GitHub Copilot skills
How to use Skills in GitHub Copilot: where Copilot reads them, how skilld installs them, and a curated list with authors. The same Skill runs in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and every other Agent skilld targets.
Agents
npx skilld run owner/repo/skillGitHub Copilot reads Agent Skills from .github/skills. The Copilot coding agent on github.com, the Copilot CLI, and Copilot in your editor use that directory, so a Skill you commit once follows the repository. skilld gives you a curated set of Skills, each written by a person in their own repository, and one command that puts a Skill in front of Copilot.
How Skills work in GitHub Copilot
- Project:
.github/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md - Global:
~/.copilot/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md
Copilot reads each Skill description at startup and loads the full file when a task matches.
Install a Skill for GitHub Copilot
npx skilld install owner/repo/skill --agent github-copilotThe Skill lands in .github/skills. Add --global to install to ~/.copilot/skills instead. skilld detects the Agents in your project and on your machine. If it finds only one, omit --agent.
Restart your editor after a project install. Copilot reads .github/skills at startup.
Run a Skill without installing it
npx skilld run owner/repo/skillskilld run prints the Skill and writes no file. Give the command to Copilot. It reads the Skill and follows it for this session. Nothing lands in your repository, and no lockfile changes.
Curated Skills for GitHub Copilot
Copilot lives in pull requests, so these Skills cover commits, branches, and releases. Skills here come from the curated registry; a person admitted each one.
Use when starting feature work that needs isolation from current workspace or before executing implementation plans - ensures an isolated workspace exists via native tools or git worktree fallback
Execute git commit with conventional commit message analysis, intelligent staging, and message generation. Use when user asks to commit changes, create a git commit, or mentions "/commit". Supports: (1) Auto-detecting type and scope from changes, (2) Generating conventional commit messages from diff, (3) Interactive commit with optional type/scope/description overrides, (4) Intelligent file staging for logical grouping
Universal release workflow. Auto-detects version files and changelogs. Supports Node.js, Python, Rust, Claude Plugin, GitHub Releases, annotated tags, historical release backfill, and generic projects. Use when user says "release", "发布", "new version", "bump version", "push", "推送", "release notes", "GitHub Release", or "回填 Release".
Use when implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work
Prompt and workflow for generating conventional commit messages using a structured XML format. Guides users to create standardized, descriptive commit messages in line with the Conventional Commits specification, including instructions, examples, and validation.
Use when you want to verify compiler changes and commit with the correct convention. Runs tests, lint, and format, then commits with the [compiler] or [rust-compiler] prefix.
Authors n8n database migrations. Use when creating or modifying files under packages/@n8n/db/src/migrations/, when the user asks to add a column, table, index, foreign key, or backfill, or when the user mentions DB migrations or TypeORM migrations.
Deploy a temporary n8n test instance (or generate a local docker run command) via the internal "Nathan" bot, from the repo instead of Slack. Use after opening a PR to offer the user a live test instance, or whenever someone asks to spin up / deploy a test instance for a branch.
All 97 Skills in Shipping and release
GitHub Copilot can also search the registry itself, with the skilld Skill or the skilld MCP server. See the setup
Read before you run. A Skill is instructions for your Agent. Open the source file first. What skilld verifies, and what it never claims .