github / github/copilot-cli

Duplicate skills load from repository and installed plugin

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Description

Problem

Copilot CLI loads the same skill twice when a repository contains a project skill and an enabled user plugin contributes the identical skill. This doubles the skill description surface in repositories that develop their own plugin.

Observed with Copilot CLI 1.0.79-9 in rjmurillo/ai-agents, where .claude/skills is the canonical source for the installed project-toolkit plugin.

Reproduction

cd <repo-that-contains-the-plugin-source>
copilot plugins list --json | jq -r '\n[.plugins[] | select(.kind=="skill") | {name,scope,source,description:(.description // "")}]\n| group_by(.name)[]\n| select((map(.scope)|index("repository")) and (map(.scope)|index("plugin")))\n| [. [0].name, (length|tostring), ([.[].scope+":"+.[].source]|join(","))]\n| @tsv'\n```\n\nMeasured result:\n\n```text\nduplicate_names=97\nidentical_descriptions=97\nduplicate_description_bytes=40624\n```\n\nExample name:\n\n```text\ncontext-optimizer  plugin  plugin\ncontext-optimizer  repository  project\n```\n\nThe installed plugin is enabled at user scope. No repository-scoped setting was found to disable that one plugin only in its source repository.\n\n## Expected\n\nWhen a repository skill and plugin skill have the same canonical name and identical content, load one entry. Project scope could take precedence, or the CLI could deduplicate by name plus content hash. A repository-scoped plugin-disable override would also provide a workaround.\n\n## Control\n\nThis is specific to skills. A canary placed in `plugin/instructions/*.instructions.md` did not load through `--plugin-dir`, while a repository `.github/instructions` canary did load.\n

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue with copilot plugins list --json in a repository containing .claude/skills and an enabled plugin, then trace how repository and plugin skills are discovered. Compare the repository and plugin entries for canonical name and content, and verify that identical skills produce one loaded entry without affecting the documented instruction canaries.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
shell
Domain
cli, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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