Copilot Agent Patterns Skill

Purpose

Provides proven patterns for designing, implementing, and orchestrating GitHub Copilot custom agents.

Agent Design Patterns

Specialist Agent Pattern

• Focused on single domain expertise

• Minimal tool set (view , edit , create , shell , search_code )

• Clear scope boundaries (MUST/MUST NOT)

• Skills integration references

Orchestrator Agent Pattern

• Broad tool access (tools: ["*"] )

• Creates and assigns GitHub issues

• Delegates to specialist agents

• Tracks progress and quality

YAML Frontmatter Standards

name: agent-name # Lowercase, hyphen-separated description: Brief expertise # Max 200 characters tools: ["tool1", "tool2"] # Minimal set for non-meta agents

Collaboration Patterns

• Sequential: Task agent → creates issues → assigns specialists

• Parallel: Multiple specialists work on different scopes simultaneously

• Stacked PRs: Foundation PR → Implementation PR → Polish PR (using base_ref)

Agent Boundaries

• Each agent respects its expertise area

• Delegates outside its scope

• References skills library constantly

• Follows ISMS policies automatically

Copilot Coding Agent Tools

• assign_copilot_to_issue — with base_ref and custom_instructions

• create_pull_request_with_copilot — with base_ref and custom_agent

• get_copilot_job_status — for tracking progress

Best Practices

• Focus on expertise area

• Complete work autonomously when possible

• Test changes thoroughly

• Document decisions

• Only ask when genuinely ambiguous

Related Policies

• Secure Development Policy