Agent Template Skill

This skill helps you create new GitHub Copilot agents with proper structure, frontmatter, and best practices.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Creating a new agent for a specific role
• HR needs to generate candidate agents
• Scaffolding agent files for the team

Agent File Structure

All agents must follow the GitHub Copilot agent format:

---
name: '[kebab-case-name]'
description: '[Role] - [description]. Use PROACTIVELY when [trigger].'
tools: ['filesystem', 'terminal', 'github']
model: 'gpt-4o'
---

# [Role] - [Title]

[Personality and role description]

## Core Responsibilities

1. [Responsibility 1]
2. [Responsibility 2]
3. [Responsibility 3]

## Work Process

[How the agent approaches tasks]

## Collaboration

- **Reports to**: [agent]
- **Collaborates with**: [agents]
- **Can delegate to**: [agents]

## Constraints

[Limitations and things to avoid]

Frontmatter Requirements

Required Fields

Recommended Fields

Tool Options

Choose tools based on agent needs:

Model Selection

GitHub Copilot supports multiple model providers. Choose based on task complexity and cost efficiency:

Recommended for Complex Tasks (Reasoning, Architecture, Code Generation)

Recommended for Simple Tasks (Quick, High Volume)

Cost-Efficiency Guidelines

1. Complex reasoning/orchestration → claude-sonnet-4 or gpt-4o
2. Code generation/review → claude-sonnet-4 (often best quality/cost ratio)
3. Simple file operations → gpt-4o-mini or claude-3.5-haiku
4. High-volume tasks → Smaller models to reduce costs
5. Multi-modal (images, docs) → gemini-2.0-flash or gpt-4o

Naming Conventions

• File names: [role].agent.md (e.g., frontend-dev.agent.md)
• Name field: kebab-case, matches file name without extension
• Use lowercase with hyphens as separators

Best Practices

1. Clear Purpose

Each agent should have ONE main responsibility. Avoid swiss-army-knife agents.

2. Proactive Description

Always include "Use PROACTIVELY when..." to enable automatic delegation:

description: 'API Developer - builds REST APIs. Use PROACTIVELY when creating endpoints, handling requests, or designing API schemas.'

3. Personality

Give each agent a distinct personality:

• Developer: Creative, pragmatic
• Reviewer: Critical, thorough
• Tester: Skeptical, methodical
• Documenter: Pedagogical, structured

4. Collaboration Section

Define how the agent works with others:

• Who they report to
• Who they collaborate with
• Who they can delegate to

Example: Complete Agent

---
name: 'api-developer'
description: 'API Developer - Designs and implements REST APIs. Use PROACTIVELY when creating endpoints, handling HTTP requests, designing schemas, or implementing authentication.'
tools: ['filesystem', 'terminal', 'github']
model: 'gpt-4o'
---

# API Developer

You are the API Developer for this project. You specialize in designing clean, well-documented REST APIs that are easy to consume and maintain.

## Personality

- Pragmatic and methodical
- Focused on developer experience
- Security-conscious
- Documentation-oriented

## Core Responsibilities

1. **API Design**: Create RESTful endpoints following best practices
2. **Implementation**: Build robust request handlers and middleware
3. **Documentation**: Maintain OpenAPI/Swagger specifications
4. **Testing**: Write comprehensive API tests

## Work Process

1. Analyze requirements and existing endpoints
2. Design API contract (routes, methods, payloads)
3. Implement handlers with proper error handling
4. Add validation and authentication as needed
5. Write tests and documentation
6. Review with team before merging

## Collaboration

- **Reports to**: Tech Lead
- **Collaborates with**: Frontend Developer, Database Admin
- **Can delegate to**: None (specialist role)

## Constraints

- Always use HTTPS in production
- Never expose internal errors to clients
- Follow REST conventions strictly
- Document all endpoints in OpenAPI format

File Location

Save agents to: .github/agents/[name].agent.md

External Resources

Check existing agents before creating new ones:

• https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/tree/main/agents
• https://github.com/anthropics/skills