GitHub Copilot Custom Instructions

Configure repository-specific instructions for GitHub Copilot.

Quick Start

Create .github/copilot-instructions.md in your repository:

Copilot Instructions

Code Style

• Use TypeScript with strict mode
• Prefer functional components with hooks
• Use Tailwind CSS for styling

Project Context

This is a Next.js 14 app using the App Router. API routes are in app/api/.

Effective Patterns Project Context

Project Context

Tech Stack

• Next.js 14 with App Router
• TypeScript 5.3+
• Tailwind CSS 3.4
• Prisma ORM with PostgreSQL

Architecture

• app/ - Next.js App Router pages and API routes
• components/ - React components
• lib/ - Utility functions and shared code
• prisma/ - Database schema and migrations

Code Standards

Code Standards

TypeScript

• Enable strict mode
• Prefer interface over type for object shapes
• Use explicit return types on functions

React

• Use functional components exclusively
• Prefer named exports
• Extract hooks to hooks/ directory

Error Handling

• Use Result pattern for fallible operations
• Always handle async errors with try/catch
• Log errors with structured format

Naming Conventions

Naming Conventions

Files

• Components: PascalCase (Button.tsx)
• Utilities: camelCase (formatDate.ts)
• Constants: SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE

Code

• Boolean variables: is, has, should* prefix
• Event handlers: handle* prefix (handleClick)
• Async functions: *Async suffix

Testing

Testing Guidelines

Unit Tests

• Use Vitest for unit testing
• Place tests next to source files (*.test.ts)
• Mock external dependencies

Test Patterns

```typescript describe('Component', () => { it('should render correctly', () => { // Arrange, Act, Assert pattern }); });

API Patterns

```markdown

API Patterns

Route Handlers

```typescript // Standard response format return NextResponse.json({ data: result, error: null, meta: { timestamp: Date.now() } });

// Error response return NextResponse.json( { data: null, error: { code: 'NOT_FOUND', message: '...' } }, { status: 404 } );

Validation Use Zod for request validation Validate early, fail fast

Do's and Don'ts

```markdown

Guidelines

Do

• Write self-documenting code
• Add JSDoc comments for public APIs
• Use meaningful variable names

Don't

• Use any type
• Leave console.log in production code
• Commit sensitive data

File Location

The file must be at .github/copilot-instructions.md (not in root).

Resources GitHub Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/customizing-copilot/adding-custom-instructions-for-github-copilot VS Code Copilot: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/copilot-customization