README.md

Skills Exercise Development

The following is a list of guides and references for a deeper understanding of making exercises

Guides

• Make an Outline - Plan the exercise.

  • Create a draft with Copilot that includes all critical information.
  • Include important considerations.
  • Refine early to save time later.

• Make an Exercise - Use the outline to create an actual exercise.

  • Bootstrap a draft exercise with Copilot.
  • Refine to make it approachable and fun.
  • Use formatting tips to avoid typical mistakes.

• Test a Workflow - Verify the technical functionality of the exercise.

  • Running transition workflows locally
  • Verifying grading workflows locally
  • Example event payloads

• Test an Exercise - Verify the exercise is consistent for learners.

  • Verifying instructions
  • Predicting for failure points
  • Getting feedback from testers

Configuration

• Testing Settings - How do I set up local testing?
• Workspace Settings - Where should I put a setting?
• MCP Server Settings - How do I enable the GitHub MCP server?
• Workspace Permissions - How do I change my codespace permissions to work across multiple organizations.

Copilot discoverability

This repository supports both repo Agent Skills in .github/skills/ and slash prompts in .github/prompts/.

• Use natural language when you want Copilot to select the right repo skill automatically.
• Use a slash prompt when you want to invoke a specific workflow explicitly.

Available repo Agent Skills

• create-exercise-outline - Plan or refine a new GitHub Skills exercise outline.
• bootstrap-exercise-from-outline - Turn an approved outline into exercise files and workflows.
• review-exercise - Review an exercise draft for learner flow, formatting, and workflow correctness.
• publish-exercise - Prepare and publish an exercise repository safely to GitHub.

Copilot CLI tips

• Use /skills to view and toggle loaded skills.
• Use /skills info to inspect skill details and location.
• Use /skills reload after adding or editing skills in the current session.

Note

The above commands are referring to Agent Skills available to Copilot, not GitHub Skills exercises.

Reference

The following provide the role/purpose of components in a Skills exercise.

• Exercise - A GitHub repository with files for teaching a specific Skill.

• Exercise Step - The theory and practical activity used for teaching 1 step in an exercise.

• Exercise Step Workflow - The GitHub workflow that provides feedback and transitions between steps.