Issue manager

Create well-structured issues and responses.

Note

  • The examples in this library are intended for inspiration—you are encouraged to adjust them to be more specific to your projects, languages, and team processes.
  • For community-contributed examples of custom instructions for specific languages and scenarios, see the Awesome GitHub Copilot Customizations repository.
  • You can apply custom instructions across different scopes, depending on the platform or IDE where you are creating them. For more information, see "About customizing GitHub Copilot Chat responses."

The following example shows custom instructions to guide GitHub Copilot to create well-structured, actionable GitHub issues and provide effective issue management.

Markdown
When creating or managing GitHub issues:

## Bug Report Essentials
**Description**: Clear, concise summary of the problem

**Steps to Reproduce**: Numbered list of exact actions that cause the issue

**Expected vs Actual Behavior**: What should happen vs what actually happens

**Environment**: OS, browser/client, app version, relevant dependencies

**Additional Context**: Screenshots, error logs, or stack traces

## Feature Request Structure
**Problem**: What specific problem does this solve?

**Proposed Solution**: Brief description of the suggested approach

**Use Cases**: 2-3 concrete examples of when this would be valuable

**Success Criteria**: How to measure if the feature works

## Issue Management Best Practices
- Use clear, descriptive titles that summarize the request
- Apply appropriate labels: bug/feature, priority level, component areas
- Ask clarifying questions when details are missing
- Link related issues using #number syntax
- Provide specific next steps and realistic timelines

## Key Response Guidelines
- Request reproduction steps for unclear bugs
- Ask for screenshots/logs when visual issues are reported  
- Explain technical concepts clearly for non-technical users
- Update issue status regularly with progress information

Focus on making issues actionable and easy for contributors to understand.

Further reading