MicrosoftDocsMicrosoftDocs/cpp-docs/.github/copilot-instructions.md

cpp-docs

Copilot instructions1.6k starsChanged 6 months agoCC-BY-4.0View on GitHub

This document contains general and repository-specific instructions for GitHub Copilot when assisting with the cpp-docs-pr repository. This document uses the following markers to indicate instruction priority: Folder structure: - […

We split this copilot-instructions.md into the rules it gives an agent

5 rules. About 0 are common, 5 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈5
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

Licensed with conditions — read it at the source. We count its rules but don't quote them. Read them on GitHub.

≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 3,669 Copilot instructions files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Feb 19, 2024Add Microsoft Documentation — freeCodeCamp/devdocs11 reactions · 2 comments
Mar 30, 2023> > _Originally posted by @kickym0802 in https://github.com/kickym0802/-/issues/2_ — InsertKoinIO/koin4 reactions
Nov 13, 2020Microsoft Macro Assembler x32-x64 - language request — PrismJS/prism4 reactions
Jan 27, 2024Inline function defintion error — google/styleguide2 reactions · 5 comments
Aug 27, 2019`pplx::is_task_cancellation_requested()` should probably be removed — microsoft/cpprestsdk2 reactions

14 more on GitHub

Oct 19, 2025Assume MFC >=9 (VS 2008) — mhammond/pywin321 reaction
Mar 4, 2020Investigate properly designing `_CONTAINER_DEBUG_LEVEL` — microsoft/STL1 reaction · 4 comments
May 14, 2019VS2019 default build fails — microsoft/wil1 reaction · 3 comments
Feb 21, 2026Improve MSVC Compiler & Linker options — BrianGladman/mpir0 reactions · 2 comments
Jan 23, 2026#68-Cpp documentation preprocessor — CppDigest/cppa-brain-backend0 reactions · 5 comments
Oct 7, 2024Windows shared library asan_dll_thunk usage. — llvm/llvm-project0 reactions
Sep 27, 2024MSVC compilation failure w/ 64-bit intrinsics in x86 configurations — llnl/RAJA0 reactions · 1 comment
Oct 8, 2023[Package Issue]: Microsoft.VCRedist.2019.arm64 — microsoft/winget-pkgs0 reactions · 1 comment
Mar 30, 2023> > _Originally posted by @kickym0802 in https://github.com/kickym0802/-/issues/2_ — OffchainLabs/arbitrum-docs0 reactions
Mar 30, 2023> _Originally posted by @kickym0802 in https://github.com/kickym0802/-/issues/2_ — ArbitrumFoundation/docs0 reactions · 1 comment
Jan 13, 2023capsimg.dll Build for UWP Apps — rsn8887/capsimg0 reactions · 2 comments
Jul 20, 2020Markdown code block syntax doesn't convert to roff's .EX/.EE syntax — apjanke/ronn-ng0 reactions · 5 comments
Dec 7, 2018Experiment with support VS17 Open Folder Metadata — lacasseio/vscode-gradle-plugin0 reactions · 1 comment
Sep 17, 2018Error message is not accurate when invoke pwsh -file with multi parameters in post-build event — PowerShell/PowerShell0 reactions · 1 comment

On Stack Overflow · 14

Jun 17, 2018In Visual Studio, `thread_local` variables' destructor not called when used with std::async, is this a bug?30 votes
Mar 15, 2020Visual Studio 2019: How to use Platform Toolset v140_xp?9 votes
Dec 8, 2022What does fast-fail mode do?6 votes
Jul 17, 2020Template specialization, specialized class question2 votes
Nov 25, 2022Measure CPU clock cycles per operation in python1 vote

9 more on Stack Overflow

Jul 14, 2021Convert between std::u8string and std::string1 vote
Jun 21, 2019Is the official binary incompatibility between VS2017 and VS2015 app vs. dll accurate?1 vote
Oct 8, 2024Visual C++ dump preprocessor defines0 votes
Aug 10, 2023Pros & Cons of putting all code in Header files in C++?0 votes
Oct 30, 2022System API Error Handing in Linux, WIndows and Android0 votes
Apr 16, 2021Build UWP apps using Ninja?0 votes
Jul 9, 2019How to import a C++ dll in Matlab0 votes
Jun 4, 2018Passing a C++ array to a C# function0 votes
May 26, 2019Why is & needed for member function pointers, not for normal function pointers?-1 votes

Where files are headingNew Copilot instructions files have more rules about branches and pull requests, and fewer about code style.
Of the Copilot instructions files we read, the 2,297 first seen in the last six months, against the older ones: the kind of rule that gained most share, and the kind that lost most. About files like this in general, not this one, and an estimate, since a kind is a pattern in the words.

Does it work?

Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.

No reviews yet

People and AI agents can review whether this works in practice. Say what you used it for, and whether it worked.

It worked
Partly
It didn't

What did you use it for? e.g. Reviewing pull requests in a Rails app

Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.

Your trail

Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.

Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.

Now do this for your own.

Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

Check your setup, free