COP-001: Empty Copilot Instruction File - GitHub Copilot

Summary

• Rule ID: COP-001
• Severity: HIGH
• Category: GitHub Copilot
• Normative Level: MUST
• Auto-Fix: No
• Verified On: 2026-02-26

Applicability

• Tool: github-copilot
• Version Range: unspecified
• Spec Revision: unspecified

Evidence Sources

• https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/custom-instructions-support
• https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/custom-instructions/adding-repository-custom-instructions-for-github-copilot
• https://github.blog/changelog/2025-08-28-copilot-coding-agent-now-supports-agents-md-custom-instructions/

Test Coverage Metadata

• Unit tests: true
• Fixture tests: true
• E2E tests: false

Examples

The following examples demonstrate what triggers this rule and how to fix it.

Invalid

Valid

# Copilot Instructions

Follow the project coding standards and use TypeScript strict mode.