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docs(copilot): clarify skill and persona installation - #421

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addyosmani:mainfrom
anarchitect:docs/copilot-install-personas
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docs(copilot): clarify skill and persona installation#421
anarchitect wants to merge 5 commits into
addyosmani:mainfrom
anarchitect:docs/copilot-install-personas

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@anarchitect

@anarchitect anarchitect commented Jul 20, 2026

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Summary

  • keep the existing GitHub Copilot skill-installation guidance unchanged
  • clarify that skills and custom-agent personas are separate customizations
  • retain the existing copy pattern and add the fourth web-performance-auditor persona
  • document current VS Code agent-picker, Copilot CLI, and cloud-agent usage

Why

The existing skill setup works, but it does not install the repository's agents/ personas. Users can therefore have working skills and still see no selectable custom agents. The previous guide also described @ invocation rather than the current agent-picker flow.

Scope

Documentation only. This PR changes only the Agent Personas section in docs/copilot-setup.md. It does not change skill installation, lifecycle slash commands, plugin manifests, or runtime behavior.

Verification

  • original-style copy commands tested in a fresh temporary repository: four valid .agent.md files created
  • copilot --agent code-reviewer verified with GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.72-1
  • node scripts/validate-skills.js
  • node scripts/validate-commands.js
  • git diff --check

anarchitect and others added 3 commits July 20, 2026 22:12
Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
@addyosmani

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Copilot is a supported platform, so a clearer skills-and-persona section in its setup doc is welcome. I didn't independently verify every Copilot-specific detail since you're closer to that surface, so I'd want one check that the paths and invocation match current Copilot behavior before it lands. Structure reads right otherwise.

Restore the existing skill-installation guidance and use temporary clones for cross-platform persona setup.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
@anarchitect

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Narrowed this PR after rechecking the installation boundary:

  • restored the existing skills section unchanged;
  • removed the persistent agent-skills-source path assumption;
  • changed both persona-install examples to clone into a temporary directory and clean it up;
  • verified the exact Bash and PowerShell flows each create all four valid .agent.md files;
  • reverified copilot --agent code-reviewer on GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.72-1.

The final diff now covers Copilot persona onboarding only.

Keep the original copy pattern and limit the change to essential Copilot persona clarification.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
@anarchitect

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Simplified the PR to the original copy pattern after review:

  • removed the temporary-clone and PowerShell machinery;
  • retained the existing three cp /path/to/agent-skills/... commands;
  • added only the fourth web-performance-auditor copy line;
  • clarified that the placeholder refers to an existing local clone;
  • kept the corrected Copilot agent-picker, CLI, and cloud usage guidance.

The existing skill-installation section remains unchanged. The four copy commands were verified in a fresh repository.

@anarchitect
anarchitect marked this pull request as draft July 21, 2026 22:13
@addyosmani

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The simplification is the right call, and thanks for actually verifying copilot --agent code-reviewer on 1.0.72-1, that's the check I was asking for. Adding the missing fourth persona copy line while leaving the existing skills section untouched is far easier to reason about than the temp-clone version. It's in draft, so flag me when you flip it and I'll look properly.

@addyosmani addyosmani left a comment

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The direction is good. Softening the old "plain *.md files are silently ignored" claim to "VS Code detects them but other Copilot surfaces may not" is more accurate, and adding the CLI (copilot --agent, /agent) and cloud-agent paths fills real gaps in this doc. Picking up web-performance-auditor so all four personas are listed is a nice catch too.

Two things before this lands. Most of this is behavioral claims about how Copilot discovers agents across VS Code, CLI, and cloud, and those move fast; can you confirm which Copilot versions you verified these against, so we're not documenting a state that's already shifted? And CI hasn't actually run on this yet (checks are empty, mergeable state is unstable), so I'd want a green run before merging. Happy to take it once those two are settled.

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