Sample Skills

Ready-to-use skill templates for GitHub Copilot CLI. Copy any skill folder to start using it immediately.

Quick Start

# Copy a skill to your personal skills folder
cp -r hello-world ~/.copilot/skills/

# Or copy to your project for team sharing
cp -r code-checklist .github/skills/

Available Skills

Skill	Description	Best For
hello-world	Minimal example (learning the format)	First-time skill creators
code-checklist	Python code quality checklist (PEP 8, type hints, validation)	Consistent quality checks
pytest-gen	Generate comprehensive pytest tests	Structured test generation
commit-message	Conventional commit messages	Standardized git history

How Skills Work

Skills are automatically triggered when your prompt matches the skill's description field. You don't need to invoke them manually.

copilot

> Check this code for quality issues
# Copilot detects this matches "code-checklist" skill and loads it automatically

> Generate a commit message
# Copilot loads the "commit-message" skill

You can also invoke skills directly:

> /code-checklist Check books.py
> /pytest-gen Generate tests for BookCollection
> /commit-message

Skill Structure

Each skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file:

skill-name/
└── SKILL.md    # Required: Contains frontmatter + instructions

The SKILL.md file has YAML frontmatter with name and description (both required):

---
name: my-skill
description: What this skill does and when to use it
---

# Skill Instructions

Your instructions here...

Finding More Skills

• github/awesome-copilot - Official GitHub resources with community skills
• /plugin marketplace - Browse and install skills from within Copilot CLI

Creating Your Own

1. Create a folder: mkdir ~/.copilot/skills/my-skill
2. Create SKILL.md with frontmatter
3. Add your instructions
4. Test by asking Copilot something that matches your description

See Chapter 05: Skills for detailed guidance.