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refactor: migrate chatmodes to agents architecture#210

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agreaves-ms merged 16 commits intomainfrom
feat/cleanup-chatmodes-agents
Jan 19, 2026
Merged

refactor: migrate chatmodes to agents architecture#210
agreaves-ms merged 16 commits intomainfrom
feat/cleanup-chatmodes-agents

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@agreaves-ms agreaves-ms commented Jan 19, 2026

Pull Request

Description

This PR completes a comprehensive refactoring of the HVE-Core prompt engineering infrastructure, renaming "chatmodes" to "agents" throughout the codebase and introducing new workflow capabilities.

Key Changes

Terminology Migration:

  • Renamed .github/chatmodes/ directory to .github/agents/
  • Migrated all .chatmode.md files to .agent.md extension
  • Updated all documentation, prompts, and instructions to use "agent" terminology

New Documentation:

Workflow Enhancements:

Skills Infrastructure:

  • Added skills section to documentation and extension packaging
  • Created skill-frontmatter.schema.json for validation
  • Updated schema mapping to include skill files

Extension Updates:

  • Updated extension packaging to use agents instead of chatmodes
  • Added docs/templates to packaging for agent reference
  • Updated Prepare-Extension.ps1 to discover agents from new location

Configuration:

  • Updated VS Code settings to reference .github/agents/ directory

Related Issue(s)

N/A

Type of Change

Select all that apply:

Code & Documentation:

  • Bug fix (non-breaking change fixing an issue)
  • New feature (non-breaking change adding functionality)
  • Breaking change (fix or feature causing existing functionality to change)
  • Documentation update

Infrastructure & Configuration:

  • GitHub Actions workflow
  • Linting configuration (markdown, PowerShell, etc.)
  • Security configuration
  • DevContainer configuration
  • Dependency update

AI Artifacts:

  • Reviewed contribution with prompt-builder agent and addressed all feedback
  • Copilot instructions (.github/instructions/*.instructions.md)
  • Copilot prompt (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md)
  • Copilot agent (.github/agents/*.agent.md)

Note for AI Artifact Contributors:

  • Agents: Research, indexing/referencing other project (using standard VS Code GitHub Copilot/MCP tools), planning, and general implementation agents likely already exist. Review .github/agents/ before creating new ones.
  • Model Versions: Only contributions targeting the latest Anthropic and OpenAI models will be accepted. Older model versions (e.g., GPT-3.5, Claude 3) will be rejected.
  • See Agents Not Accepted and Model Version Requirements.

Other:

  • Script/automation (.ps1, .sh, .py)
  • Other (please describe):

Sample Prompts (for AI Artifact Contributions)

User Request:

Use the new task-implement prompt to execute a plan:

/task-implement

Or refactor a prompt artifact:

/prompt-refactor file=.github/prompts/task-plan.prompt.md

Execution Flow:

  1. task-implement reads plans from .copilot-tracking/plans/ and .copilot-tracking/details/
  2. Executes implementation steps with stop controls for validation
  3. Records changes in .copilot-tracking/changes/

Output Artifacts:

  • Implementation changes to target files
  • Change records in .copilot-tracking/changes/*.md

Success Indicators:

  • All agent files are discoverable in VS Code chat mode picker
  • Prompt invocations work correctly after rename
  • Extension preparation script discovers agents from new location
  • Frontmatter schemas validate new agent files

For detailed contribution requirements, see:

Testing

Testing was performed manually by:

  1. Verifying all agent files are discoverable in VS Code chat mode picker
  2. Confirming prompt invocations work correctly after rename
  3. Testing extension preparation script discovers agents from new location
  4. Validating frontmatter schemas apply to new agent files

Checklist

Required Checks

  • Documentation is updated (if applicable)
  • Files follow existing naming conventions
  • Changes are backwards compatible (if applicable)

AI Artifact Contributions

  • Used /prompt-analyze to review contribution
  • Addressed all feedback from prompt-builder review
  • Verified contribution follows common standards and type-specific requirements

Required Automated Checks

The following validation commands must pass before merging:

  • Markdown linting: npm run lint:md
  • Spell checking: npm run spell-check
  • Frontmatter validation: npm run lint:frontmatter
  • Link validation: npm run lint:md-links
  • PowerShell analysis: npm run lint:ps

Security Considerations

  • This PR does not contain any sensitive or NDA information
  • Any new dependencies have been reviewed for security issues
  • Security-related scripts follow the principle of least privilege

Additional Notes

GHCP Artifact Maturity

This PR includes GHCP (GitHub Copilot) artifacts with maturity levels affecting release channels.

File Type Maturity Notes
ado-prd-to-wit.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
adr-creation.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
arch-diagram-builder.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
brd-builder.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
gen-data-spec.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
gen-jupyter-notebook.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
gen-streamlit-dashboard.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
github-issue-manager.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
pr-review.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
prd-builder.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
prompt-builder.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
rpi-agent.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
security-plan-creator.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
task-implementor.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
task-planner.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
task-researcher.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
test-streamlit-dashboard.agent.md Agent ✅ stable All builds
prompt-refactor.prompt.md Prompt ✅ stable All builds
task-implement.prompt.md Prompt ✅ stable All builds
prompt-analyze.prompt.md Prompt ✅ stable All builds
prompt-builder.instructions.md Instructions ✅ stable All builds
terraform.instructions.md Instructions ✅ stable All builds

🤖 Crafted with precision by ✨Copilot following brilliant human instruction, then carefully refined by our team of discerning human reviewers.

- introduce steps for baseline assessment, research, refactoring, validation, and reporting
- enhance prompt engineering artifacts through structured cleanup process

🔧 - Generated by Copilot
…ciency

- Simplify coaching philosophy and process flow
- Enhance tool usage instructions for better user guidance
- Improve documentation structure and readability
- Consolidate phases and clarify file management steps

📄 - Generated by Copilot
…ity and consistency

- standardize terminology from "task" to "implementation"
- enhance descriptions for better understanding
- streamline input and step instructions for improved usability

🔧 - Generated by Copilot
… workflows and agent descriptions

🔍 - Generated by Copilot
chore(instructions): add maturity field to terraform instructions for consistency

chore(agent): add maturity field to hve-core installer agent for completeness

🔒 - Generated by Copilot
…nt usage

- specify usage of `/task-implement` for execution
- enhance clarity on automatic mode switching for task prompts
- update related documentation across multiple files

🔍 - Generated by Copilot
…s and response format

- add detailed subagent instructions for research activities
- specify structured response format for subagent outputs
- clarify tool availability and dispatch process

🔍 - Generated by Copilot
…skills documentation

- introduce skills organization in copilot instructions
- update prompt-builder instructions to include SKILL.md
- add skills directory to contributing README
- create skills contribution guide with standards and requirements
- update schema mapping for skill frontmatter validation

📚 - Generated by Copilot
…documentation

- add docs/templates to .vscodeignore
- update PACKAGING.md to reflect new directory structure
- modify Package-Extension.ps1 to copy docs/templates during packaging

📦 - Generated by Copilot
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 19, 2026 06:43
@agreaves-ms agreaves-ms requested a review from a team as a code owner January 19, 2026 06:43
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github-actions bot commented Jan 19, 2026

Dependency Review

✅ No vulnerabilities or license issues or OpenSSF Scorecard issues found.

Scanned Files

None

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Pull request overview

This PR performs a comprehensive architectural refactoring that migrates the codebase from "chatmodes" terminology to "agents" terminology. The changes are extensive but systematic, touching documentation, scripts, configuration files, schema definitions, and agent files themselves.

Changes:

  • Renamed .github/chatmodes/ directory to .github/agents/ and migrated all .chatmode.md files to .agent.md extension
  • Added new skills infrastructure with schema validation and documentation
  • Updated all documentation, prompts, and instructions to use "agent" terminology consistently
  • Enhanced workflow capabilities with new prompts (task-implement, prompt-refactor) and documentation templates
  • Updated extension packaging scripts and configuration to discover and package agents from new location

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 87 out of 87 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
scripts/linting/schemas/skill-frontmatter.schema.json New schema for validating skill file frontmatter with name, description, and maturity fields
scripts/linting/schemas/schema-mapping.json Added mapping for skill files pattern matching
scripts/linting/Validate-MarkdownFrontmatter.ps1 Updated to recognize .agent.md files and legacy .chatmode.md pattern; whitespace cleanup
scripts/extension/Prepare-Extension.ps1 Removed chatmodes discovery logic; agents now discovered from .github/agents/ directory
scripts/extension/Package-Extension.ps1 Added docs/templates to packaging; whitespace cleanup
extension/package.json Updated all chatAgent paths from chatmodes to agents; added new prompts and instructions
extension/README.md Table formatting alignment improvements
extension/PACKAGING.md Updated documentation to reference agents instead of chatmodes; added docs/templates
extension/.vscodeignore Added docs/templates/** to packaging includes
docs/templates/security-plan-template.md New template for security plan document generation
docs/rpi/*.md Updated references from chatmodes to agents throughout RPI workflow documentation
docs/getting-started/methods/*.md Updated VS Code settings examples to use .github/agents instead of .github/chatmodes
docs/contributing/*.md Renamed chatmodes.md to custom-agents.md; updated all references and terminology
README.md Updated references from chatmodes to agents
.vscode/settings.json Updated chat.modeFilesLocations to point to .github/agents
.github/prompts/*.prompt.md Updated descriptions and agent references; added new task-implement and prompt-refactor prompts
.github/instructions/*.instructions.md Updated applyTo patterns and terminology from chatmode to agent
.github/copilot-instructions.md Updated project structure documentation to reference agents
.github/chatmodes/*.chatmode.md Files deleted (moved to .github/agents/*.agent.md)
.github/agents/*.agent.md Updated frontmatter descriptions for consistency
.cspell/general-technical.txt Added chocolate, venv, virtualenv terms

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Such a great set of changes to move chat modes to agents, and key changes to some of the agents. Looking forward to trying these out!

…ts and add custom agent request template

🔒 - Generated by Copilot
@agreaves-ms agreaves-ms merged commit 712b0b7 into main Jan 19, 2026
15 checks passed
@agreaves-ms agreaves-ms deleted the feat/cleanup-chatmodes-agents branch January 19, 2026 17:43
WilliamBerryiii pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 19, 2026
🤖 I have created a release *beep* *boop*
---


##
[1.1.0](hve-core-v1.0.0...hve-core-v1.1.0)
(2026-01-19)


### ✨ Features

* **.devcontainer:** add development container configuration
([#24](#24))
([45debf5](45debf5))
* **.github:** add github metadata and mcp configuration
([#23](#23))
([1cb898d](1cb898d))
* **agent:** Add automated installation via hve-core-installer agent
([#82](#82))
([a2716d5](a2716d5))
* **agents:** add brd-builder.agent.md for building BRDs
([#122](#122))
([bfdc9f3](bfdc9f3))
* **agents:** redesign installer with Codespaces support and method
documentation ([#123](#123))
([6329fc0](6329fc0))
* **ai:** Establish AI-Assisted Development Framework
([#48](#48))
([f5199a4](f5199a4))
* **build:** implement automated release management with release-please
([#86](#86))
([90150e2](90150e2))
* **chatmodes:** add architecture diagram builder agent
([#145](#145))
([db24637](db24637))
* **config:** add development tools configuration files
([#19](#19))
([9f97522](9f97522))
* **config:** add npm package configuration and dependencies
([#20](#20))
([fcba198](fcba198))
* **copilot:** add GitHub Copilot instruction files
([#22](#22))
([4927284](4927284))
* **copilot:** add specialized chat modes for development workflows
([#21](#21))
([ae8495f](ae8495f))
* **docs:** add comprehensive AI artifact contribution documentation
([#76](#76))
([d81cf96](d81cf96))
* **docs:** add getting started guide for project configuration
([#57](#57))
([3b864fa](3b864fa))
* **docs:** add repository foundation and documentation files
([#18](#18))
([ad7efb6](ad7efb6)),
closes [#2](#2)
* **docs:** add RPI workflow documentation and restructure docs folder
([#102](#102))
([c3af708](c3af708))
* **extension:** hve core vs code extension
([#149](#149))
([041a1fd](041a1fd))
* **extension:** implement pre-release versioning with agent maturity
filtering ([#179](#179))
([fb38233](fb38233))
* **instructions:** add authoring standards for prompt engineering
artifacts ([#177](#177))
([5de3af9](5de3af9))
* **instructions:** add extension quick install and enhance installer
agent ([#176](#176))
([48e3d58](48e3d58))
* **instructions:** add VS Code variant prompt and gitignore
recommendation to installer
([#185](#185))
([b400493](b400493))
* **instructions:** add writing style guide for markdown content
([#151](#151))
([02df6a8](02df6a8))
* **instructions:** consolidate C# guidelines and update prompt agent
fields ([#158](#158))
([65342d4](65342d4))
* **instructions:** provide guidance on using safe commands to reduce
interactive prompting
([#117](#117))
([1268580](1268580))
* **linting:** add linting and validation scripts
([#26](#26))
([66be136](66be136))
* **prompt-builder:** enhance prompt engineering instructions and
validation protocols
([#155](#155))
([bc5004f](bc5004f))
* **prompts:** add ADR placement planning and update template paths
([#69](#69))
([380885f](380885f))
* **prompts:** add git workflow prompts from edge-ai
([#84](#84))
([56d66b6](56d66b6))
* **prompts:** add github-add-issue prompt and github-issue-manager
chatmode with delegation pattern
([#55](#55))
([d0e1789](d0e1789))
* **prompts:** add PR template discovery and integration to pull-request
prompt ([#141](#141))
([b8a4c7a](b8a4c7a))
* **prompts:** add task research initiation prompt and rpi
agent([#124](#124))
([5113e3b](5113e3b))
* **release:** implement release management strategy
([#161](#161))
([6164c3b](6164c3b))
* Risk Register Prompt
([#146](#146))
([843982c](843982c))
* **scripts:** enhanced JSON Schema validation for markdown frontmatter
([#59](#59))
([aba152c](aba152c))
* **security:** add checksum validation infrastructure
([#106](#106))
([07528fb](07528fb))
* **security:** add security scanning scripts
([#25](#25))
([82de5a1](82de5a1))
* **workflows:** add CodeQL security analysis to PR validation
([#132](#132))
([e5b6e8f](e5b6e8f))
* **workflows:** add orchestration workflows and documentation
([#29](#29))
([de442e0](de442e0))
* **workflows:** add security reusable workflows
([#28](#28))
([2c74399](2c74399))
* **workflows:** add validation reusable workflows
([#27](#27))
([f52352d](f52352d))


### 🐛 Bug Fixes

* **build:** add token parameter to release-please action
([#166](#166))
([c9189ec](c9189ec))
* **build:** disable MD012 lint rule in CHANGELOG for release-please
compatibility ([#173](#173))
([54502d8](54502d8)),
closes [#172](#172)
* **build:** pin npm commands for OpenSSF Scorecard compliance
([#181](#181))
([c29db54](c29db54))
* **build:** remediate GHSA-g9mf-h72j-4rw9 undici vulnerability
([#188](#188))
([634bf36](634bf36))
* **build:** seed CHANGELOG.md with version entry for release-please
frontmatter preservation
([#170](#170))
([2b299ac](2b299ac))
* **build:** use GitHub App token for release-please
([#167](#167))
([070e042](070e042))
* **build:** use hashtable splatting for named parameters
([#164](#164))
([02a965f](02a965f))
* **devcontainer:** remove unused Python requirements check
([#78](#78))
([f17a872](f17a872)),
closes [#77](#77)
* **docs:** fix broken links and update validation for .vscode/README.md
([#118](#118))
([160ae7a](160ae7a))
* **docs:** improve language consistency in Automated Installation
section ([#139](#139))
([a932918](a932918))
* **docs:** replace install button anchor with VS Code protocol handler
([#111](#111))
([41a265e](41a265e))
* **docs:** update install badges to use aka.ms redirect URLs
([#114](#114))
([868f655](868f655))
* **linting:** use cross-platform path separators in gitignore pattern
matching ([#121](#121))
([3f0aa1b](3f0aa1b))
* **scripts:** accepts the token (YYYY-MM-dd) in frontmatter validation
([#133](#133))
([2648215](2648215))
* **tools:** correct Method 5 path resolution in hve-core-installer
([#129](#129))
([57ef20d](57ef20d))


### 📚 Documentation

* add comprehensive RPI workflow documentation
([#153](#153))
([cbaa4a9](cbaa4a9))
* enhance README with contributing, responsible AI, and legal sections
([#52](#52))
([a424adc](a424adc))


### ♻️ Refactoring

* **instructions:** consolidate and enhance AI artifact guidelines
([#206](#206))
([54dd959](54dd959))
* migrate chatmodes to agents architecture
([#210](#210))
([712b0b7](712b0b7))


### 🔧 Maintenance

* **build:** clean up workflow permissions for Scorecard compliance
([#183](#183))
([64686e7](64686e7))
* **deps-dev:** bump cspell in the npm-dependencies group
([#61](#61))
([38650eb](38650eb))
* **deps-dev:** bump glob from 10.4.5 to 10.5.0
([#74](#74))
([b3ca9fd](b3ca9fd))
* **deps-dev:** bump markdownlint-cli2 from 0.19.1 to 0.20.0 in the
npm-dependencies group
([#134](#134))
([ebfbe84](ebfbe84))
* **deps-dev:** bump the npm-dependencies group across 1 directory with
2 updates ([#109](#109))
([936ab84](936ab84))
* **deps-dev:** bump the npm-dependencies group with 2 updates
([#30](#30))
([cf99cbf](cf99cbf))
* **deps:** bump actions/upload-artifact from 5.0.0 to 6.0.0 in the
github-actions group
([#142](#142))
([91eac8a](91eac8a))
* **deps:** bump js-yaml, markdown-link-check and markdownlint-cli2
([#75](#75))
([af03d0e](af03d0e))
* **deps:** bump the github-actions group with 2 updates
([#108](#108))
([3e56313](3e56313))
* **deps:** bump the github-actions group with 2 updates
([#135](#135))
([4538a03](4538a03))
* **deps:** bump the github-actions group with 2 updates
([#62](#62))
([d1e0c09](d1e0c09))
* **deps:** bump the github-actions group with 3 updates
([#87](#87))
([ed550f4](ed550f4))
* **deps:** bump the github-actions group with 6 updates
([#162](#162))
([ec5bb12](ec5bb12))
* **devcontainer:** enhance gitleaks installation with checksum
verification ([#100](#100))
([5a8507d](5a8507d))
* **devcontainer:** refactor setup scripts for improved dependency
management ([#94](#94))
([f5f50d1](f5f50d1)),
closes [#98](#98)
* **security:** configure GitHub branch protection for OpenSSF
compliance ([#191](#191))
([90aab1a](90aab1a))

---
This PR was generated with [Release
Please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please). See
[documentation](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please#release-please).

Co-authored-by: hve-core-release-please[bot] <254602402+hve-core-release-please[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
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3 participants