Copilot Prompting

When to add blocks:

• Coding or debugging: add completeness_contract, verification_loop, and missing_context_gating.
• Review or adversarial review: add grounding_rules, structured_output_contract, and dig_deeper_nudge.
• Research or recommendation tasks: add research_mode and citation_rules.
• Write-capable tasks: add action_safety so Copilot stays narrow and avoids unrelated refactors.

How to choose prompt shape:

• Use built-in review or adversarial-review commands when the job is reviewing local git changes. Those prompts already carry the review contract.
• Use task when the task is diagnosis, planning, research, or implementation and you need to control the prompt more directly.
• For follow-up instructions on a related topic, send only the delta instruction in a new task call instead of restating the whole prompt unless the direction changed materially.

Working rules:

• Prefer explicit prompt contracts over vague nudges.
• Use stable XML tag names that match the block names from the reference file.
• Do not raise reasoning or complexity first. Tighten the prompt and verification rules before escalating.
• Ask Copilot for brief, outcome-based progress updates only when the task is long-running or tool-heavy.
• Keep claims anchored to observed evidence. If something is a hypothesis, say so.

Prompt assembly checklist:

1. Define the exact task and scope in <task>.
2. Choose the smallest output contract that still makes the answer easy to use.
3. Decide whether Copilot should keep going by default or stop for missing high-risk details.
4. Add verification, grounding, and safety tags only where the task needs them.
5. Remove redundant instructions before sending the prompt.

Reusable blocks live in references/prompt-blocks.md. Concrete end-to-end templates live in references/copilot-prompt-recipes.md. Common failure modes to avoid live in references/copilot-prompt-antipatterns.md.