GitHub Copilot app for Beginners: How to teach Copilot about your codebase

GitHub Copilot can be tailored to a repository by storing project knowledge and workflows in version-controlled configuration files, reducing the need to repeatedly explain conventions, scripts, and procedures. Repository-wide custom instructions in `.github/copilot-instructions.md` establish general architecture, naming, testing, and validation expectations, while path-specific instructions in `.github/instructions` apply more targeted guidance to matching files. Agent skills, stored under `.github/skills`, package repeatable processes such as quality checks, including relevant commands, troubleshooting steps, and contextual instructions. Custom agents in `.github/agents` provide specialized roles for broader, multi-file tasks such as accessibility reviews, and MCP servers extend Copilot beyond the repository by connecting it to external tools, services, documentation, and browser automation platforms such as Playwright. The guidance recommends selecting the appropriate customization based on whether a need involves conventions, repeatable procedures, specialized work, or external access, then starting with a small, commonly repeated workflow and adapting community resources where useful.

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