Nested agents load ALL copilot-instructions.md, not just the ones at the nested level
- Dominant language
- Shell
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- Avg merge
- 14h 16m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 6
Description
### Describe the bug
This feature was added: https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/issues/1655
However, whilst nested agents are now dispalyed, they read the `copilot-instructions.md` at ALL levels.
This is not expected behavior because it should be assumed that nested folders are sub-projects / workspaces in their own right
Solutions:
- Default to only read the copilot-instructions.md at the same level in a nested hierarchy
- Add a boolean setting to turn this behavior on / off as needed, defaulted to off
### Affected version
_No response_
### Steps to reproduce the behavior
create:
- .github/copilot-instructions.md
- nested_folder/.github/agents/test-agent.md
- nested_folder/.github/copilot-instructions.md
ask the test-agent.md to link the absolute path to all of the instructions in its context window & memory and it will link both:
### Expected behavior
it should be assumed that nested folders are sub-projects / workspaces in their own right. therefore it shouldn't be loading in content that's outside the view and/or control of the hierarchy
### Additional context
_No response_
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by reproducing the issue with .github/copilot-instructions.md, nested_folder/.github/agents/test-agent.md, and nested_folder/.github/copilot-instructions.md. Trace the nested-agent instruction discovery entry point and any existing tests for instruction loading; done means the nested agent uses only the instruction file at its own level by default, without loading the parent file.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- shell
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100