GitHub Copilot offers several customization features that let you tailor its behavior to your workflow, your team's standards, and your project's needs. Use the tables below to find the right one for your use case.

Feature overview

This table shows what each customization feature is and where it lives.

Feature	What it is	Filename and location
Custom instructions	Always-on context that automatically applies to every interaction within its defined scope	.github/copilot-instructions.md (repo-wide), .github/instructions/*.instructions.md (path-specific), AGENTS.md (third-party agents), or personal/org settings via UI on GitHub
Prompt files	Reusable, standalone prompt template with input variables	.github/prompts/*.prompt.md
Custom agents	Specialist persona with its own instructions, tool restrictions, and context	.github/agents/AGENT-NAME.md (repo), agents/AGENT-NAME.md in .github-private repo (org/enterprise), or user profile
Subagents	Separate agent spawned by the main agent to handle delegated work in an isolated context	N/A (runtime process, not a user-configured file)
Agent skills	Folder of instructions, scripts, and resources that Copilot loads when relevant to a task	.github/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md (project) or ~/.copilot/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md (personal)
MCP servers	Connection to external systems, APIs, and databases	mcp.json (path varies by IDE), repo settings on GitHub (coding agent), or mcp-servers property in custom agent configurations

Usage comparison

This table helps you decide which customization feature to use.

Feature	How to trigger	Best for	Example use cases
Custom instructions	Automatic	Standards, guidelines, or expectations that apply broadly across a context	Enforce coding standards, accessibility rules, review checklists
Prompt files	Manual: reference directly in chat or use the prompt file picker	Focused single tasks you run once with different inputs each time	Generate unit tests, run a code review checklist
Custom agents	Manual: select from the agent dropdown in your IDE, on GitHub, or in Copilot CLI	Projects or processes with distinct stages that need specialized capabilities or strict handoffs	React reviewer agent, read-only auditing agent
Subagents	Automatic, or reference a subagent directly in your prompt	Complex subtasks that should run in isolation from the main agent	Codebase research, running test suites
Agent skills	Automatic: chosen by Copilot when relevant to your prompt	Multi-step workflows with bundled assets that should be loaded as needed	GitHub Actions failure debugging, deployment procedures, release note drafting
MCP servers	Automatic, or ask for a specific tool by name	Tasks that require access to external tools or real-time data	Manage issues and PRs (GitHub MCP server), automate browser testing (Playwright MCP server)

IDE and surface support

This table shows which customization features are supported in each IDE and surface. For the full Copilot feature matrix, see Copilot feature matrix.

GitHub recommends using the latest stable IDE, Copilot CLI, and Copilot extension versions to get the best Copilot experience.

Key:

• ✓ = supported
• ✗ = not supported
• P = under preview

Feature	VS Code	Visual Studio	JetBrains IDEs	Eclipse	Xcode	GitHub .com	Copilot CLI
Custom instructions	✓	✓	P	P	P	✓	✓
Prompt files	✓	✓	P	✗	P	✗	✓
Custom agents	✓	✗	P	P	P	✓	✓
Subagents	✓	✗	P	P	P	✗	✓
Agent skills	✓	✗	P	✗	✗	✓	✓
MCP servers	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

For a detailed breakdown of which types of custom instructions are supported in each IDE and surface, see Support for different types of custom instructions.

Further reading

• Customization library—a curated collection of examples