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verified publisher icon colindembovsky

Add comprehensive GitHub Copilot instructions for repository development workflow

Open Copilot opened this issue 6 months ago • 0 comments

This PR adds a comprehensive .github/copilot-instructions.md file that provides GitHub Copilot with detailed guidance on how to work effectively in this Azure DevOps extension codebase.

What's Included

The instructions provide exhaustive guidance covering:

Build & Development Process

  • Bootstrap commands with validated timing (1-60s for yarn install, 3-15s for yarn install-libs)
  • NEVER CANCEL warnings with specific timeout recommendations (60+ minutes for builds)
  • TypeScript compilation workflow using tsc
  • Test suite execution (43 tests in ~10-15 seconds)

Task-Specific Knowledge

  • Documentation for all 9 Azure DevOps custom build tasks:
    • ReplaceTokens, VersionAssemblies, DacPacReport, Tokenizer, CoverageGate
    • TagBuild, AzureWebDeploy, DockerPublish (deprecated), RouteTraffic
  • Critical Node.js version requirements (DacPacReport requires ≤8.x, fails with Node.js 20+)
  • Manual validation scenarios with example token replacement workflows

Repository Structure & Navigation

  • Complete directory structure with key file locations
  • Common command outputs for quick reference
  • CI/CD pipeline documentation (Azure Pipelines, extension packaging)
  • Development workflow patterns and debugging guidance

Validation Approach

All commands and timings have been exhaustively tested and validated:

  • Fresh dependency installation tested from clean state
  • All 43 tests pass consistently
  • Build timing measurements across multiple runs
  • Special failure cases documented (DacPacReport Node.js limitation)

The instructions start with a firm directive to always follow these instructions first before falling back to additional search, ensuring Copilot uses this validated knowledge as the primary source of truth.

This enables any developer (or Copilot) to immediately become productive in the codebase after a fresh clone, with complete confidence in the documented commands and workflows.

Fixes #221.

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Copilot avatar Aug 13 '25 17:08 Copilot