Agent Skills for GitHub Copilot
Copilot lives where the code lives, so it's the natural place for skills that encode team conventions: how we build a landing page, how we render a chart, how we produce release assets. Commit the skill once and every contributor's agent inherits the same taste.
Where Copilot looks for skills
| Scope | Path |
|---|---|
| Project | .github/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
| Project (compatible) | .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
| Project (cross-agent) | .agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
| Personal | ~/.copilot/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
| Personal (cross-agent) | ~/.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md |
Copilot supports the same SKILL.md format other agents use, which means a skill library can be shared across a mixed team without rewriting anything.
Install for a team
- Create
.github/skills/<name>/in the repo. - Add
SKILL.mdand any assets next to it. - Commit, open a PR, and mention the skill in the description.
- In Copilot Chat, ask for the outcome and reference the file if it doesn't pick it up.
First installs for product teams
| Skill | What it produces | Installs |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon SaaS Landing | A SaaS marketing page | 191 |
| Slate Admin Console | An admin UI shell | 287 |
| Activity Calendar Chart | An activity heatmap component | 186 |
| Event Bar Chart | A responsive bar chart | 53 |
| Portrait Overlay Testimonials | A testimonial section | 49 |
| Notion Style OG Image | Social preview images | 197 |
Governance notes
- Review skills like code: they can ship scripts.
- Pin versions in the folder name or a
versionfield so a silent update can't change output. - Keep personal experiments in
~/.copilot/skills, not in the repo.
FAQ
Does Copilot read Claude skills? Yes, .claude/skills is one of the supported project locations.
Do skills run automatically? They're selected by relevance; scripts only run when the agent executes them, subject to your approvals.
Can I share one library across agents? Put it in .agents/skills — Cursor, Gemini CLI and Copilot all read it.