github / github/copilot-cli

Improve readability of /skills list output

Open
#4,823 0 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

triage
Dominant language
Shell
Stars
11.2k
Forks
1.9k
Avg merge
14h 16m
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

Problem

The formatting of the output from /skills list is difficult to scan and read.

Wrapped description lines are indented inconsistently. Some continuation lines align beneath the text so they remain visually associated with the bullet, while others begin at the far left. This makes it difficult to distinguish continuation text from the beginning of a new skill entry.

The skill name also does not stand out sufficiently from its description, and there is not enough visual separation between sections.

Suggested improvements

  • Use consistent hanging indentation so every wrapped line aligns beneath the bullet text and never beneath the dash.
  • Add clearer heading or separator formatting between sections.
  • Make each skill name visually distinct from its description, such as bold text or placing the name on its own line.
  • Consider rendering the list as a table with separate Name and Description columns.

Additional context

The normal feature-request link failed with an unhelpful error when opened under an Enterprise Managed User account:

https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/issues/new?template=feature_request.yml

The underlying issue was that Enterprise Managed Users cannot create issues in this public repository, but the web page did not expose that useful explanation.

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 locating the /skills list command and the code that renders its output. Compare wrapped descriptions and section boundaries, then make the formatting consistent and verify that skill names are visually distinct and entries remain easy to scan.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
shell
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
58/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.