Support for repository custom instructions

[veysby]

Would be great to have support for custom instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md files similar to Visual Studio / Visual Studio Code and as it described in this document

[phanthaiduong22]

Hi @veysby,

It is now available in the latest nightly release: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/17718-github-copilot/versions/nightly/705128

You can create .github/copilot-instructions.md for custom instructions for inline chat and panel chat.

Additionally, you can create custom instructions for Git commit message generation in:
.github/git-commit-instructions.md

Please let us know your issues, feedback, or any suggestions for improvement.

Thank you!

[sal-lochbaum]

@phanthaiduong22 I'm wondering what context the AI has for generating the messages.

e.g. we normally use git branches that follow the format 'feature/xyz' and I wanted to generate commit messages to start with '[xyz]'. But prompting only adds generic topics like '[Documentation]' and not from my branch name.

--

Another thing I noticed is that the commit message always includes all modified files, when it should only include files added to the commit.
e.g. you change code in two files but the changes are unrelated. You need to make two commits.

Thanks

[phanthaiduong22]

hi @sal-lochbaum

what context the AI has for generating the messages.

It depends on:

• code changes,
• the user's recent commits,
• other recent commits (not specific to the user),
• and custom instructions defined in .github/git-commit-instructions.md.

=> Unfortunately, it currently doesn't have context about your current branch name, so it doesn't know to generate a commit message that includes the feature branch name.

I noticed is that the commit message always includes all modified files, when it should only include files added to the commit.

Currently, it depends on the UI — the selected files (with ✓ icon) will be used to generate the commit message. So you can select only the files you want to include in the commit.

[phanthaiduong22]

This is available in the latest release, 1.5.41. Please try it out and let me know if you encounter any issues.

Thank you for your suggestion.

[github-actions]

This issue is stale due to 7 days of inactivity. Comment or remove the stale label to keep it open. Otherwise, it will be closed in 3 days.

[phanthaiduong22]

Closed as supported in latest stable release.

[DzmitryITGlue]

Closed as supported in latest stable release.

Commit generation still has no access to git branch name. (current version installed is 1.5.42-243)

Generating commit message based only on selected scope is very cool and works amazing thank you for that. On the other hand not having branch name as context really frustrating. Is there other issue related to the topic?

[phanthaiduong22]

hi @DzmitryITGlue

Commit generation still has no access to git branch name. (current version installed is 1.5.42-243)

It should supported now in latest stable.

[DzmitryITGlue]

hi @DzmitryITGlue

Commit generation still has no access to git branch name. (current version installed is 1.5.42-243)

It should supported now in latest stable.

Thank you, now it works as expected