Pester
Copilot instructions3.4k starsChanged 4 years agoLicence not identifiedView on GitHub
These instructions apply to all Copilot sessions working in this repository. - Milestones: When an issue is linked to a milestone, add the pull request that fixes it to the…
We split this copilot-instructions.md into the rules it gives an agent
5 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 3 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈2
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
3
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
The licence could not be identified — 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.
Trending
Less talk lately.about the whole repository
Who's talking about pester/Pester
- Stack Overflow“How to do TDD and unit testing in powershell?”Stack Overflow · Jan 4, 2011 · 47 votes
- hbenl/vscode-test-explorer“[Feature Request] PowerShell/Pester support”GitHub · Feb 8, 2020 · 30 reactions
- Stack Overflow“Pester sample script gets "-Be is not a valid Should operator" on Windows 10, works fine on Ubuntu”Stack Overflow · Jul 25, 2018 · 21 votes
- PowerShell/PowerShell“Feature Request - Additional details related to Trojan:PowerShell/Mountsi.A!ml”GitHub · May 13, 2021 · 19 reactions
- Stack Overflow“Pester sample script gets "-Be is not a valid Should operator" on Windows 10, works fine on Ubuntu”Stack Overflow · Jul 24, 2018 · 12 votes
The biggest 5 of 75 mentions linking to the repository that our crawl found. Each line is their own headline.
See all 75
Talked about on GitHub and Stack Overflow (75 times).
On GitHub · 45
- Feb 8, 2020[Feature Request] PowerShell/Pester support — hbenl/vscode-test-explorer30 reactions · 2 comments
- May 13, 2021Feature Request - Additional details related to Trojan:PowerShell/Mountsi.A!ml — PowerShell/PowerShell19 reactions · 12 comments
- Mar 8, 2020Feature Request - Support pst1 as a file type explictly for tests — PowerShell/PowerShell3 reactions · 5 comments
- Dec 13, 2018Include Pester (PowerShell module) in Windows/Ubuntu images — appveyor/ci3 reactions · 6 comments
- Nov 17, 2020Support Pester v5.0.x invocation — MathieuBuisson/PSCodeHealth2 reactions · 1 comment
40 more on GitHub
- Mar 26, 2019Requested Topic - Pester — INPUG/Meetings2 reactions
- Feb 26, 2018Microsoft-signed Modules like Pester Fail Updates by Default — PowerShell/PowerShellGetv22 reactions · 8 comments
- Jan 13, 2017Move to new Pester version — PowerShell/PowerShell2 reactions · 11 comments
- Aug 19, 2026Fix intermittent "The term 'Get-Command' is not recognized" failures during recursive analysis and improve performance while doing so. — PowerShell/PSScriptAnalyzer1 reaction · 17 comments
- Aug 15, 2026Clarify when BeforeDiscovery runs — pester/docs1 reaction
- Dec 8, 2025Trap unhandled `break` statements — PowerShell/PowerShell1 reaction · 8 comments
- Jul 19, 2025Fix test command line to remove warning — kelleyma49/PSFzf1 reaction
- Jun 21, 2023ProxyCommand generates invalid parameter for OrderedDictionary — PowerShell/PowerShell1 reaction · 2 comments
- May 23, 2023Wrong labels in issue widget — microsoft/devhomegithubextension1 reaction
- May 9, 2022ScriptCallDepthException thrown during Pester-tests only in PS5.1 Integrated Console — PowerShell/vscode-powershell1 reaction · 11 comments
- Apr 19, 2022colorize pester output — briantist/CcgVault1 reaction
- Nov 1, 2021Windows 2019 Agent Is Affected By PowerShell Debugger Regression — actions/runner-images1 reaction · 4 comments
- Sep 3, 2021Upgraded to Pester v5.3.0 — Azure/PSRule.Rules.Azure1 reaction · 2 comments
- Oct 28, 2020AppVeyor Code Coverage Failure — dahlbyk/posh-git1 reaction · 4 comments
- May 27, 2020Documentation for Pester v5 does not exist — pester/docs1 reaction · 5 comments
- May 27, 2020Add new Pester 5 GA Output Types — PowerShell/vscode-powershell1 reaction · 6 comments
- Mar 28, 2019Bug fixes needed to support interchangeable use of "/" (forward slash) and "\" (backslash) in file paths on Unix-like platforms — PowerShell/PowerShell1 reaction · 8 comments
- Jan 14, 2018Running unit tests in a Windows container — PowerShell/DscResource.Tests1 reaction · 17 comments
- Oct 21, 2026Bump Pester from 6.0.0 to 6.2.0 — SteveGilham/altcover0 reactions · 1 comment
- Oct 11, 2026Update dependency Pester to v5.9.1 — sergimn/ReGa0 reactions
- Sep 6, 2026Update dependency Pester to v5.9.1 — gtbuchanan/dotfiles0 reactions
- Jul 8, 2026Investigate Pester v6 changes — jenkinsci/docker-ssh-agent0 reactions
- Jul 8, 2026Bump `pester` version to 6.0.0 — jenkinsci/docker-ssh-agent0 reactions · 1 comment
- Jul 1, 2026Update dependencies (2026.07.01) — qiiwexc/qiiwexc.github.io0 reactions
- Jul 1, 2026Bump `pester` version to 5.8.0 — jenkinsci/docker-ssh-agent0 reactions
- Jun 30, 2026Should-HaveType: Wrong conversion is made for piped input — viscalyx/PesterConverter0 reactions
- Jun 10, 2024[updatecli] Bump pester version to 6.2.0 — hmcts/cnp-azuredevops-libraries0 reactions
- Feb 23, 2024Log4net projet : Dropping support for older runtimes — LaurentDardenne/Log4Posh0 reactions · 1 comment
- Oct 20, 2022Update Pester syntax — adamrushuk/devops-lab0 reactions
- Oct 11, 2022[updatecli] Bump pester version to 5.3.3 — Tyler-34/cnp-azuredevops-libraries-clone0 reactions
- Oct 8, 2022Use Pester native ANSI support in CI — briantist/CcgVault0 reactions
- Apr 27, 2020No Unit testing — Azure/RDS-Templatessays it tested it0 reactions
- Sep 25, 2019Add pester tests — StarfallProjects/ahab0 reactions
- Aug 29, 2019Chronometer runs slow after Windows update — KevinMarquette/Chronometer0 reactions
- Apr 8, 2019Stop exporting private method for test purpose — edouard-lopez/lesspass-powershell0 reactions
- Jan 31, 2019rewrite test tot use it to test images — appveyor-tests/ubuntu-pester-tests0 reactions
- Dec 26, 2017Implement software tests — dennisguse/powershell-scripts0 reactions
- Nov 22, 2017Include usage and examples of dot sourcing. — PoshCode/PowerShellPracticeAndStyle0 reactions · 26 comments
- Feb 2, 2016TeamCity / Pester: create a listener plugin to report results to teamcity — matt-richardson/Ideas0 reactions
- Dec 6, 2015Use Pester for unit testing — tomlarse/PsCmssays it tested it0 reactions
On Stack Overflow · 30
- Jan 4, 2011How to do TDD and unit testing in powershell?says it tested it47 votes
- Jul 25, 2018Pester sample script gets "-Be is not a valid Should operator" on Windows 10, works fine on Ubuntu21 votes
- Jul 24, 2018Pester sample script gets "-Be is not a valid Should operator" on Windows 10, works fine on Ubuntu12 votes · 2 answers
- Jan 19, 2021How to pass parameters to all the pester test scripts11 votes
- May 3, 2011Are there any other examples of DSL in powershell?10 votes
25 more on Stack Overflow
- Jun 23, 2020Pester: Cannot access parent scoped variable7 votes
- Nov 7, 2018Pester test non-exported PowerShell cmdlets/function7 votes
- Jul 21, 2021Pester v5.1: Should -Throw with message containing square-brackets fails4 votes
- Apr 26, 2023How to specify what to do if a Pester assertion fails?3 votes
- Oct 20, 2020Invoke-Pester -OutputFile and -OutputFormat are member of the legacy parameter set3 votes
- Aug 5, 2020How to specify what to do if a Pester assertion fails?3 votes
- May 11, 2018How do I prevent Pester Mocked Read-Host from prompting for input during Code Coverage3 votes · 1 answer
- Jan 3, 2025Mocking a pipeline function that returns a single object from the end block2 votes
- Feb 7, 2022What does the second number in Pester's coverage % mean?2 votes
- Sep 11, 2019How to 'get arguments for calls made on' a Mock in Pester (or otherwise generate a helpful message containing actual and expected values)?2 votes
- Sep 12, 2017Can you create a complex CSV file inside the Testdrive?2 votes
- May 4, 2016Assert-MockCalled vs Assert-VerifiableMocks in Pester2 votes · 2 answers
- Jul 10, 2014How do I get code coverage for all branches using Pester?2 votes
- Sep 12, 2024How to use Pester New-MockObject with class from within a module1 vote · 1 answer
- Jun 18, 2023Validate a list of files in PowerShell with Pester1 vote
- Apr 21, 2022Mocking functions with Pester not working1 vote
- Mar 28, 2022Pester 5 code coverage in Azure DevOps - File does not exist (any more)1 vote
- Jun 17, 2020Case sensitive option for Pester's -FileContentMatchMultiline in PowerShell1 vote
- Apr 6, 2018Issue Mocking in Nested Modules1 vote · 1 answer
- Jan 12, 2024Exclude functions from Pester code coverage0 votes
- Nov 15, 2023Pester, Powershell How to go about and implement both tests with external data and non-external data?0 votes · 1 answer
- Jun 18, 2023Create a list of FileInfo in PowerShell script for testingsays it tested it0 votes
- Mar 28, 2020Pester - How to output Pester code coverage report in JaCoCo format?0 votes · 1 answer
- Apr 24, 2018Pester - Code Coverage output to XML file is not working0 votes
- Aug 24, 2017Mock New-AzureRmDnsRecordConfig return value of type Microsoft.Azure.Commands.Dns.DnsRecordBase[]0 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.
In this repositoryOne other file it gives its agents.
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
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
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.

