An interactive, hands-on tutorial for learning GitHub Copilot CLI — built entirely inside Copilot CLI itself. You never leave the terminal.
- A GitHub account with an active Copilot subscription
- Node.js (includes
npm, required for the sample app) - Windows only: Git for Windows (provides Git Bash)
git clone git@github.com:instil/github-copilot-tutorial.git
cd github-copilot-tutorial
npm install --prefix exercises/sample-app
copilot -i "start the tutorial" --model "claude-sonnet-4.6"This command automatically starts the tutorial and shows you the welcome screen. From there, the tutorial will guide you through each lesson.
You can navigate the tutorial using natural language or the /agent command:
| Say this | Or type this | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| "start" | /agent start |
Reset and restart the tutorial |
| "next" or "next lesson" | /agent next |
Advance to the next lesson |
| "hint" or "give me a hint" | /agent hint |
Get a hint for the current exercise |
| "skip" or "skip this" | /agent skip |
Skip the current exercise |
| "progress" or "show progress" | /agent progress |
See your tutorial progress |
| "switch to QA track" | /agent qa |
Switch to the QA track (lessons 24-28) |
| "switch to Design track" | /agent design |
Switch to the Design track (lessons 29-34) |
| "switch to core track" | /agent core |
Switch back to the core track |
The tutorial includes two optional specialist tracks.
The QA track (lessons 24-28) is for QA engineers. It covers test planning, test case design, automated test generation, and E2E testing with Playwright.
To start the QA track, say "switch to QA track" or type /agent qa.
The Design track (lessons 29-34) is for designers and frontend developers. It covers translating mockups, accessibility reviews, design system instructions, designer-developer handoff, and rapid prototyping.
To start the Design track, say "switch to Design track" or type /agent design.
Both specialist tracks assume you have completed at least the foundations lessons (0-6). To return to the core track, say "switch to core track" or type /agent core.
The tutorial is built using three Copilot CLI features:
- copilot-instructions.md (
.github/copilot-instructions.md) — Tells Copilot it's in tutorial-guide mode - Custom Agents (
.github/agents/*.agent.md) — Navigation between lessons - Hooks (
.github/hooks/) — State persistence, context injection, and exercise validation
The tutorial itself is built using these three features working together.