fix(packaging): prompts and instructions missing from installed plugin (pointer files have no target)

[viniciusvicente7]

Component

Instruction Files

Bug Description

After installing the plugin via copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core, all prompt files (referenced by commands) and all instruction files (referenced by prompts) are missing from the installed plugin directory.

The installer ships:

• commands/ — pointer files (work because CLI invokes the command, which loads the prompt by relative path)
• agents/ — pointer files (broken — see fix: Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI #785)
• skills/ — config

…but NOT the actual content under:

• .github/prompts/ — 69 files for v3.3.101
• .github/instructions/ — 26 files for v3.3.101
• .github/agents/ — 54 files (fix: Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI #785 covers this for the related symptom)

When a user or LLM agent tries to execute a command/skill, they get a pointer file with no resolvable target. For example, ado-triage-work-items.prompt.md references #file:../../instructions/ado/ado-backlog-triage.instructions.md and #file:../../instructions/ado/ado-wit-planning.instructions.md — neither file exists in the installed plugin tree, so the LLM either skips them (silent quality degradation) or fabricates the missing workflow logic.

This affects all 10 categories of prompts: ado, coding-standards, data-science, design-thinking, experimental, github, hve-core, jira, rai-planning, security.

Affected version: hve-core v3.3.101

Expected Behavior

After copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core, the installed plugin tree should include the actual content of .github/{prompts,agents,instructions}/ so that all #file: references inside commands, prompts, and instructions resolve to real files.

Either:

1. Inline the content from .github/ into commands/, agents/, instructions/ at package time (similar to the agents fix proposed in fix: Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI #785); OR
2. Include the .github/{prompts,agents,instructions}/ trees alongside the pointer files so relative paths resolve.

Steps to Reproduce

# 1. Install plugin
copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core

# 2. Inspect a command pointer
Get-Content ~/.copilot/installed-plugins/hve-core/hve-core-all/commands/ado/ado-triage-work-items.md
# => 1-line pointer: ../../../../.github/prompts/ado/ado-triage-work-items.prompt.md

# 3. Try to resolve the pointer
Test-Path ~/.copilot/installed-plugins/.github/prompts/ado/ado-triage-work-items.prompt.md
# => False (file missing)

# 4. Same for instructions referenced by prompts
Test-Path ~/.copilot/installed-plugins/.github/instructions/ado/ado-backlog-triage.instructions.md
# => False

# 5. End-to-end: trying to use the skill via the CLI agent
#    => agent receives only the pointer string, no actual workflow logic

Additional Context

Workaround used locally

Manually downloaded all referenced assets directly from this repo's main branch:

$base = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/hve-core/main/.github"
$dst  = "$HOME\.copilot\installed-plugins\.github"
# fetch each file into the appropriate subdirectory of $dst

After this workaround:

• 69 prompts + 54 agents + 26 instructions resolve correctly
• A full ref-graph scan of 149 .md files returns 0 broken #file: references (the only "missing" is path/to/file.ext, a placeholder string inside diff-computation.instructions.md documentation)
• Tested ado-triage-work-items end-to-end against a real Azure DevOps project: 9 work items audited successfully (recommendations applied, no fabrication)

Related

• fix: Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI #785 — Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI (covers the agent-specific symptom; this issue is the broader packaging gap that affects prompts + instructions too, and explicitly contradicts fix: Frontmatter formatter error using hve-core agents in Copilot CLI #785's claim that "Commands, instructions, and skills use the same path-reference pattern and are handled correctly by the CLI")

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• Copilot CLI: v1.0.57
• Install method: copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core
• Plugin version: hve-core v3.3.101

[JoshLuedeman]

Adding a current-CLI data point. On Copilot CLI 1.0.72 the symptom has shifted from "installs but files missing" to the install failing outright on Windows:

> copilot plugin install hve-core-all@hve-core
Failed to install plugin: Error: Failed to install plugin: Access is denied. (os error 5)

This is with Developer Mode on and global core.symlinks=true (a symlink-creation probe succeeds), and a real-file plugin (fabric-collection) installs fine — so it's the bundled directory symlinks, not the environment. Same root cause as the pointer-file problem here; materializing real content (per #2443) resolves it.

---

_{🤖 Drafted by GitHub Copilot.}