Use a dynamic way to get the system instructions.

[rakotomandimby]

Hi all,

The fact of having a specific system instruction for each workspace or project is something usefull, as instructions change with the project.

If the CopilotChat.nvim user works together with collegues using Github Copilot in VSCode, Github has defined a location for system instructions.

If the CopilotChat.nvim user works together with collegues using Claude Code Ahtropic has defined a way to provide instructions

It would be a good idea to be able to use those when using CopilotChat.

I submit a PR for that, feel free to discuss.

[deathbeam]

I dont think this should be supported by default. maybe system_prompt can be changed to also optionally accept function as well so you can provide file there. The core structure of the plugin is not really tied to how github copilot does stuff in anyway way atm, there is simply default github copilot provider and thats it.

[rakotomandimby]

Providing a function sounds good. I will submit something going that way.

[rakotomandimby]

@deathbeam , I followed the way in #1318

[rakotomandimby]

@deathbeam , we have (together) agreed to provide a function for instructions in this issue.

You were clear about "The core structure of the plugin is not really tied to how github copilot does stuff".

The development took another direction in this commit : b06fd11 , where you state "Add support for including custom Copilot instructions from
.github/copilot-instructions.md".

You changed your mind. Sometimes, I do, so no problem.

The problem is something expecting a function now expects a string: there is a break of existing working feature. What is the final decision so that we can stabilize it?

Regards

[deathbeam]

@deathbeam , we have (together) agreed to provide a function for instructions in this issue.

You were clear about "The core structure of the plugin is not really tied to how github copilot does stuff".

The development took another direction in this commit : b06fd11 , where you state "Add support for including custom Copilot instructions from .github/copilot-instructions.md".

You changed your mind. Sometimes, I do, so no problem.

The problem is something expecting a function now expects a string: there is a break of existing working feature. What is the final decision so that we can stabilize it?

Regards

Yea I decided to just natively support it as function was breaking other parts of the plugin (like listing system prompts) and it was hassle trying to fix it + it was annoying to actually insert the system prompt to existing one. And at this point the copilot-instructions file is fairly standardized and supported in other tools so yea i changed my mind on this one

[deathbeam]

For now adjusted the release notes so it actually mentions the breaking change as I forgot to include it in commit