Copilot Setup Audit

Copilot CLI Setup Audit

This skill audits a repository's GitHub Copilot CLI customization setup and provides actionable recommendations.

When to use this skill

• User asks to audit or review their Copilot setup
• User wants to optimize their CLI customization
• User asks "what's missing from my Copilot config?"
• Setting up a new project and want best-practice guidance

Audit Checklist

1. Custom Instructions

Check for existence and content of:

| File | Location | Purpose | |------|----------|---------| | copilot-instructions.md | .github/ | Repository-wide instructions | | *.instructions.md | .github/instructions/ | Path-specific instructions | | AGENTS.md | Root directory | Agent instructions | | CLAUDE.md | Root directory | Cross-tool compatibility | | GEMINI.md | Root directory | Cross-tool compatibility |

Validate:

• YAML frontmatter is valid
• applyTo globs match intended files (for scoped instructions)
• Instructions are specific and actionable, not vague
• No conflicting instructions between files

2. Custom Agents

Check for agents in:

| Location | Type | |----------|------| | .github/agents/*.agent.md | Repository-level | | .claude/agents/*.agent.md | Alternative project-level | | ~/.copilot/agents/*.agent.md | User-level |

Validate:

• description is present (required)
• name is present (recommended)
• tools list is explicit and minimal (security best practice)
• target, if present, is either github-copilot or vscode
• disable-model-invocation and user-invocable are intentional when present
• mcp-servers, if present, uses the MCP configuration schema
• Prompt text is under 30,000 characters

3. Agent Skills

Check for skills in:

| Location | Type | |----------|------| | .github/skills/*/SKILL.md | Project skills | | .agents/skills/*/SKILL.md | Alternative project skills | | .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md | Alternative project skills | | ~/.copilot/skills/*/SKILL.md | Personal skills | | ~/.agents/skills/*/SKILL.md | Shared personal skills |

Validate:

• name and description are present in frontmatter
• Description is specific enough for Copilot to decide when to load
• Skill directory name matches the name field
• Optional allowed-tools is narrow and does not pre-approve shell access without a clear reason
• Optional user-invocable and disable-model-invocation fields match the intended invocation model
• Additional resources (scripts, examples) are referenced correctly

4. Hooks

Check for hooks in .github/hooks/*.json.

Validate:

• JSON is valid and uses version: 1
• Hook events are intentional (sessionStart, preToolUse, permissionRequest, notification, etc.)
• Command hooks use short timeouts and scoped working directories when possible
• HTTP hooks use HTTPS for security-sensitive events and avoid broad environment variable exposure

5. MCP Configuration

Check MCP configuration in:

| File | Scope | |------|-------| | .github/mcp.json | Repository | | .mcp.json | Workspace | | ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json | User |

Validate:

• Valid JSON structure
• Built-in MCP servers are understood: GitHub, Playwright, fetch, and time
• Any additional MCP servers configured
• Tool filters are explicit (tools) and do not expose more tools than needed
• Secrets are not committed; use environment expansion for sensitive values
• OAuth and /mcp auth requirements are documented for remote servers
• OIDC is only enabled for servers designed to receive Copilot-issued identity tokens
• filterMapping is intentional and safe for the server output shape
• Remote servers are trusted and comply with enterprise allowlists where applicable

6. Plugins

Check whether the repository relies on plugin-provided skills, agents, or commands.

Validate:

• Plugin usage is documented for collaborators
• Plugin-provided skills do not duplicate local project skills unless intentionally overridden
• Local customizations remain usable without private plugins when possible

7. Permission Policy

Check CLI permission defaults and documented automation patterns.

Validate:

• Automation examples use explicit --allow-tool, --deny-tool, --allow-url, and --deny-url patterns
• Shell approvals are scoped, for example shell(git:*), instead of blanket shell where possible
• Dangerous operations such as git push, package publishing, or destructive filesystem commands are denied or gated
• --allow-all / --yolo is documented only for trusted local use, not shared automation

8. Programmatic Usage

Check whether the repository documents scripted or CI use of Copilot CLI.

Validate:

• Prompt-mode examples use copilot --prompt or -p
• Machine-readable output uses --output-format=json when downstream parsing is expected
• Non-interactive runs define needed tool, path, and URL permissions up front
• Token guidance prefers COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN and least-privilege fine-grained tokens
• Shared logs do not capture secrets, full prompts, or sensitive source snippets

9. OpenTelemetry Monitoring

Check whether monitoring is needed for team, CI, or enterprise usage.

Validate:

• OTel configuration is documented when agent usage must be observable
• OTel exporter variables such as OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT or COPILOT_OTEL_FILE_EXPORTER_PATH are intentional
• Content capture is disabled by default and only enabled in trusted environments
• Monitoring docs explain that traces can include agent turns, LLM calls, tool execution, token usage, and errors

10. Built-in Agents and Advanced Commands

Check whether built-in capabilities are documented before adding custom equivalents.

Validate:

• Built-in agents such as explore, research, task, code-review, and general-purpose are considered
• Advanced commands such as /pr, /delegate, /remote, /keep-alive, /undo, and /rewind are documented if used
• Experimental commands are marked as experimental where applicable

11. Alternative Command Format

Check for Claude-style command files if the repository uses cross-agent command workflows.

Validate:

• .claude/commands/*.md files are documented as lower-priority command-style alternatives to skills
• Command files do not duplicate higher-priority project skills unless intentionally overridden

12. Project-Type Detection

Detect the project type from:

• package.json → Node.js / JavaScript / TypeScript
• requirements.txt / pyproject.toml → Python
• go.mod → Go
• Cargo.toml → Rust
• *.csproj / *.sln → .NET
• pom.xml / build.gradle → Java

Tailor recommendations to the detected project type.

Audit Report Format

## Copilot CLI Setup Audit Report

### ✅ What's Working Well
- [Specific positive findings]

### ⚠️ Warnings
- [Non-critical issues]

### ❌ Issues to Fix
- [Critical problems]

### 💡 Suggestions
- [Recommended improvements]

### Recommended Next Steps
1. [Priority-ordered actions]

Common Recommendations

For all projects

• Add .github/copilot-instructions.md with project context, build commands, and testing approach
• Add AGENTS.md at root with key conventions and architecture notes
• Create at least one custom agent for the project's primary workflow

For specific languages

TypeScript/JavaScript:

• Add *.instructions.md with applyTo: "**/*.ts,**/*.tsx" for TS conventions
• Consider a skill for running/debugging tests

Python:

• Add instructions for virtual environment, linting (ruff/flake8), and type hints
• Consider a skill for package management (pip/poetry/uv)

Go:

• Add instructions for go fmt, go vet, and module conventions
• Consider a skill for Go test patterns

Diagnostic Commands

Suggest the user run these in their Copilot CLI session:

/instructions    # View which instruction files are loaded
/skills list     # See available skills
/agent           # See available agents
/env             # Show loaded instructions, MCP servers, skills, agents, plugins, LSPs, and extensions
/mcp show        # Check MCP server configuration
/plugin list     # Check installed plugins
/usage           # Review session usage metrics
/context         # Inspect context window usage

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: trsdn
• Source: trsdn/github-copilot-cli
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.