Summary

Configure VS Code workspace settings for proper GitHub Copilot agent discovery, streamline npm scripts, and update spell-check dictionary with AI artifact terminology.

Background

VS Code requires explicit chat.modeFilesLocations configuration to discover custom agents in non-standard locations. Additionally, package.json contained unused security scripts, and new AI artifact terminology needs spell-check dictionary entries.

Objectives

• Enable custom agent discovery in agent picker dropdown
• Simplify npm scripts by removing unused security tooling
• Support new terminology in spell-check validation
• Maintain clean development environment configuration

Changes

.vscode/settings.json

Add chat.modeFilesLocations configuration:

"chat.modeFilesLocations": {
  ".github/chatmodes": true
}

Purpose: Tells VS Code where to find custom chatmode (agent) files, enabling them to appear in agent picker dropdown.

package.json

Remove unused security-related npm scripts:

• security:scan (gitleaks detect)
• security:scan:staged (gitleaks protect)
• security:checkov (Checkov scanning)
• security:checkov:report (Checkov reporting)
• precommit (pre-commit hook)

Rationale: These scripts referenced tooling not installed/configured in repository. Removing unused scripts simplifies package.json and prevents confusion.

.cspell/general-technical.txt

Add 7 new spell-check dictionary entries:

• chatagent - GitHub Copilot agent type
• docstrings - Python documentation strings
• issubset - Python set operation
• isort - Python import sorting tool
• mymodule - Generic Python module placeholder
• mypy - Python static type checker
• sandboxed - Execution environment term

Purpose: Prevents false positives in spell-check validation for AI artifact documentation and code examples.

Acceptance Criteria

• Custom agents appear in agent picker dropdown after VS Code reload
• All npm scripts execute successfully (npm run lint:all)
• Spell-check passes with new dictionary entries
• No VS Code warnings about missing chatmode locations
• Package.json simplified (5 scripts removed)

Technical Notes

• Agent Discovery: chat.modeFilesLocations setting is VS Code-specific, documented in GitHub Copilot Chat extension settings
• Script Cleanup: Removed scripts were never functional in this repository (missing dependencies: gitleaks, checkov)
• Dictionary Format: One entry per line in .cspell/general-technical.txt

Testing

Verify Agent Discovery

1. Reload VS Code window (Ctrl+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window")
2. Open Copilot Chat (Ctrl+Alt+I)
3. Click agent picker dropdown
4. Confirm custom agents appear: task-planner, task-researcher, prompt-builder, pr-review

Verify Validation

npm run spell-check      # Should pass with new dictionary entries
npm run lint:all         # Should execute without errors

Related Issues

Part of AI artifact contribution documentation initiative (PR feat/ai-artifact-contrib-docs)