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Official agent skill

What Context Needed

by github in github/awesome-copilot

Ask Copilot what files it needs to see before answering a question

OfficialMITAuto-check passed

Install What Context Needed

skills CLI
$ npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill what-context-needed -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install github/awesome-copilot what-context-needed --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/what-context-needed .claude/skills/what-context-needed && 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
what-context-needed
GitHub stars
40k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~219 tokens
SKILL.md length
69 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
417
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Ask Copilot what files it needs to see before answering a question

  • Works in 4 steps: Based on my question, list the files you… → Explain why each file is relevant → Note any files you've already seen in… → …
  • SKILL.md covers My Question, Instructions and Output Format
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

What Context Needed is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Ask Copilot what files it needs to see before answering a question

Its SKILL.md is about 220 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

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.

Example prompts

  • “/what-context-needed”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Based on my question, list the files you would need to examine
  2. Explain why each file is relevant
  3. Note any files you've already seen in this conversation
  4. Identify what you're uncertain about

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

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    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

What Context Needed loads about 219 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 22 tokens; SKILL.md has 69 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~22
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~219

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). 69 words, ~219 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/what-context-needed/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
what-context-needed
description
Ask Copilot what files it needs to see before answering a question

What Context Do You Need?

Before answering my question, tell me what files you need to see.

My Question

{{question}}

Instructions

  1. Based on my question, list the files you would need to examine
  2. Explain why each file is relevant
  3. Note any files you've already seen in this conversation
  4. Identify what you're uncertain about

Output Format

markdown
## Files I Need

### Must See (required for accurate answer)
- `path/to/file.ts` — [why needed]

### Should See (helpful for complete answer)
- `path/to/file.ts` — [why helpful]

### Already Have
- `path/to/file.ts` — [from earlier in conversation]

### Uncertainties
- [What I'm not sure about without seeing the code]

After I provide these files, I'll ask my question again.

© 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/what-context-needed 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

What Context Needed 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.

What Context Needed compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
What Context Needed this skillgithub/awesome-copilot40k1 repos~219Automated safety check: PassMIT
Chatexport Need Minersickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~3.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
You Might Not Need A Callbacksimstudioai/sim30k—~904Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
You Might Not Need A Commentsimstudioai/sim30k—~947Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
You Might Not Need A Memosimstudioai/sim30k—~657Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
You Might Not Need Statesimstudioai/sim30k—~672Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about What Context Needed

What does What Context Needed do?

Ask Copilot what files it needs to see before answering a question. What Context Needed is an agent skill from github/awesome-copilot, published by the product's own GitHub organization.

How do I install What Context Needed in Claude Code?

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

How do I install What Context Needed in Codex?

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

Can I use What Context Needed 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 what-context-needed -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/what-context-needed, .gemini/skills/what-context-needed, .github/skills/what-context-needed and .opencode/skills/what-context-needed in your project.

What does What Context Needed need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: What Context Needed is instructions for the agent only.

Does What Context Needed access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is What Context Needed 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 What Context Needed use?

What Context Needed 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 What Context Needed use?

About 219 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 876 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 What Context Needed?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with What Context Needed: Chatexport Need Miner (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars), You Might Not Need A Callback (simstudioai/sim, 30k stars), You Might Not Need A Comment (simstudioai/sim, 30k stars) and You Might Not Need A Memo (simstudioai/sim, 30k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains What Context Needed?

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.