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Installation

Follow these steps to install and configure Copilot Collections for use across all your VS Code workspaces.

1. Clone the Repository​

cd ~/projects
git clone https://github.com/TheSoftwareHouse/copilot-collections.git copilot-collections

The important part is that VS Code can see the .github/prompts, .github/agents, and .github/skills folders from this repository.

2. Configure Global Copilot Locations (User Settings)​

You can configure this once at the user level and reuse it across all workspaces.

  1. Open the Command Palette: CMD + Shift + P (macOS) or Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows/Linux).
  2. Select "Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)".
  3. Add or merge the following configuration:
{
  "chat.promptFilesLocations": {
    "~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/prompts": true
  },
  "chat.agentFilesLocations": {
    "~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/agents": true
  },
  "chat.agentSkillsLocations": {
    "~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/skills": true
  },
  "chat.useAgentSkills": true,
  "github.copilot.chat.searchSubagent.enabled": true,
  "chat.experimental.useSkillAdherencePrompt": true,
  "chat.customAgentInSubagent.enabled": true,
  "github.copilot.chat.agentCustomizationSkill.enabled": true
}
tip

Adjust the path (~/projects/copilot-collections/...) if your folder layout differs. Once set, these locations are available in all VS Code workspaces.

3. Enable Copilot Experimental Features (UI)​

If you prefer the UI instead of editing JSON directly:

  1. Open Settings (CMD + , on macOS or Ctrl + , on Windows/Linux).
  2. Search for "promptFilesLocations" and add an entry pointing to ~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/prompts.
  3. Search for "agentFilesLocations" and add an entry pointing to ~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/agents.
  4. Search for "agentSkillsLocations" and add an entry pointing to ~/projects/copilot-collections/.github/skills.
  5. Search for "chat.useAgentSkills" and enable it — allows Copilot to use Skills.
  6. Search for "chat.customAgentInSubagent.enabled" and enable it — allows custom agents in subagents.
  7. Search for "github.copilot.chat.searchSubagent.enabled" and enable it — enables the search subagent for better codebase analysis.
  8. Search for "chat.experimental.useSkillAdherencePrompt" and enable it — forces Copilot to use Skills more often.
  9. Search for "github.copilot.chat.agentCustomizationSkill.enabled" and enable it — enables the agent customization skill.

Using in Your Projects​

Once the repo is cloned and VS Code User Settings are configured:

  1. Open your project in VS Code.
  2. Open GitHub Copilot Chat.
  3. Switch to one of the configured agents (Architect, Business Analyst, Software Engineer, Code Reviewer).
  4. Use the workflow prompts:
    • /tsh-research <JIRA_ID or task description>
    • /tsh-plan <JIRA_ID or task description>
    • /tsh-implement <JIRA_ID or task description>
    • /tsh-review <JIRA_ID or task description>

All of these will leverage the shared configuration from Copilot Collections while still respecting your project's own code and context.