Agent skill · writing content · github
acreadiness-generate-instructions
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.
Why this skill is useful
Generates tailored AI agent instruction files with specific configurations and globs that enhance the AI's ability to understand and apply context-specific instructions.
What it needs
About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 37,534 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
/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: File Scope When to use --- --- --- .github/copilot-instructions.md Always-on, whole workspace Default — VS Code Copilot's native instruction file AGENTS.md Always-on, whole workspace Multi-agent repos (Copilot + Claude + others) .github/instructions/.instructions.md Scoped by applyTo glob Per-area / per-language rules in monorepos CLAUDE.md Claude-specific Add 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). …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills github/acreadiness-generate-instructions