Standardizing Copilot Workflows: Combining Prompts, Instructions, Tools, and Chat Modes

[joshkurz]

As I work more with agentic IDEs, especially VS Code, I’ve noticed more use cases that require combining multiple built-in primitives.

These primitives on their own enable powerful automations that can be shared across teams. However, there’s currently no built-in mechanism to combine these primitives into a single module.

For example, if I have a series of prompts that depend on a specific set of custom tools, how can I easily package and distribute them to users?

I’m trying to introduce a more standardized way to package incremental chat customizations into what I’m calling a “workflow.”
A workflow would represent a composable module that includes prompts, tools, instructions, and chat modes, bundled together to achieve a higher-order use case.

Example

Suppose I have a custom chat mode that includes tools, custom scripts, and integrations with third-party systems or APIs. Within that chat mode, I want to provide prompts for the user to run specific tasks, along with instructions for how the agent should behave.
Right now, there’s no straightforward way to package these components together and share them as a single reusable unit.

Proposal

I’d like to propose a new primitive in this repo:

/workflows

Each folder under /workflows could represent a real-world use case composed of any combination of incremental chat customizations.

Each workflow would include:

• A README explaining the use case and installation instructions in standard setup steps. Each workflow should have the same or similar setup instructions.
• The associated prompts, tools, instructions, and chat modes needed to complete it.

This structure would make it easier for teams to implement, share, and integrate complex workflows directly within agentic IDEs like VS Code.

This idea aligns closely with step 5 of the VS Code Copilot customization guide:

“5. Create specialized workflows — For advanced usage, build custom chat modes that combine specific tools, instructions, and context for particular roles or project phases.”
(Reference: [VS Code Copilot Customization Docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/overview))