Add .github/copilot-instructions.md for agent onboarding#195
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Co-authored-by: jkiddo <211696+jkiddo@users.noreply.github.com>
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[WIP] Add Copilot instructions for onboarding repository
Add .github/copilot-instructions.md for agent onboarding
Nov 24, 2025
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Created comprehensive onboarding documentation for coding agents working with the dk-core FHIR Implementation Guide repository.
Content
Repository context: FHIR IG structure, FSH source files (25 files, ~4,300 lines), Danish healthcare identifiers (CPR, SOR), IPA profile variants
Build process:
_updatePublisher.sh→_genonce.sh→ validateoutput/qa.htmlinput/ignoreWarnings.txtProject layout: Root configs (sushi-config.yaml, ig.ini), FSH source structure (
input/fsh/), page content (input/pagecontent/), generated artifacts to ignoreCI/CD: GitHub Actions workflow using Docker image
hl7fhir/ig-publisher-base, 10-20 min builds on push/PR to main/masterDevelopment patterns: FSH profile syntax, identifier slicing, Danish-specific extensions, code systems and value sets
File is 257 lines (~1,365 words), fits within 2-page requirement.
Warning
Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)
I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:
tx.fhir.org/usr/bin/curl curl -sSf tx.fhir.org(dns block)If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:
Original prompt
Your task is to "onboard" this repository to Copilot coding agent by adding a .github/copilot-instructions.md file in the repository that contains information describing how a coding agent seeing it for the first time can work most efficiently.
You will do this task only one time per repository and doing a good job can SIGNIFICANTLY improve the quality of the agent's work, so take your time, think carefully, and search thoroughly before writing the instructions.
- Reduce the likelihood of a coding agent pull request getting rejected by the user due to generating code that fails the continuous integration build, fails a validation pipeline, or having misbehavior. - Minimize bash command and build failures. - Allow the agent to complete its task more quickly by minimizing the need for exploration using grep, find, str_replace_editor, and code search tools. - Instructions must be no longer than 2 pages. - Instructions must not be task specific.Add the following high level details about the codebase to reduce the amount of searching the agent has to do to understand the codebase each time:
Add information about how to build and validate changes so the agent does not need to search and find it each time.
List key facts about the layout and architecture of the codebase to help the agent find where to make changes with minimal searching.
- A description of the major architectural elements of the project, including the relative paths to the main project files, the location
- A description of the checks run prior to check in, including any GitHub workflows, continuous integration builds, or other validation pipelines.
- Document the steps so that the agent can replicate these itself.
- Any explicit validation steps that the agent can consider to have further confidence in its changes.
- Dependencies that aren't obvious from the layout or file structure.
- Finally, fill in any remaining space with detailed lists of the following, in order of priority: the list of files in the repo root, the
- Perform a comprehensive inventory of the codebase. Search for and view: - README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and all other documentation files. - Search the codebase for build steps and indications of workarounds like 'HACK', 'TODO', etc. - All scripts, particularly those pertaining to build and repo or environment setup. - All build and actions pipelines. - All project files. - All configuration and linting files. - For each file: - think: are the contents or the existence of the file information that the coding agent will need to implement, build, test, validate, or demo a code change? - If yes: - Document the command or information in detail. - Explicitly indicate which commands work and which do not and the order in which commands should be run. - Document any errors encountered as well as the steps taken to workaround them. - Document any other steps or information that the agent can use to reduce time spent exploring or trying and failing to run bash commands. - Finally, explicitly instruct the agent to trust the instructions and only perform a search if the information in the instruction...of configuration files for linting, compilation, testing, and preferences.
contents of the README, the contents of any key source files, the list of files in the next level down of directories, giving priority to the more structurally important and snippets of code from key source files, such as the one containing the main method.
✨ Let Copilot coding agent set things up for you — coding agent works faster and does higher quality work when set up for your repo.