all the instructions correctly.

1. We have a file named .github/copilot-instructions.md
2. This file is picked up when i try to use the Copilot chat in VS Code (it means the file is in the right place)
3. On the web site, it doesn't work - on the chat interface i dont see the option to enable / disable instructions
4. We have enabled "preview" features and all, i am not sure what else we can check

Let's have a call, would be great to share more feedback from me and the team.

[elliebennett]

@tallior let's connect. You can book a call on my calendar here and let me know if you don't see any times that work for you.
This will be a 45 minute Zoom call where, in addition to troubleshooting your custom instructions issue, I will ask you questions about your experiences using Copilot on GitHub.com. During our time together, I might ask you to share your screen, so please join from a computer. Looking forward to connecting!

[tallior]

@elliebennett great! booked it.
can i bring additional team members or is it 1-1 ?

[elliebennett]

Hi @tallior we typically do these as 1-1 calls. I'd love for you to aggregate the feedback from the team ahead of the call, and if there's areas we did not get to, we can discuss at the end of the call how to provide the rest of the feedback. Looking forward to it!

[shawnstephens]

I have the same problem. Oddly enough another person added the repo to the chat as context and copilot web recognizes the .github/copilot-instructions.md file.

[ymelnikova]

I had the same problem. But when I added copilot-instructions.md in both main and the branch with PR -it worked! I requested PR from the copilot, and in all suggestions it generated, it would reference the copilot-instructions.md.