GitHub Copilot CLI Handbook

A no-fluff, community-maintained reference for user-facing GitHub Copilot CLI features.

Live site: aosama.github.io/copilot-cli-handbook

What This Is

This project exists to answer one question: "What can I use in GitHub Copilot CLI?"

It is a friendly handbook for the community, not a tutorial, installation guide, or marketing page. The goal is simple: keep a concise, accurate record of what people can actually use in Copilot CLI, backed by official sources.

The site has a single Handbook page at / providing instruction files, commands, flags, hooks, and MCP configuration.

Source of Truth

Handbook content should stay grounded in official GitHub sources:

• GitHub Copilot CLI releases
• GitHub Copilot how-tos
• GitHub Copilot CLI command reference
• GitHub Copilot Blog

Local Development

Requires the current Node LTS release. This repo is pinned to 24.16.0 in .nvmrc.

npm install          # install dependencies
npm run dev          # local dev server → http://localhost:4321/copilot-cli-handbook
npm run build        # production build → dist/
npm run preview      # preview build → http://localhost:4321/copilot-cli-handbook
npm run lint         # check formatting with Prettier
npm run format       # auto-fix formatting
npm run test:e2e     # Playwright end-to-end tests
npm run test:e2e:ui  # Playwright UI mode

Formatting is enforced with Prettier, Husky, and lint-staged.

Project Structure

.
├── src/
│   ├── content/
│   │   └── handbook/
│   │       └── index.md           # Handbook page content (route /)
│   ├── content.config.ts          # Astro content collection schema
│   ├── layouts/
│   │   └── BaseLayout.astro       # Shared layout and navigation
│   ├── pages/
│   │   └── index.astro            # Renders index.md
│   └── styles/
│       └── global.css             # Global theme and layout styles
├── playwright-regression/
│   └── site-regression.spec.ts    # End-to-end site coverage
├── astro.config.mjs
├── playwright.config.ts
└── .github/workflows/
    ├── deploy.yml
    ├── preview-deploy.yml
    ├── regression.yml
    ├── update-handbook.md          # Agentic workflow source (edit this)
    └── update-handbook.lock.yml   # Compiled workflow (do not edit directly)

Astro pages stay thin on purpose; long-form content lives in Markdown under src/content/handbook/.

Updating the Handbook

The handbook content is updated by a local coding agent (like Copilot CLI) on demand, following the procedure documented in .github/instructions/business-requirements.instructions.md. The agent reads official GitHub sources, compares them against the current handbook, and commits updates directly to main when changes are found.

To trigger an update, ask your agent to "update the handbook" or point it at specific new releases or docs.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. If you spot a missing capability, outdated guidance, or wording that could better help the Copilot CLI community:

1. Open an issue
2. Send a pull request with the proposed fix
3. Keep changes factual and grounded in the official GitHub sources used by the handbook

Run npm run lint locally before opening a pull request. CI runs the Playwright regression suite.

License

Licensed under Apache-2.0.