skill tutorial · agent

Workshop skills in GitHub Copilot

Copilot's agent mode reads instruction files — .github/copilot-instructions.md repo-wide, .github/instructions/*.instructions.md scoped by apply-mode. A WorkshopSkill bundle plus one of those files is a working skills drawer; the repo becomes the loader.

Add the folder and the instruction

repo shape

training-drawer/ skills/the-orange/ (from the-orange.zip) .github/ copilot-instructions.md curl -LO https://workshopskill.com/en/activities/the-orange/files/the-orange.zip unzip the-orange.zip && mkdir -p skills && mv the-orange skills/

copilot-instructions.md

the repo instruction file

## Workshop prep Skills live in skills/<name>/SKILL.md (Agent Skills format, index: https://workshopskill.com/en/skills.json). When asked to prep an activity: match the brief to metadata (category, group_size, duration_minutes, setting), open only that SKILL.md, run its curl steps as printed, treat the assessment JSON as the measure spec, ask before formlm-cli.

First run

Agent mode, inside the repo: prep The Orange for two teams of three, conflict module, 20 minutes. Copilot opens the skill, pulls the hidden briefs (flesh vs peel) and the debrief, and states the integration lesson from the folder — then asks before touching the live measure, where a Copilot CLI session with a shell can complete the formlm-cli steps.

Notes

Code-scoped instructions (applyTo) are for file patterns; for behavior like prep-matching the repo-wide file is the right scope.
Copilot CLI runs the same pattern with a live shell — the curl steps and the optional formlm-cli steps execute as printed.
Private repos: bundles are CC BY 4.0; committing them is permitted and keeps paper and instructions in one review.

keep going

Cline walkthroughSame VS Code family, .clinerules. The skills, end to endDiscover, install, run. Build from skills.jsonFor agents you write yourself.

questions

Does Copilot support agent skills natively?

The Agent Skills convention is vendor-neutral and adoption is spreading; where Copilot has no loader, the instruction-file pattern above is the faithful route — the SKILL.md is unchanged.

Instruction budget?

Repo-wide instructions load per session — keep the file short and pointer-style; skills load on demand.

Can Copilot print?

Humans print, agents parse — Copilot stages the PDFs; the printer is yours.