Copilot instructions md file for Visual Studio?

[MikaelJohansson]

Hi,

Any one here know how to set up a suitable copilot-instructions.md file for GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2022? It is for Pro SDK/C#, where I mainly will develop add-ins, WPF UI, and map tools. I tried to create one, but hard to know what is important. I asked chat GPT, but maybe you guys know better what works. I am an old ArcObjects developer, but is soon to move over to Pro SDK.

Regards,
Mikael

[DEWright_CA]

I would use this as a roadmap for your project; https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/5-tips-for-writing-better-custom-instructions-for-copil... 

There is nothing specific to make it work better with ESRI and the Pro or Server SDK I have seen; but using the right references and base instructions such as "This project will be a ArcGIS Pro extension written in C# that will be used to process X-data with interfaces to SDE databases" or the like to let Copilot build the right contexts for it's Github content mappings.

[GKmieliauskas]

Hi,

Here is Microsoft way.

[Wolf · Accepted solution]

You can read about the Pro SDK dev team's Visual Studio Copilot usage suggestions here:
ProConcepts develop addins with copilot · Esri/arcgis-pro-sdk Wiki
However, Copilot for Visual Studio is evolving constantly, hence we'll have two sessions that include the latest 'updates' at the 2026 Developer summit.