Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/copilot-cli/cli-best-practices#use-custom-instructions-files
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/copilot-cli/cli-best-practices#automati...-management
(Basically the whole article refers to ~/.copilot but never to XDG paths.)
What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?
The article (especially the Supported locations table and session-state info box) lists only ~/.copilot/ as configuration/storage path for all global Copilot CLI files. On Linux and any XDG-compliant system, this is misleading:
Copilot CLI (historically and sometimes currently) respects XDG_CONFIG_HOME and XDG_STATE_HOME, so with standard XDG configuration, files are under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/copilot/ (and $XDG_STATE_HOME/copilot/) – not under ~/.copilot/.
This produces user confusion, missed configuration, and the impression that Copilot CLI ignores XDG conventions unnecessarily. The docs should:
Expected outcome: users on Linux/Unix systems immediately see valid config paths and do not waste time looking under ~/.copilot when using/packaging Copilot CLI. This is the principle of least surprise when following platform guidelines.
Additional information
The docs reference only ~/.copilot paths everywhere. Users on Linux with XDG-compliant setups get a different actual config location, leading to confusion and missed features/documentation. Multiple upstream issues reference this: github/copilot-cli#1347, github/copilot-cli#1750, github/copilot-cli#1954.
The actual behavior has changed in recent Copilot CLI versions. Current handling may be a regression, and the docs would ideally discuss which platforms/versions see which effect, but the key point is that XDG defaults must be documented clearly for best-practices/first-use guides.
Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/copilot-cli/cli-best-practices#use-custom-instructions-files
https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/copilot-cli/cli-best-practices#automati...-management
(Basically the whole article refers to ~/.copilot but never to XDG paths.)
What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?
The article (especially the Supported locations table and session-state info box) lists only ~/.copilot/ as configuration/storage path for all global Copilot CLI files. On Linux and any XDG-compliant system, this is misleading:
Copilot CLI (historically and sometimes currently) respects XDG_CONFIG_HOME and XDG_STATE_HOME, so with standard XDG configuration, files are under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/copilot/ (and $XDG_STATE_HOME/copilot/) – not under ~/.copilot/.
This produces user confusion, missed configuration, and the impression that Copilot CLI ignores XDG conventions unnecessarily. The docs should:
Expected outcome: users on Linux/Unix systems immediately see valid config paths and do not waste time looking under ~/.copilot when using/packaging Copilot CLI. This is the principle of least surprise when following platform guidelines.
Additional information
The docs reference only ~/.copilot paths everywhere. Users on Linux with XDG-compliant setups get a different actual config location, leading to confusion and missed features/documentation. Multiple upstream issues reference this: github/copilot-cli#1347, github/copilot-cli#1750, github/copilot-cli#1954.
The actual behavior has changed in recent Copilot CLI versions. Current handling may be a regression, and the docs would ideally discuss which platforms/versions see which effect, but the key point is that XDG defaults must be documented clearly for best-practices/first-use guides.