diff --git a/.github/actions/compute-text/action.yml b/.github/actions/compute-text/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c32af2634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/compute-text/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+name: "Compute current body text"
+description: "Computes the current body text based on the GitHub event context"
+outputs:
+  text:
+    description: "The computed current body text based on event type"
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Compute current body text
+      id: compute-text
+      uses: actions/github-script@v7
+      with:
+        script: |
+          let text = '';
+          
+          // Determine current body text based on event context
+          switch (context.eventName) {
+            case 'issues':
+              // For issues: title + body
+              if (context.payload.issue) {
+                const title = context.payload.issue.title || '';
+                const body = context.payload.issue.body || '';
+                text = `${title}\n\n${body}`;
+              }
+              break;
+              
+            case 'pull_request':
+              // For pull requests: title + body
+              if (context.payload.pull_request) {
+                const title = context.payload.pull_request.title || '';
+                const body = context.payload.pull_request.body || '';
+                text = `${title}\n\n${body}`;
+              }
+              break;
+              
+            case 'issue_comment':
+              // For issue comments: comment body
+              if (context.payload.comment) {
+                text = context.payload.comment.body || '';
+              }
+              break;
+              
+            case 'pull_request_review_comment':
+              // For PR review comments: comment body
+              if (context.payload.comment) {
+                text = context.payload.comment.body || '';
+              }
+              break;
+              
+            case 'pull_request_review':
+              // For PR reviews: review body
+              if (context.payload.review) {
+                text = context.payload.review.body || '';
+              }
+              break;
+              
+            default:
+              // Default: empty text
+              text = '';
+              break;
+          }
+          
+          // display in logs
+          console.log(`text: ${text}`);
+
+          // Set the text as output
+          core.setOutput('text', text);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/actions/reaction/action.yml b/.github/actions/reaction/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9858b7290c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/reaction/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+name: "Add/Remove reaction on triggering item"
+description: "Adds or removes a reaction on the issue/PR/comment that triggered the workflow"
+inputs:
+  github-token:
+    description: "Token with issues/pull-requests write (GITHUB_TOKEN is fine)"
+    required: true
+  mode:
+    description: "'add' or 'remove'"
+    required: true
+  reaction:
+    description: "One of +1, -1, laugh, confused, heart, hooray, rocket, eyes"
+    required: false
+    default: "eyes"
+  reaction-id:
+    description: "Optional reaction id to remove (if known)"
+    required: false
+outputs:
+  reaction-id:
+    description: "ID of the reaction that was added (for later removal)"
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Compute reactions API endpoint for the triggering payload
+      id: ctx
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+        GITHUB_EVENT_PATH: ${{ github.event_path }}
+        GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+        owner="${GITHUB_REPOSITORY%%/*}"
+        repo="${GITHUB_REPOSITORY##*/}"
+        ev="$GITHUB_EVENT_PATH"
+
+        case "$GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" in
+          issues)
+            number=$(jq -r '.issue.number' "$ev")
+            endpoint="/repos/$owner/$repo/issues/$number/reactions"
+            ;;
+          issue_comment)
+            cid=$(jq -r '.comment.id' "$ev")
+            endpoint="/repos/$owner/$repo/issues/comments/$cid/reactions"
+            ;;
+          pull_request|pull_request_target)
+            number=$(jq -r '.pull_request.number' "$ev")
+            # PRs are "issues" for the reactions endpoint
+            endpoint="/repos/$owner/$repo/issues/$number/reactions"
+            ;;
+          pull_request_review_comment)
+            cid=$(jq -r '.comment.id' "$ev")
+            endpoint="/repos/$owner/$repo/pulls/comments/$cid/reactions"
+            ;;
+          *)
+            echo "Unsupported event: $GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+        esac
+
+        echo "endpoint=$endpoint" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+    - name: Add reaction
+      if: ${{ inputs.mode == 'add' }}
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
+        ENDPOINT: ${{ steps.ctx.outputs.endpoint }}
+        REACTION: ${{ inputs.reaction }}
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+        # Create (or fetch existing) reaction
+        # The API returns the reaction object (201 on create, 200 if it already existed)
+        resp=$(gh api \
+          -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+          -X POST "$ENDPOINT" \
+          -f content="$REACTION" \
+          || true)
+
+        # If a concurrent create happened, fall back to listing to find our reaction
+        if [ -z "${resp:-}" ] || [ "$resp" = "null" ]; then
+          resp=$(gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" "$ENDPOINT")
+          rid=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r --arg r "$REACTION" \
+            '.[] | select(.content==$r and .user.login=="github-actions[bot]") | .id' | head -n1)
+        else
+          rid=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r '.id')
+          if [ "$rid" = "null" ] || [ -z "$rid" ]; then
+            # fallback to list, just in case
+            list=$(gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" "$ENDPOINT")
+            rid=$(echo "$list" | jq -r --arg r "$REACTION" \
+              '.[] | select(.content==$r and .user.login=="github-actions[bot]") | .id' | head -n1)
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        if [ -z "${rid:-}" ]; then
+          echo "Warning: could not determine reaction id; cleanup will list/filter." >&2
+        fi
+
+        echo "reaction-id=${rid:-}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+    - name: Remove reaction
+      if: ${{ inputs.mode == 'remove' }}
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
+        ENDPOINT: ${{ steps.ctx.outputs.endpoint }}
+        REACTION: ${{ inputs.reaction }}
+        REACTION_ID_IN: ${{ inputs.reaction-id }}
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+
+        delete_by_id () {
+          local rid="$1"
+          if [ -n "$rid" ] && [ "$rid" != "null" ]; then
+            gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -X DELETE "/reactions/$rid" || true
+          fi
+        }
+
+        if [ -n "$REACTION_ID_IN" ]; then
+          # Fast path: we were given the id from the add step
+          delete_by_id "$REACTION_ID_IN"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        # Fallback: list reactions on the same subject, and delete the bot's matching reaction(s)
+        list=$(gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" "$ENDPOINT" || echo "[]")
+        echo "$list" | jq -r --arg r "$REACTION" '
+          .[] | select(.content==$r and .user.login=="github-actions[bot]") | .id
+        ' | while read -r rid; do
+          delete_by_id "$rid"
+        done
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/gh-aw/main.go b/cmd/gh-aw/main.go
index 5f465808b7..2dd26c5fd5 100644
--- a/cmd/gh-aw/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh-aw/main.go
@@ -205,11 +205,12 @@ var compileCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		validate, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("validate")
 		autoCompile, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("auto-compile")
 		watch, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("watch")
+		instructions, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("instructions")
 		if err := validateEngine(engineOverride); err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatErrorMessage(err.Error()))
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
-		if err := cli.CompileWorkflows(file, verbose, engineOverride, validate, autoCompile, watch); err != nil {
+		if err := cli.CompileWorkflows(file, verbose, engineOverride, validate, autoCompile, watch, instructions); err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatErrorMessage(err.Error()))
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
@@ -322,6 +323,7 @@ func init() {
 	compileCmd.Flags().Bool("validate", false, "Enable GitHub Actions workflow schema validation")
 	compileCmd.Flags().Bool("auto-compile", false, "Generate auto-compile workflow file for automatic compilation")
 	compileCmd.Flags().BoolP("watch", "w", false, "Watch for changes to workflow files and recompile automatically")
+	compileCmd.Flags().Bool("instructions", false, "Generate or update GitHub Copilot instructions file")
 
 	// Add flags to remove command
 	removeCmd.Flags().Bool("keep-orphans", false, "Skip removal of orphaned include files that are no longer referenced by any workflow")
diff --git a/pkg/cli/commands.go b/pkg/cli/commands.go
index 68b69ac594..6e4eb3e19c 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/commands.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/commands.go
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ func AddWorkflow(workflow string, number int, verbose bool, engineOverride strin
 }
 
 // CompileWorkflows compiles markdown files into GitHub Actions workflow files
-func CompileWorkflows(markdownFile string, verbose bool, engineOverride string, validate bool, autoCompile bool, watch bool) error {
+func CompileWorkflows(markdownFile string, verbose bool, engineOverride string, validate bool, autoCompile bool, watch bool, writeInstructions bool) error {
 	// Create compiler with verbose flag and AI engine override
 	compiler := workflow.NewCompiler(verbose, engineOverride, GetVersion())
 
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ func CompileWorkflows(markdownFile string, verbose bool, engineOverride string,
 		}
 
 		// Ensure copilot instructions are present
-		if err := ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose); err != nil {
+		if err := ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose, writeInstructions); err != nil {
 			if verbose {
 				fmt.Printf("Warning: Failed to update copilot instructions: %v\n", err)
 			}
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ func CompileWorkflows(markdownFile string, verbose bool, engineOverride string,
 	}
 
 	// Ensure copilot instructions are present
-	if err := ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose); err != nil {
+	if err := ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose, writeInstructions); err != nil {
 		if verbose {
 			fmt.Printf("Warning: Failed to update copilot instructions: %v\n", err)
 		}
@@ -1265,12 +1265,8 @@ func compileWorkflow(filePath string, verbose bool, engineOverride string) error
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Ensure copilot instructions are present
-	if err := ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose); err != nil {
-		if verbose {
-			fmt.Printf("Warning: Failed to update copilot instructions: %v\n", err)
-		}
-	}
+	// Note: Instructions are only written when explicitly requested via the compile command flag
+	// This helper function is used in contexts where instructions should not be automatically written
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -1354,7 +1350,11 @@ func ensureGitAttributes() error {
 }
 
 // ensureCopilotInstructions ensures that .github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.md contains the copilot instructions
-func ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose bool) error {
+func ensureCopilotInstructions(verbose bool, writeInstructions bool) error {
+	if !writeInstructions {
+		return nil // Skip writing instructions if flag is not set
+	}
+
 	gitRoot, err := findGitRoot()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err // Not in a git repository, skip
diff --git a/pkg/cli/commands_test.go b/pkg/cli/commands_test.go
index 262f84c355..1df130b601 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/commands_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/commands_test.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func TestCompileWorkflows(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			err := CompileWorkflows(tt.markdownFile, false, "", false, false, false)
+			err := CompileWorkflows(tt.markdownFile, false, "", false, false, false, false)
 
 			if tt.expectError && err == nil {
 				t.Errorf("Expected error for test '%s', got nil", tt.name)
@@ -180,13 +180,13 @@ func TestAllCommandsExist(t *testing.T) {
 		name        string
 	}{
 		{func() error { return ListWorkflows(false) }, false, "ListWorkflows"},
-		{func() error { return AddWorkflow("", 1, false, "", "", false) }, false, "AddWorkflow (empty name)"},     // Shows help when empty, doesn't error
-		{func() error { return CompileWorkflows("", false, "", false, false, false) }, false, "CompileWorkflows"}, // Should succeed when .github/workflows directory exists
-		{func() error { return RemoveWorkflows("test", false) }, false, "RemoveWorkflows"},                        // Should handle missing directory gracefully
-		{func() error { return StatusWorkflows("test", false) }, false, "StatusWorkflows"},                        // Should handle missing directory gracefully
-		{func() error { return EnableWorkflows("test") }, false, "EnableWorkflows"},                               // Should handle missing directory gracefully
-		{func() error { return DisableWorkflows("test") }, false, "DisableWorkflows"},                             // Should handle missing directory gracefully
-		{func() error { return RunWorkflowOnGitHub("", false) }, true, "RunWorkflowOnGitHub"},                     // Should error with empty workflow name
+		{func() error { return AddWorkflow("", 1, false, "", "", false) }, false, "AddWorkflow (empty name)"},            // Shows help when empty, doesn't error
+		{func() error { return CompileWorkflows("", false, "", false, false, false, false) }, false, "CompileWorkflows"}, // Should compile existing markdown files successfully
+		{func() error { return RemoveWorkflows("test", false) }, false, "RemoveWorkflows"},                               // Should handle missing directory gracefully
+		{func() error { return StatusWorkflows("test", false) }, false, "StatusWorkflows"},                               // Should handle missing directory gracefully
+		{func() error { return EnableWorkflows("test") }, false, "EnableWorkflows"},                                      // Should handle missing directory gracefully
+		{func() error { return DisableWorkflows("test") }, false, "DisableWorkflows"},                                    // Should handle missing directory gracefully
+		{func() error { return RunWorkflowOnGitHub("", false) }, true, "RunWorkflowOnGitHub"},                            // Should error with empty workflow name
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/copilot_instructions_test.go b/pkg/cli/copilot_instructions_test.go
index 4ecc354432..b1c93920f9 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/copilot_instructions_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/copilot_instructions_test.go
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@ func TestEnsureCopilotInstructions(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 			}
 
-			// Call the function
-			err = ensureCopilotInstructions(false)
+			// Call the function with writeInstructions=true to test the functionality
+			err = ensureCopilotInstructions(false, true)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("ensureCopilotInstructions() returned error: %v", err)
 			}
@@ -93,6 +93,40 @@ func TestEnsureCopilotInstructions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestEnsureCopilotInstructions_WithWriteInstructionsFalse(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary directory for testing
+	tempDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Change to temp directory and initialize git repo for findGitRoot to work
+	oldWd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	defer func() {
+		_ = os.Chdir(oldWd)
+	}()
+	err := os.Chdir(tempDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to change directory: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Initialize git repo
+	if err := exec.Command("git", "init").Run(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to init git repo: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	copilotDir := filepath.Join(tempDir, ".github", "instructions")
+	copilotInstructionsPath := filepath.Join(copilotDir, "github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md")
+
+	// Call the function with writeInstructions=false
+	err = ensureCopilotInstructions(false, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ensureCopilotInstructions() returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Check that file does not exist
+	if _, err := os.Stat(copilotInstructionsPath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected copilot instructions file to not exist when writeInstructions=false")
+	}
+}
+
 func min(a, b int) int {
 	if a < b {
 		return a