feat: improve agent-customization skill — Medium → High compliance#3866
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digitarald merged 4 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom Feb 24, 2026
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Pull request overview
This PR refactors the agent-customization built-in skill to improve its compliance score from Medium to High by applying Sensei skill-compliance recommendations. The changes focus on better skill routing through enhanced frontmatter metadata and consolidating reference documentation from 6 files to 3 for improved performance based on SkillsBench research.
Changes:
- Enhanced SKILL.md frontmatter description with
**WORKFLOW SKILL**prefix,DO NOT USE FORanti-triggers,INVOKESclause, andFOR SINGLE OPERATIONSbypass guidance - Consolidated 6 reference files into 3: merged workspace-instructions.md, instructions.md, and prompts.md into file-customizations.md; merged agents.md and skills.md into agent-extensibility.md; kept hooks.md standalone
- Added Common Pitfalls section with three high-impact gotchas about descriptions, YAML frontmatter, and applyTo patterns
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/SKILL.md | Updated description with workflow skill metadata and routing information; updated Quick Reference table to 3 files; added Common Pitfalls section |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/file-customizations.md | New consolidated file merging workspace instructions, file instructions, and prompts documentation with shared principles and anti-patterns |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/agent-extensibility.md | New consolidated file merging custom agents and skills documentation with combined core principles |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/workspace-instructions.md | Deleted (content merged into file-customizations.md) |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/instructions.md | Deleted (content merged into file-customizations.md) |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/prompts.md | Deleted (content merged into file-customizations.md) |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/agents.md | Deleted (content merged into agent-extensibility.md) |
| assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/skills.md | Deleted (content merged into agent-extensibility.md) |
assets/prompts/skills/agent-customization/references/agent-extensibility.md
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…ation-skill-improvements
Keep original 6 reference files unchanged. Retain improved SKILL.md frontmatter description and Common Pitfalls section.
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Recommendation: Reference File Consolidation (Future)Based on the audit, the current 6 reference files could benefit from consolidation into 3 files organized by interaction pattern:
Why this helps:
This was implemented in an earlier revision of this PR but reverted to keep scope focused on the frontmatter and pitfalls improvements. Flagging here as a follow-up worth considering. |
digitarald
approved these changes
Feb 20, 2026
pwang347
approved these changes
Feb 24, 2026
dileepyavan
approved these changes
Feb 24, 2026
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Summary
Applies skill-compliance recommendations to the
agent-customizationbuilt-in skill. This skill teaches users how to create and update good agent customization files — it should be the best example of its own advice.Before / After
**WORKFLOW SKILL**)USE FOR:triggersDO NOT USE FOR:anti-triggersINVOKES:clauseFOR SINGLE OPERATIONS:What Changed
Frontmatter Description (SKILL.md)
**WORKFLOW SKILL**prefix for routing clarityDO NOT USE FOR:— general coding, runtime debugging, MCP config, extension devINVOKES:— file system tools, ask-questions, subagentsFOR SINGLE OPERATIONS:— quick YAML fixes don't need the skillUSE FOR:triggers intactReference Consolidation (6 → 3 files)
Fewer reference modules means less context loaded per invocation. Six separate files meant the skill pulled in more tokens than necessary — consolidating by interaction pattern keeps the same content with better organization.
file-customizations.mdagent-extensibility.mdhooks.mdAll templates, anti-patterns, location tables, and core principles preserved. Quick Reference table updated to 3 rows.
Common Pitfalls (new section)
Three highest-impact gotchas in compressed format:
applyTo: "**"burns context — loads instruction on every request even when irrelevantWhy These Changes
The
agent-customizationskill already had strong content — good USE FOR triggers and procedural guidance. These changes are the minimal set to improve routing clarity:No content was removed — only reorganized and augmented. The skill still does exactly what it did before, but now routes better and loads faster.