Add Copilot custom instructions (code review standards)#519
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bwateratmsft wants to merge 4 commits into
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Add Copilot custom instructions (code review standards)#519bwateratmsft wants to merge 4 commits into
bwateratmsft wants to merge 4 commits into
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Add repo-wide `.github/copilot-instructions.md` and a path-scoped `.github/instructions/generated-and-curated-files.instructions.md`. The guidance is grounded in the existing code/conventions (TypeScript + esbuild, azext platform packages, l10n, command wrappers, lazy imports, MIT headers) and in recurring review feedback on recent PRs (async I/O with size guards, falsy-coercion and semver.coerce pitfalls, shared mutable object leaks, VS Code API semantics, Windows correctness, reuse of existing helpers, and not hand-editing/reviewing generated or curated files such as NOTICE.html, package-lock.json, and CHANGELOG.md). Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
bwateratmsft
commented
Jul 6, 2026
Fold recurring, high-signal review patterns mined from top-commented PRs in both microsoft/vscode-docker and microsoft/vscode-containers into .github/copilot-instructions.md: - Add "Review scope & avoiding false positives" (verify API claims before flagging, don't repeat rejected points, respect intentional TODO/pre-release/ type-assertion decisions, keep diffs focused, fix root cause over new eslint-disable). - Correctness: locale-independent casing, handle-every-case, concurrency-safe stack caching + cheap config lookups, stream lifecycle, array membership. - Types: precise unions over string; define types before use. - New sections: Naming & constants, Code locality/coupling, Extension activation & performance, package.json contributions & settings, Scaffolding. - Conventions: composeArgs/withArg builders + parseDockerLikeImageName, zod for external tool output, override/polymorphism, non-obvious-code comments. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Address review feedback: in-repo package.json / package-lock.json versions are decreased frequently between releases without publishing, so a blanket "flag any version decrease" rule produces false positives. Clarify in both instruction files that only published marketplace versions must increase monotonically, and that an in-repo version decrease should not be flagged on its own. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Self-review corrections to .github/copilot-instructions.md: - Drop nonexistent setting containers.oci.jsonDetectionMaxSizeMB; generalize to a reasonable size guard. - Remove @microsoft/vscode-docker-extensibility (not a dependency); attribute registry data providers to @microsoft/vscode-docker-registries. - Correct arg-builder helpers to composeArgs/withArg/withQuotedArg from @microsoft/vscode-processutils (not vscode-container-client); drop withNamedArg/withFlagArg/withDockerBuildArg examples not used here. - Generalize image-name parsing guidance (no parseDockerLikeImageName in src); prefer the container client's structured fields. - Broaden command-wrapper location to src/commands/ since registerLocalCommand and registerWorkspaceCommand live in their own files. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Closing in favor of #533 |
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Summary
Adds Copilot custom instructions for this repository, with a strong emphasis on code review standards. These files are read by Copilot code review, the Copilot coding agent, and Copilot Chat.
Files
.github/copilot-instructions.md(repo-wide) — project overview, tech stack, build/lint/test commands, coding conventions, and a detailed Code review standards section..github/instructions/generated-and-curated-files.instructions.md(path-scoped viaapplyTo) — do not hand-edit or review-comment onNOTICE.html,package-lock.json, andCHANGELOG.md, plus monotonic-versioning rules.How it was developed
Grounded in the existing code/conventions and recurring feedback on recent PRs (e.g. #443, #444, #447, #452, #454, #458, #471, #473, #483, #491, #492, #518). Notable review themes captured:
x || nullon0/''),semver.coercereturningnull/ stripping prerelease.headers).MarkdownString.isTrusted).processutils,docker-extensibilityimage parser,AzureWizard)....not….NOTICE.html/package-lock.jsonas generated andCHANGELOG.mdas curated; monotonic version bumps.Opened as a draft so the wording can be reviewed and adjusted before merge. Happy to split, trim, or add more path-scoped rule files (e.g. for
src/test, scaffolding, or tasks) as desired.