12 free prompts · all verified
GitHub Copilot prompts
Repository custom-instruction files and Copilot Chat prompts — the difference between Copilot autocompleting your habits and Copilot following your standards.
Every prompt lists the exact tool and version it was tested against.
Write a .github/copilot-instructions.md file Copilot actually followsA repository custom-instructions file template that gives every Copilot Chat, code review, and coding-agent session your stack, conventions, and hard constraints automatically, without retyping them per chat.GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)GitHub Copilot code review2026-07-20Turn a GitHub issue into an editable plan before Copilot Workspace writes codeA Copilot Workspace brief that forces a reviewable specification and step-by-step plan from an issue before any code gets generated, so a wrong approach gets caught before it becomes a PR.GitHub Copilot Workspace2026-07-10Write an issue tight enough to hand to the Copilot coding agent unattendedAn issue template for the @copilot coding agent that bounds file scope, defines a testable done-state, and tells it exactly how to handle a blocker instead of guessing silently.GitHub Copilot coding agent2026-07-05Get Copilot Chat to diagnose a bug from the stack trace before it proposes a fixA debugging prompt for the Copilot Chat panel that forces root-cause reasoning from the actual stack trace and repro steps, so the fix maps to what is really wrong instead of the first plausible guess.GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)GitHub Copilot Chat (JetBrains)2026-07-18Point Copilot's automated PR review at the risk that actually mattersA PR description addendum that steers GitHub Copilot's automated code review toward the specific risk areas of a change, instead of an evenly-distributed pass over the whole diff.GitHub Copilot code review2026-06-28Chain Copilot's /explain, /fix, and /tests instead of running one coldA three-step slash-command sequence for the Copilot Chat panel that gets a real explanation, a fix scoped to the actual concern, and matching tests out of one selection — in an order that makes each step check the last.GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)2026-07-22Get a safe, explained shell command out of Copilot in the CLI, not a blind pasteA gh copilot suggest and explain pairing that forces the command, its plain-language explanation, and a pre-committed reject list before you run anything against a real environment.GitHub Copilot CLIGitHub CLI (gh)2026-06-15Ask @workspace where something is actually handled before you change itAn @workspace chat prompt that maps every file touching a piece of behavior across the whole repo before you edit it, instead of trusting whatever file happens to be open.GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)2026-07-12Get a commit message that explains why, not a restatement of the diffA prompt for Copilot's Source Control commit-message generation that forces a why-focused message instead of the tool's default file-list summary.GitHub Copilot (VS Code Source Control)2026-07-08Get an error explained in terms of your code, not a generic definition/explain prompt for a terminal error or Problems-panel diagnostic that forces Copilot to trace the error to the specific line and state, instead of defining the error class in the abstract.GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)GitHub Copilot Chat (JetBrains)2026-07-15Plan a multi-file migration before Copilot Edits touches a single fileA migration brief for Copilot Edits that forces a dependency-ordered, file-by-file plan and a one-file pilot checkpoint before any multi-file rewrite starts.GitHub Copilot Edits (VS Code)GitHub Copilot Chat (VS Code)2026-07-27Turn a Copilot Autofix suggestion into a verified fix, not a rubber stampA review prompt for a GitHub code-scanning alert with a Copilot Autofix suggestion that forces you to verify the fix actually closes the vulnerability, not just silences the scanner.GitHub Copilot AutofixGitHub code scanning (CodeQL)2026-06-20
