GitHub Copilot

Set up GitHub Copilot in your editor, or use Copilot CLI. The integration key is copilot; a CLI is not required for IDE setup.

Multi-Install Safety

This integration is not declared multi-install safe. See the shared multi-install rules.

Setup

specify init my-project --integration copilot

For an existing Spec Kit project, use specify integration install copilot. See integration management for activation, upgrades, and removal.

Default Skills Layout

Skills are installed as .github/skills/speckit-<command>/SKILL.md. Invoke them in the agent's chat as /speckit-specify or /speckit-bug-assess for the installed bug extension. These are agent skills, not terminal commands. Generated skills are both user- and model-invocable by default.

User-Invocable-Only Skills

To stop Copilot loading the core Spec Kit command skills automatically in the skills layout:

specify init my-project --integration copilot --integration-options="--no-model-invocation"

This writes disable-model-invocation: true into the core command skills. VS Code's agent skills documentation says this requires manual invocation through the / slash command only. GitHub's Copilot CLI skills documentation does not list the field, but in a manual check with Copilot CLI 1.0.70 the model called its skill tool for speckit-specify without the flag and did not with it, and an explicit /speckit-specify still ran. With the flag the model could still read the skill's SKILL.md as an ordinary file, so it is not a hard block. Neither source says whether a skill with this flag keeps its description out of the model's context.

  • The option has no effect in the commands layout, whether selected explicitly with --commands or retained from an existing installation when no layout flag is passed: the .agent.md and .prompt.md files are not skills and no flag is written.
  • Extension skills stay model-invocable, because mandatory extension hooks rely on the model invoking them. If an extension's mandatory hook runs a core command (its command: is a core speckit.<command>), leave this option off: the model cannot run that hook while the core skill is user-invocable only.
  • The option is stored with the integration's other options and reapplied by specify integration upgrade copilot. Passing --integration-options to upgrade replaces all stored options; --integration-options="" clears them. Re-running specify init likewise stores only the options passed to it.
  • Core command skills that a preset overrides, or stops overriding, are reverted to the default by commands that re-register preset skills without reinstalling Copilot: commands that install, remove or update presets (including specify bundle commands that carry presets), specify integration use copilot, and specify integration switch copilot when Copilot is installed but not the default. To reapply the option, run specify integration upgrade copilot --force while Copilot is the default integration (--force is needed because those commands modify installed skill files, and it overwrites local edits to Spec Kit-managed files).

Commands Layout

To opt into the supported commands layout:

specify init my-project --integration copilot --integration-options="--commands"

This installs .agent.md files under .github/agents/, companion .prompt.md files under .github/prompts/, and merges .vscode/settings.json. In this layout, Copilot CLI can select an agent through /agents or address it directly in a prompt.

Use --integration-options="--skills" to explicitly select the default skills layout when migrating an existing commands installation with specify integration upgrade copilot. Passing it replaces all stored options, so include any you want to keep: without --no-model-invocation in that value, for example, the migrated skills are written as model-invocable. See the shared upgrade rules, including the restriction on changing layouts while preset artifacts are registered.

--skills and --commands are mutually exclusive. Without an explicit layout flag, existing managed command installations retain their layout on upgrade or activation; a fresh installation defaults to skills.

The commands layout adds only missing VS Code settings and subkeys. Existing values remain unchanged. If an existing settings file is JSONC or otherwise cannot be parsed as a JSON object, the merge is skipped with a warning and manual instructions. An existing merged settings file is retained on uninstall; a newly created settings file is manifest-tracked.

Runtime Events and Workflow Permissions

Native events use .github/hooks/speckit.json. --integration-options="--events false" disables Spec Kit event handlers. See runtime events.

Workflow steps require Copilot CLI separately from the IDE setup. In skills mode, command steps pass /speckit-<command> in the prompt. In commands mode, they select --agent speckit.<command> and pass the user's arguments as the prompt rather than treating agent files as slash commands.

Headless dispatch adds --yolo by default, allowing tools, paths, and URLs without interactive approval. Set SPECKIT_COPILOT_ALLOW_ALL_TOOLS=0 to stop Spec Kit from adding this flag. The deprecated SPECKIT_ALLOW_ALL_TOOLS is accepted only as a fallback. A configured --model and requested --output-format json are forwarded.

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