Using Paqad with GitHub Copilot

For GitHub Copilot, Paqad is advisory: onboarding writes .github/copilot-instructions.md, the repository instructions file Copilot reads, telling the AI how to load your project's rules and workflows. Nothing in Copilot makes the AI follow those instructions, and Paqad installs no hooks for it.

What Paqad can enforce in GitHub Copilot

Nothing, during the session. Copilot is at the advisory level: the tool is given the rules but nothing stops it ignoring them.

• No edit is refused by Paqad.
• No verification runs when the AI finishes.
• Paqad's evidence files are only written if the AI runs Paqad's commands itself.

In Paqad's source this adapter is recorded as advisory, with hooks, skills, agents, cache and memory all switched off. Only the instructions file and an MCP file are written.

Files onboarding writes

File	What it is
.github/copilot-instructions.md	The entry file. A short set of instructions telling the AI to open .paqad/framework-path.txt and follow the installed framework, or to act as a normal assistant if Paqad is missing or off. If the file already exists, your text is kept and Paqad's lines go in a marked block.
.vscode/mcp.json	The MCP servers Paqad suggests for your stack. MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets AI tools connect to extra information sources. The file names servers under an mcpServers key but holds no start commands.

The instructions file is short on purpose. It does not contain your stack, conventions or rules; it points the AI at them.

Getting evidence without hooks

Paqad's instructions ask the AI, on advisory tools, to record each stage of feature work by running Paqad's commands in the terminal:

npx paqad-ai stage start planning
npx paqad-ai stage end planning --artifact <plan file>

These write to the ledger, Paqad's evidence files under .paqad/ledger/. Whether Copilot runs them depends on the mode you use and on the AI itself; chat that cannot run terminal commands cannot record anything. Check .paqad/ledger/paqad.stage-evidence/ after a change to see what was actually recorded.

Independently of the AI, git post-commit and post-merge hooks link commits to their feature, and you can add Paqad's verification script to your CI pipeline. See Adapters overview.

Setting it up

1. Back up .vscode/mcp.json if you have one.
2. Run paqad-ai onboard --providers github-copilot, or tick GitHub Copilot when onboarding asks. The adapter name is github-copilot; copilot on its own is not accepted.
3. Commit .github/copilot-instructions.md so everyone using Copilot on the repository gets it.

If you need edits to be refused when the process is skipped, use Claude Code or Codex CLI.