GitHub Copilot app for Beginners: How to teach Copilot about your codebase

Context matters when you’re working with AI. Every codebase has its own house rules: how components are structured, which scripts to run, and which conventions apply to different frameworks and file types.

Copilot can help you make changes across a project, but it works best when it knows those rules, too. Much of that knowledge can live inside the repository, so Copilot can pick it up automatically instead of requiring you to explain the same standards, scripts, and workflows every time you start a new task.

In this installment of our GitHub Copilot app for Beginners series, we’ll look at four ways to tailor how Copilot works with your project:

Custom instructions communicate the conventions Copilot should follow.

Agent skills package repeatable procedures.

Custom agents bring specialized guidance to larger tasks.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers connect Copilot to external tools and data sources, expanding what it can do.

Let’s look at how each one works and how they can …