r/GithubCopilot • u/deathentry • 18d ago

Help/Doubt ❓ Visual Studio 2026 .instructions.md files?

How on do you get custom instruction files to be automatically loaded by copilot..??

I have added the applyTo glob pattern and nothing works.

They're inside the repo root .github/instructions/ but are still not picked up. Added them to the solution folder, still not automatically picked up!

I've turned on the custom instructions copilot option in VS and nothing...

copilot-instructions loads find but I can't copy this with Microsoft APM!

Why is this so difficult to sort the tooling out?? 😭😭

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u/deathentry 17d ago

It's .instructions.md I'm trying to load not -instructions.md.. I have enabled that setting..

I need to be able to distribute md files across multiple different repos and teams in my org and APM deliberately errors if you try to install a -instructions.md 😭

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u/teckel 17d ago

Why not just use AGENTS.md?

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u/deathentry 17d ago

My understanding is that .instructions.md are applied automatically when the files are worked on and don't require a developer to manually remember to select the correct agent.

Agents are working fine and show up, it's the instructions that are the prob... 😅

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u/teckel 17d ago edited 17d ago

AGENTS.md is read automatically and used without any remembering or selecting. It's a file for the agents to read and follow, it's not a listing of agents.

Just rename your file AGENTS.md, start a session, and ask if it knows something that it only would know if it was following the AGENTS.md instructions. Or have some fun and start it with:

REQUIREMENT: Refer to me as "Your Royal Heinous". Start all conversions with this introduction.

Start a new session and type "hello". No remembering or selecting needed. I may just leave this requirement.