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copilot-assets

A .NET global tool for installing and managing AI coding assistant assets (prompts, agents, instructions, skills) across multiple tools and repositories. Supports GitHub Copilot and Claude Code.

Installation

dotnet tool install -g copilot-assets

Usage

Initialize Assets in a Project

cd your-project
copilot-assets init

This creates assets for your target AI tool(s). By default, assets are generated for GitHub Copilot:

  • .github/copilot-instructions.md - Repository context and instructions
  • .github/prompts/ - Reusable prompt templates
  • .github/agents/ - AI agent definitions
  • .github/skills/ - Custom skills (cross-tool SKILL.md standard)
  • .github/instructions/ - Additional custom instructions (optional folder for organizing multiple instruction files)
  • .github/.copilot-assets.json - Manifest file tracking installed assets

Multi-Tool Target Support

Generate assets for multiple AI coding tools from a single set of templates:

# Generate for both Copilot and Claude
copilot-assets init --target copilot,claude

# Update with a specific target
copilot-assets update --target claude

Supported targets: copilot, claude

Each tool gets assets in its native format and directory structure:

Tool Instructions Prompts Rules/Config
Copilot .github/copilot-instructions.md
.github/instructions/		 .github/prompts/ .github/agents/, .github/skills/
Claude CLAUDE.md
.claude/instructions/		 .claude/commands/ .claude/skills/

Tool-specific content sections: Templates can include sections for specific tools using HTML comment markers:

# Instructions

General instructions for all tools.

<!-- copilot-only -->
Copilot-specific guidance here.
<!-- /copilot-only -->

<!-- claude-only -->
Claude-specific guidance here.
<!-- /claude-only -->

When generating output for a target tool, sections for other tools are automatically stripped, and the target tool's markers are removed while preserving the content.

Remote Template Configuration

Configure a custom GitHub repository as your template source:

# Set a remote template source
copilot-assets config set source owner/repo

# Set a specific branch (default: main)
copilot-assets config set branch develop

# View current configuration
copilot-assets config list

# Get a specific config value
copilot-assets config get source

# Reset to bundled templates
copilot-assets config reset

When configured, init and update commands will:

  1. Fetch templates from your GitHub repository
  2. Fall back to cached version if network fails
  3. Use bundled templates if no cache exists

Authentication: Supports private repositories via:

  • gh CLI (recommended): gh auth login
  • Environment variables: GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN

Template Pack Registry

Discover and install community template packs:

# Search for template packs
copilot-assets registry search dotnet

# List all available packs
copilot-assets registry list

# Get detailed info about a pack
copilot-assets registry info dotnet-enterprise

# Install a pack (configures it as your remote source)
copilot-assets registry install dotnet-enterprise

After installing a registry pack, run copilot-assets init or copilot-assets update to fetch and apply the templates.

Publishing a Template Pack

Validate and publish your own template pack to the community registry:

# Validate pack.json in the current directory
copilot-assets registry publish

# Validate and submit to the registry
copilot-assets registry publish --submit

# Validate a pack in a specific directory
copilot-assets registry publish ./my-pack

A valid pack.json is required with these fields:

{
  "name": "my-org-standards",
  "description": "My organization's AI coding standards",
  "author": "My Org",
  "repo": "my-org/copilot-assets-pack",
  "tags": ["enterprise", "dotnet"],
  "targets": ["copilot", "claude"],
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Selective Installation

# Install only prompts and agents
copilot-assets init --only prompts,agents

# Install everything except skills
copilot-assets init --exclude skills

# Just the instructions file (minimal)
copilot-assets init --only instruction

Interactive Mode

Review and select files individually or by folder using arrow-key navigation:

# Interactive installation - review each file/folder
copilot-assets init -i

# Interactive update - review only changed files
copilot-assets update -i

Features:

  • Source Selection - Choose between default templates or remote repository with ←/→ arrows
  • Folder Actions - For each folder, choose to add all, review one-by-one, or skip
  • File Selection - For individual files, choose install/update or skip
  • Visual Feedback - Color-coded status indicators (new files in green, modified in yellow)
  • Summary - See total files selected and skipped before commit

Example workflow:

Select template source:
 → Default templates (included with tool)    Remote repository (GitHub)...

Using default templates

  copilot-instructions.md (new)
   Install   Skip 
  ✓ Added

  prompts/ (3 files, 3 new)
   Add all   Review one-by-one   Skip folder 
  ✓ Added 3 files

Summary: 4 to install, 0 skipped

Preview Changes (Dry Run)

copilot-assets init --dry-run

Path-Specific Custom Instructions

The .github/instructions/ folder supports organizing multiple instruction files for different parts of your codebase. Each instruction file can include YAML frontmatter with glob patterns to specify which files they apply to.

Example: coding-standards.md

---
applyTo: "**/*.cs,**/*.ts,**/*.js,**/*.py"
---

# Coding Standards

Follow these coding standards when working on this project:
- Use clear, descriptive variable and function names
- Keep functions small and focused
- Add comments for complex logic

Interactive Mode Display:

  • Instructions are grouped by file (e.g., "Coding Standards Instructions", "Security Practices Instructions")
  • Each instruction file can be selected individually
  • Displayed with friendly title-cased names derived from filenames

Supported by:

  • GitHub Copilot (.github/instructions/)
  • Claude Code (.claude/instructions/)

When using --target copilot,claude, instruction files are adapted to each tool's native format while preserving the frontmatter and content.

Update to Latest Version

# Update the tool itself
dotnet tool update -g copilot-assets

# Then update assets in your project
cd your-project
copilot-assets update

Fleet Management

Manage assets across multiple repositories from a single configuration:

# Add repositories to your fleet
copilot-assets fleet add org/repo-1
copilot-assets fleet add org/repo-2 --source my-templates --target copilot,claude

# List all fleet repositories
copilot-assets fleet list

# Check sync status across all repos
copilot-assets fleet status

# Preview what sync would do (dry run)
copilot-assets fleet sync --dry-run

# Sync assets to all locally-cloned fleet repos
copilot-assets fleet sync

# Sync via pull requests (creates a branch + PR per changed repo)
copilot-assets fleet sync --pr

# Validate compliance across the fleet
copilot-assets fleet validate

# Remove a repository from the fleet
copilot-assets fleet remove org/repo-1

Fleet configuration supports per-repo overrides for source, targets, and branch, with fleet-wide defaults:

{
  "version": 1,
  "repos": [
    { "name": "org/repo-1", "source": "my-templates", "targets": ["copilot", "claude"] },
    { "name": "org/repo-2", "branch": "develop" }
  ],
  "defaults": {
    "source": "default",
    "targets": ["copilot"],
    "branch": "main"
  }
}

Fleet config is stored at ~/.config/copilot-assets/fleet.json.

List Installed Assets

copilot-assets list

# Filter by type
copilot-assets list --type prompts

Verify Asset Integrity

# Check if any files have been modified
copilot-assets verify

# Restore modified files to original state
copilot-assets verify --restore

# Verify only specific type
copilot-assets verify --only prompts

Validate Asset Compliance

# Development mode
copilot-assets validate

# CI/CD mode (strict validation, JSON output)
copilot-assets validate --ci

Validation includes:

  • Required file checks
  • SKILL.md validation (name and non-empty body)
  • Checksum integrity verification (strict mode treats modifications as errors)
  • Secret pattern detection (API keys, tokens, private keys)

SKILL.md Format

Skills use a cross-tool standard format. Each skill lives in its own directory with a SKILL.md file:

skills/
└── refactor/
    └── SKILL.md

SKILL.md files support optional YAML frontmatter:

---
name: refactor
description: Refactor code to improve quality
version: 1.0
---
# Refactor Code Skill

Refactor code to improve quality while preserving behavior.

## Refactoring Techniques
- Extract Method
- Rename for clarity
- Remove duplication

If no frontmatter is present, the skill name is extracted from the first markdown heading and the description from the first paragraph. The name field (or heading) is required; the body must not be empty.

When targeting multiple tools, skills are placed in each tool's native location:

Tool Skill Path
Copilot .github/skills/<name>/SKILL.md
Claude .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md

JSON Output

All commands support --json for machine-readable output:

copilot-assets init --json
copilot-assets update --json
copilot-assets list --json
copilot-assets verify --json
copilot-assets validate --json
copilot-assets fleet list --json
copilot-assets registry search dotnet --json

Diagnose Environment

copilot-assets doctor

Commands

copilot-assets init [options]       Initialize assets for target AI tools
copilot-assets update [options]     Update assets to latest version
copilot-assets config <command>     Manage remote template configuration
copilot-assets registry <command>   Discover and install community template packs
copilot-assets fleet <command>      Manage assets across multiple repositories
copilot-assets list [options]       List installed assets
copilot-assets verify [options]     Verify file integrity
copilot-assets validate [options]   Validate asset compliance
copilot-assets doctor               Check environment and diagnose issues
copilot-assets version              Display version information

Config Subcommands

copilot-assets config get <key>         Get configuration value (source, branch)
copilot-assets config set <key> <value> Set configuration value
copilot-assets config list              List all configuration
copilot-assets config reset             Reset to bundled templates

Registry Subcommands

copilot-assets registry search <query>  Search for template packs
copilot-assets registry list            List all available packs
copilot-assets registry info <name>     Show detailed pack information
copilot-assets registry install <name>  Install a pack as remote source
copilot-assets registry publish [path]  Validate and publish a template pack

Fleet Subcommands

copilot-assets fleet add <repo>         Add a repository to the fleet
copilot-assets fleet remove <repo>      Remove a repository from the fleet
copilot-assets fleet list               List all fleet repositories
copilot-assets fleet sync               Sync assets to all fleet repositories
copilot-assets fleet validate           Validate compliance across the fleet
copilot-assets fleet status             Show sync status for all fleet repos

Global Options

  • --json - Output results as JSON (all commands)

Command Options

init

  • <path> - Target directory (default: current directory)
  • -i, --interactive - Review and select files individually or by folder
  • -f, --force - Overwrite existing files
  • -s, --source <source> - Template source: 'default' or 'owner/repo[@branch]'
  • -t, --target <targets> - Target AI tools (comma-separated): copilot, claude
  • --no-git - Skip Git operations (staging/commits)
  • --only <types> - Install only specified types (instruction, prompts, agents, skills)
  • --exclude <types> - Exclude specified types
  • --dry-run - Preview changes without making modifications

update

  • <path> - Target directory (default: current directory)
  • -i, --interactive - Review and select files individually or by folder
  • -f, --force - Force update even if already at latest version
  • -s, --source <source> - Template source: 'default' or 'owner/repo[@branch]'
  • -t, --target <targets> - Target AI tools (comma-separated)
  • --no-git - Skip Git operations
  • --only <types> - Update only specified types
  • --exclude <types> - Exclude specified types
  • --dry-run - Preview changes without making modifications

list

  • <path> - Target directory (default: current directory)
  • --type <type> - Filter by asset type

verify

  • <path> - Target directory (default: current directory)
  • --restore - Restore modified files to original state
  • --only <type> - Verify only specified type

validate

  • <path> - Target directory (default: current directory)
  • --ci - CI mode with strict validation and JSON output

config

  • get <key> - Get configuration value (keys: source, branch)
  • set <key> <value> - Set configuration value
  • list - Show all configuration settings
  • reset - Reset to default bundled templates

registry

  • search <query> - Search packs by name, description, or tags
  • list - List all available packs
  • info <name> - Show detailed pack information
  • install <name> - Configure a pack as the remote template source
  • publish [path] - Validate and publish a template pack
    • --submit - Submit the pack to the registry by creating a GitHub issue

fleet

  • add <repo> - Add repository (owner/repo format)
    • --source <source> - Template source for this repo
    • --target <targets> - Target tools (comma-separated)
    • --branch <branch> - Branch to target
  • remove <repo> - Remove repository from fleet
  • list - List all fleet repositories with effective settings
  • sync - Sync assets to all locally-cloned fleet repositories
    • --dry-run - Preview changes without applying them
    • --pr - Create a pull request per changed repo instead of syncing directly
  • validate - Validate compliance across all fleet repos
  • status - Show sync status for all fleet repos

Template Sources

Default Templates (bundled)

  • Included with the tool
  • Always available offline
  • Updated with tool releases

Remote Templates (configurable)

  • Fetch from any GitHub repository
  • Interactive source selection with arrow keys
  • Supports custom organizational templates
  • Supports private repositories with authentication
  • Can override per-command with --source flag

Registry Packs (community)

  • Discoverable via copilot-assets registry search
  • Install with a single command
  • Curated template collections with multi-tool support

Template Resolution:

  • Interactive mode (-i): Prompts for source selection
  • Command-line (--source): Uses specified source
  • Configured remote: Uses saved configuration
  • Default: Uses bundled templates

Installed Asset Structure

Default output for Copilot:

.github/
├── copilot-instructions.md          # Main instructions file
├── .copilot-assets.json             # Manifest (auto-generated)
├── prompts/
│   ├── code-review.prompt.md
│   ├── generate-docs.prompt.md
│   └── generate-tests.prompt.md
├── agents/
│   ├── documenter.agent.md
│   └── reviewer.agent.md
├── skills/
│   ├── refactor/
│   │   └── SKILL.md                 # Cross-tool skill definition
│   └── analyze-file/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── instructions/
    ├── coding-standards.md          # Custom instructions (optional folder)
    └── security-practices.md

When targeting both tools (--target copilot,claude), additional Claude output is generated:

CLAUDE.md                            # Claude Code instructions
.claude/
├── commands/                        # Claude prompts & agents
└── skills/
    ├── refactor/
    │   └── SKILL.md
    └── analyze-file/
        └── SKILL.md

Security

  • Input validation - Repository names, branch names, and file paths are validated to prevent injection and path traversal attacks
  • Token redaction - Sensitive tokens (GitHub PATs, Bearer tokens, API keys) are redacted from error messages and logs
  • Manifest validation - Manifests are checked for excessive asset counts, path traversal, and valid checksums
  • Content limits - Files are limited to 1 MB and manifests to 100 assets to prevent DoS

See SECURITY.md for the full security policy.

Uninstall

dotnet tool uninstall -g copilot-assets

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

About

A .NET global tool for installing and managing GitHub Copilot assets (prompts, agents, instructions, skills) in your projects

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MIT license

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Releases 2

v1.1.0 Latest
Feb 3, 2026
+ 1 release

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