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Official agent skill

Acreadiness Generate Instructions

by github in github/awesome-copilot

Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Acreadiness Generate Instructions

skills CLI
$ npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill acreadiness-generate-instructions -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot acreadiness-generate-instructions --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions .claude/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
acreadiness-generate-instructions
GitHub stars
40k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
892 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
417
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command.

  • Works in 4 steps: Read agentrc.config.json to discover… → Run agentrc instructions --areas (or… → Wrap each area's content in… → …
  • Tasks that involve Agent instruction files
  • SKILL.md covers Output options, Strategies, Per-area files with applyTo and Steps, plus 1 more section
  • Calls npx

What it does

Acreadiness Generate Instructions is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command. Produces .github/copilot-instructions.md (default, recommended for Copilot in VS Code) plus optional per-area .instructions.md files with applyTo globs for monorepos. Use after running /acreadiness-assess to close gaps in the AI Tooling pillar.

Its SKILL.md is about 2.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering Agent instruction files and Monorepo tooling. It works with Visual Studio Code and GitHub. The repository describes itself as: Community-contributed instructions, agents, skills, and configurations to help you make the most of GitHub Copilot. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Agent instruction files
  • Tasks that involve Monorepo tooling

Example prompts

  • “/acreadiness-generate-instructions”

Requirements

  • Node.js

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Read agentrc.config.json to discover declared areas and their paths / globs. If paths is missing, ask the user for the glob (e.g…
  2. Run agentrc instructions --areas (or --area ) to produce the per-area body content.
  3. Wrap each area's content in .github/instructions/.instructions.md with the applyTo frontmatter taken from the area's paths. If the user…
  4. Leave the main file alone — the root .github/copilot-instructions.md stays as the always-on instructions; .instructions.md files only kick…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 727ff2e. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • npx

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Acreadiness Generate Instructions loads about 2.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 89 tokens; SKILL.md has 892 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~89
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.1k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from github/awesome-copilot at commit 727ff2e, republished under its MIT licence (© github). 892 words, ~2,104 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
acreadiness-generate-instructions
description
Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command. Produces .github/copilot-instructions.md (default, recommended for Copilot in VS Code) plus optional per-area .instructions.md files with applyTo globs for monorepos. Use after running /acreadiness-assess to close gaps in the AI Tooling pillar.
argument-hint
[--output .github/copilot-instructions.md|AGENTS.md] [--strategy flat|nested] [--areas | --area <name>] [--apply-to <glob>] [--claude-md] [--dry-run]

/acreadiness-generate-instructions — write AI agent instructions

Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, regenerate, or refresh their custom instructions for AI coding agents (Copilot, Claude, etc.). This is the Generate step in AgentRC's Measure → Generate → Maintain loop and the single highest-leverage action for the AI Tooling pillar.

Output options

VS Code recognises several instruction file types — AgentRC generates the most common ones:

FileScopeWhen to use
.github/copilot-instructions.mdAlways-on, whole workspaceDefault — VS Code Copilot's native instruction file
AGENTS.mdAlways-on, whole workspaceMulti-agent repos (Copilot + Claude + others)
.github/instructions/*.instructions.mdScoped by applyTo globPer-area / per-language rules in monorepos
CLAUDE.mdClaude-specificAdd via --claude-md (nested only)

Strategies

  • flat (default) — single .github/copilot-instructions.md at the chosen path. Simple, easy to review.
  • nested — hub at .github/copilot-instructions.md + per-topic detail files at .github/instructions/<topic>.instructions.md, each with an applyTo glob so VS Code only loads the topic when it's relevant. Better for large or multi-stack repos.

Why .github/instructions/ and not .agents/? AgentRC's default nested layout writes to .agents/, which is the right home for agent-agnostic repos (Copilot + Claude + Cursor reading AGENTS.md). For VS Code Copilot specifically, the native location is .github/instructions/ with applyTo frontmatter — that's what Copilot auto-discovers. This skill rewrites AgentRC's nested output to the VS Code-native location whenever the main output is .github/copilot-instructions.md. If you instead chose --output AGENTS.md, nested keeps AgentRC's default .agents/ layout.

For monorepos, generate area-scoped instructions with --areas, --area <name>, or --areas-only. Areas are defined in agentrc.config.json. Per-area output is written as VS Code .instructions.md files with an applyTo glob (see below).

Topic vs area .instructions.md files

Both end up in .github/instructions/ but they answer different questions:

KindFilename exampleapplyTo exampleWhere it comes from
Topic (nested)testing.instructions.md**/*.{test,spec}.{ts,tsx,js}AgentRC --strategy nested topic split
Area (monorepo)frontend.instructions.mdapps/frontend/**agentrc.config.json areas + --areas

You can have both at once: a nested set of topic files plus per-area files for a monorepo.

Per-area files with applyTo

When the user opts into areas, emit one VS Code-native .instructions.md file per area at .github/instructions/<area>.instructions.md. Each file MUST start with frontmatter declaring the glob the rules apply to:

markdown
---
applyTo: "apps/frontend/**"
---

# Frontend area instructions

…AgentRC-generated content for this area…

Workflow:

  1. Read agentrc.config.json to discover declared areas and their paths / globs. If paths is missing, ask the user for the glob (e.g. src/api/**).
  2. Run agentrc instructions --areas (or --area <name>) to produce the per-area body content.
  3. Wrap each area's content in .github/instructions/<area>.instructions.md with the applyTo frontmatter taken from the area's paths. If the user passed --apply-to <glob> on a single-area call, use that glob verbatim.
  4. Leave the main file alone — the root .github/copilot-instructions.md stays as the always-on instructions; .instructions.md files only kick in for matching paths.

Naming: lowercase, kebab-case area name. Examples: .github/instructions/frontend.instructions.md, .github/instructions/api.instructions.md, .github/instructions/infra.instructions.md.

Show full SKILL.md (465 more words)Show less

Steps

  1. Pick the target file. Default to .github/copilot-instructions.md. Switch to AGENTS.md only if the user mentions multi-agent / Claude / Cursor support.
  2. Always ask which strategy to use — flat or nested — unless the user already specified one in their message or via --strategy. Present the trade-off briefly:
    • Flat (default) — one .github/copilot-instructions.md. Simple, easy to review in a single PR. Best for small/medium repos with one stack.
    • Nested — hub .github/copilot-instructions.md + per-topic .github/instructions/<topic>.instructions.md files (each with an applyTo glob so VS Code only loads them when relevant). Best for large or multi-stack repos. Add --claude-md to also emit CLAUDE.md. Recommend nested proactively when the repo has > 5 top-level directories, multiple stacks, or already uses a monorepo tool (turbo/nx/pnpm workspaces).
  3. Detect monorepo areas by reading agentrc.config.json. If areas exist, ask the user whether they want per-area .instructions.md files with applyTo in addition to the root file. Default to "yes" when agentrc.config.json declares areas.
  4. Run dry-run first so the user can preview:
    bash
    npx -y github:microsoft/agentrc instructions --output <file> --strategy <flat|nested> [--areas|--area <name>] [--claude-md] --dry-run
  5. Show a short summary of what would change — files that would be created or overwritten, area count + their applyTo globs, model used (default claude-sonnet-4.6).
  6. On confirmation, run the same command without --dry-run (and optionally --force if files already exist).
  7. Post-process layout for Copilot output:
    • If --output ends in copilot-instructions.md and strategy is nested: move/rewrite AgentRC's .agents/<topic>.md files to .github/instructions/<topic>.instructions.md. Add frontmatter to each file with an appropriate applyTo glob (see "Topic applyTo defaults" below). Delete the now-empty .agents/ directory.
    • If --areas was used: also write .github/instructions/<area>.instructions.md for every area, using each area's paths from agentrc.config.json as the applyTo glob (override with --apply-to for single-area calls).
    • If --output AGENTS.md was chosen: keep AgentRC's native .agents/ layout for nested — agent-agnostic readers expect it there. Create the .github/instructions/ directory if missing.
Topic applyTo defaults

When promoting AgentRC's nested topic files to .instructions.md, use these defaults unless the user specifies otherwise:

TopicDefault applyTo
testing**/*.{test,spec}.{ts,tsx,js,jsx,mjs,cjs}
style / code-quality / formatting**/*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx,mjs,cjs,py,go,rs,java,kt,cs}
build / ci**/{package.json,turbo.json,nx.json,.github/workflows/**}
docs**/*.md
security**
anything else / hub-level**
8. Verify by reading the generated file(s) back and showing the user a 1-paragraph synopsis: stack detected, conventions captured, length, list of .instructions.md files with their globs.
9. Suggest next steps:
  • Re-run the assess skill to confirm the AI Tooling pillar score improved.
  • If the user already has both copilot-instructions.md and AGENTS.md, recommend consolidating to a single source of truth (AgentRC flags this at maturity Level 2+).

Notes

  • AgentRC reads your actual code — no templates. Output reflects detected languages, frameworks, and conventions.
  • --claude-md (nested strategy only) also emits CLAUDE.md.
  • VS Code applies .instructions.md files automatically when the active file matches applyTo. The root .github/copilot-instructions.md always loads.
  • Never run this skill non-interactively in CI; instructions are part of the repo and should land via PR.

© github, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions of github/awesome-copilot.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 727ff2e

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in github/awesome-copilot, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Acreadiness Generate Instructions next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Acreadiness Generate Instructions

What does Acreadiness Generate Instructions do?

Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command. Acreadiness Generate Instructions is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Generate tailored AI agent instruction files via AgentRC instructions command.

When should I use Acreadiness Generate Instructions?

Acreadiness Generate Instructions fits situations like: tasks that involve Agent instruction files; tasks that involve Monorepo tooling.

How do I install Acreadiness Generate Instructions in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill acreadiness-generate-instructions -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions in github/awesome-copilot) into .claude/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Acreadiness Generate Instructions in Codex?

Run `npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill acreadiness-generate-instructions -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions in github/awesome-copilot) into .agents/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Acreadiness Generate Instructions in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill acreadiness-generate-instructions -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions, .gemini/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions, .github/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions and .opencode/skills/acreadiness-generate-instructions in your project.

What does Acreadiness Generate Instructions need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Acreadiness Generate Instructions needs the command-line tools its instructions call (npx). Our summary lists: Node.js.

Does Acreadiness Generate Instructions access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Acreadiness Generate Instructions safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Acreadiness Generate Instructions use?

Acreadiness Generate Instructions is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Acreadiness Generate Instructions use?

About 2.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Acreadiness Generate Instructions?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Acreadiness Generate Instructions: Openiap Workflows (hyodotdev/openiap, 154 stars), Rocky Release (rocky-data/rocky, 304 stars), Mariadb Operator PR Review (mariadb-operator/mariadb-operator, 1k stars) and Lint Repository Markdown (codsen/codsen, 214 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Acreadiness Generate Instructions?

github (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in github/awesome-copilot, which has 39,748 GitHub stars. The repository holds 417 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: github/awesome-copilot on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.