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GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot's agent mode in VS Code can run terminal commands and work with files in your workspace. When Copilot generates documentation, release notes, or technical specs, OpenDocs gives them a permanent, shareable URL.

Setup​

Install the CLI and authenticate:

npm install -g @opendocs.cc/cli
opendocs login

Copilot supports custom instructions via the .github/copilot-instructions.md file in your repository. Add the relevant sections from the OpenDocs SKILL.md to this file so Copilot knows the publishing workflow.

Example prompts​

Publish a new doc:

Write a deployment runbook as Markdown, publish it with OpenDocs,
and return the final link.

Document a PR:

Summarize the changes in this PR as a Markdown doc. Include what
was added, any breaking changes, and migration steps. Publish it
to OpenDocs and give me the URL.

Publish with metadata:

Write an onboarding guide for new developers joining the team.
Publish it to OpenDocs with the slug "dev-onboarding" and tags
"onboarding, team". Return the shareable link.

Update an existing doc:

Pull post abc123 from OpenDocs, add the section on environment
variables I described, and publish the updated version.

Common workflows​

Release documentation​

After tagging a release, ask Copilot to generate and publish release notes:

Look at the commits since the last tag and generate release notes
as Markdown. Publish them to OpenDocs with slug "release-v2.4"
and tag "release". Return the URL.
opendocs publish release-v2.4.md --slug release-v2.4 --tags "release" --json

Repo-level documentation​

Copilot understands your project structure and can generate docs from the codebase:

Read the route handlers in src/api/ and generate a Markdown API
reference. Publish it to OpenDocs.

Team knowledge base​

Publish internal docs that stay in sync with your codebase:

Write a troubleshooting guide for common issues in our CI
pipeline based on the workflow files in .github/workflows/.
Publish it to OpenDocs so the team can access it.

Explicit publishing step​

Copilot works best when the publishing step is explicit in the prompt. Always include a clear instruction like "publish it with OpenDocs and return the URL" rather than assuming Copilot will publish on its own. This ensures Copilot treats the task as incomplete until it has the published URL.

Tips​

  • Use .github/copilot-instructions.md — add the OpenDocs workflow so Copilot remembers it across chats
  • Be explicit — include "publish with OpenDocs" in your prompt so Copilot knows the task isn't done until the URL is returned
  • Use --json — structured output lets Copilot extract the URL and postId cleanly
  • Combine with code reviews — ask Copilot to review a PR and publish a summary doc in one task