Universal Development Template

A standardized template for any software development project with GitHub Copilot integration and AI-powered workflows.

📌 Project-Specific Details: Add project-specific structure, build instructions, and tech stack documentation under documents/ as you adapt this template.

Features

• 🤖 AI-Optimized: Pre-configured GitHub Copilot instructions, custom agents, and agent skills
• 📊 Flexible Structure: Adaptable to any project type (Web, Game, ML/AI, Modding, etc.)
• 🔄 Reproducible: Version control, configuration management, type-safe code practices
• 📝 Documentation-First: Structured documentation workflow with templates
• 🧩 Extensible: Agent skills for automated workflows and best practices
• 🌐 Multi-Language: Support for Korean + English documentation

Operating Model

This template currently uses a lifecycle-first operating model for non-trivial AI work: INIT -> ATOMIZE -> PLAN -> EXECUTE -> REPORT -> AWAIT -> FINALIZE. In practice, session-gate is the lifecycle authority, hooks enforce phase behavior, the orchestrator coordinates task boundaries, and specialist agents handle substantive execution.

Quick Start

# Clone your project
git clone <repository-url>
cd <project-directory>

# Install dependencies (adapt to your project)
# Python: uv sync
# Node.js: npm install
# .NET: dotnet restore
# RimWorld Mod: See documents/BUILD_GUIDE.md

# Run your project (adapt to your project)
# Python: uv run python src/main.py
# Node.js: npm start
# .NET: dotnet run
# RimWorld Mod: Copy to mods folder and launch game

To register this repository as a local VS Code Copilot plugin on Windows, run scripts\\install_vscode_plugin.cmd. The Python entrypoint is scripts/install_vscode_plugin.py and updates the VS Code user settings.json chat.pluginLocations value for this plugin root.

Project Structure

📌 For detailed project structure: Document the project-specific directory layout under documents/ as you adapt this template.

📌 For extending this template: If CONTRIBUTING.md exists, use it to decide which file to edit when adding policies, procedures, or definitions.

This template provides a standardized structure that adapts to any project type:

.
├── .github/                 # Runtime-visible mirrors and instructions
│   ├── instructions/        # Deployed instruction mirrors
│   └── copilot-instructions.md
├── copilot/                 # Runtime-owned Copilot assets
│   ├── agents/              # Custom agents (.agent.md)
│   ├── skills/              # Agent Skills (workflows)
│   ├── hooks.json           # Hook manifest
│   └── mcp.json             # MCP server manifest
├── documents/               # Documentation hub
│   ├── final/               # Published documents
│   ├── drafts/              # Work in progress
│   ├── reference/           # Technical and paper references
│   └── templates/           # Reusable doc templates
├── src/                     # Source code
├── tests/                   # Test files
├── scripts/                 # Automation scripts
└── AGENTS.md                # Agent documentation

Adaptable to:

• Software development (Web, Desktop, Mobile)
• Research & ML/AI projects
• Game & mod development
• Infrastructure & DevOps

AI Agents

This template includes pre-configured GitHub Copilot agents for common development tasks:

Agent	Description
@orchestrator	Lifecycle-first coordinator for complex multi-agent workflows
@deep-think-mediator	Optional mediator for explicit deep-think protocol flows; uses a Gemini-family runtime path only when the host environment provides native Gemini access outside the repo-owned runtime
@dt-council-mediator	Optional mediator for explicit council protocol flows; uses a Gemini-family runtime path only when the host environment provides native Gemini access outside the repo-owned runtime
@fixer	Autonomous problem-solving & execution agent
@doc-writer	Documentation Writer (creates structured docs)
@doc-reviewer	Documentation Reviewer (quality checks)
@code-generator	Code generation with best practices
@code-quality-reviewer	Code quality & standards compliance
@validator	Verification and validation
@architect	System architecture & design
@research-gemini	Implementation-focused research
@research-gpt	Theory-focused research
@research-claude	System/Safety-focused research
@planner-*	Strategic planning (Gemini/GPT/Claude variants)
@idea-generator-*	Ideation (Gemini/GPT/Claude variants)

See AGENTS.md for full documentation.

Agent Skills

Agent Skills are specialized workflows automatically loaded by Copilot:

Skill	Description
documentation	Standardized doc creation and formatting
code-review	Code quality checklist and best practices
commit-skill	Commit workflow with explicit confirmation
deep-research	Recursive research workflow (STORM-style)
deep-think	Optional mediator-first deep reasoning workflow
data-analysis	Result visualization and statistical comparison
dt-council	Optional mediator-first multi-perspective council workflow
skill-extension	Create and extend agent skills
external-skill-generation	Generate skills from external documentation
paper-catalog-update	Refresh the prompt engineering paper catalog

The baseline path is direct lifecycle-first orchestration through session-gate with hook-enforced phase behavior, and mediator or council-style coordination is available as optional explicit overlays rather than the universal default. This repository does not ship a local Gemini MCP backend. If a mediator protocol expects a Gemini-family path, it should use host-provided native Gemini access when available and otherwise return a blocked or degraded result.

See AGENTS.md for usage examples.

Documentation Workflow

Document Types

Type	Location	Purpose
Final Reports	documents/final/	Completed, reviewed documents
Drafts	documents/drafts/	Work in progress
Technical Reference	documents/reference/technical/	API docs, guides
Paper Summaries	documents/reference/papers/	Research summaries
Templates	documents/templates/	Standard forms

Documentation Guidelines

1. Write drafts in documents/drafts/ - Not ready for publication
2. Move to documents/final/ - After review and approval
3. Use Memory MCP for notes - Don't create *.memory.md files
4. Follow project language policy - See shared/copilot-instructions.md (runtime mirror: .github/copilot-instructions.md)

Development Workflow

Working with Agents

1. Check AGENTS.md - Find the right agent for your task
2. Invoke agent - Use @agent-name in Copilot chat
3. Provide context - Clear requirements and constraints
4. Review output - Validate and iterate

Using Skills

Skills are automatically loaded by Copilot when relevant trigger phrases match a skill definition in copilot/skills/<name>/SKILL.md.

Example:

@doc-writer Create a technical guide for feature X.

Use AGENTS.md and each SKILL.md file to confirm the expected trigger conditions and execution mode.

Memory Management

Use Memory MCP (mcp_memory_* tools) for transient data:

• Observations/Notes → mcp_memory_store
• Prior context lookup → mcp_memory_search
• List all memories → mcp_memory_list

DO NOT create local *.memory.md files.

Project Adaptation Guide

For Different Project Types

RimWorld Mod Development:

• Structure: Add a project-specific guide under documents/
• Build: MSBuild, .NET Framework 4.8
• Test: In-game testing with Debug Mode

ML/AI Research:

• Add: configs/, results/, checkpoints/
• Tools: PyTorch, TensorFlow, Weights & Biases
• Test: Reproducibility checks, statistical validation

Web Development:

• Add: frontend/, backend/, api/, public/
• Tools: React, Node.js, Express, Next.js
• Test: Unit tests, integration tests, E2E tests

Game Development:

• Add: assets/, scenes/, scripts/, prefabs/
• Tools: Unity, Unreal, Godot
• Test: Playtesting, performance profiling

General Software:

• Standard structure works out of the box
• Adapt as needed for your tech stack

Customization Steps

1. Add project-specific docs under documents/ - Capture structure, build, and workflow details for your project
2. Configure shared/copilot-instructions.md - Set coding standards, then sync .github/copilot-instructions.md
3. Add custom agents - Create copilot/agents/<name>.agent.md
4. Create skills - Add copilot/skills/<name>/SKILL.md; for runtime activation, transition, refresh, or cleanup changes, follow the lifecycle technical references and active session-gate plus hook path
5. Update AGENTS.md - Document your custom agents

Getting Started

First-time project setup:

1. Read this README - Understand the template's baseline structure and workflow
2. Check AGENTS.md - Learn about available agents
3. Review shared/copilot-instructions.md - Understand repository-wide policy and coding rules
4. Inspect copilot/agents/ and copilot/skills/ - See the active runtime assets in this template
5. Add project-specific docs under documents/ as needed - Capture build, test, and onboarding details for your project

Documentation

• AGENTS.md - AI agent documentation (must-read!)
• shared/copilot-instructions.md - Source-of-truth development guidelines
• .github/copilot-instructions.md - Runtime mirror of the development guidelines
• documents/ - Location for project-specific guides, reports, and references

For runtime-owned customization work, use the lifecycle technical references under documents/reference/technical/: runtime-path-contract.md, runtime-refresh-runbook.md, stale-cleanup-policy.md, orchestrator-responsibility-split-map.md, lifecycle-validation-guide.md, plus lifecycle-state-schema-guide.md and lifecycle-acceptance-checklist.md. The active adoption path uses direct session-gate orchestration with hook-enforced phase behavior; legacy lifecycle-runtime-ops and scripts/write_lifecycle_transition.py are not part of that path.

Reference Repositories

The references/ directory stores external code and repositories used as reference during development.

Management Principles:

• ✅ Include: External projects, library examples, prototype code
• ❌ Exclude: Active project code (src/), archived versions (archive/), documentation (documents/)

Guidelines:

1. Verify and comply with licenses
2. Document version/date information clearly
3. Reference code is read-only (no direct modifications)
4. Regularly update or remove outdated references

Use subdirectories under references/ to organize project-specific external references.

Contributing

This is a template project. To use it:

1. Clone or fork this repository
2. Adapt the structure to your project type
3. Add your project-specific guides under documents/
4. Customize agents and skills as needed
5. Remove this section and add your project-specific content

License

[Specify your license]

Links

• GitHub Copilot Documentation
• Agent Skills Specification
• VS Code Copilot Customization
• Keep a Changelog
• Semantic Versioning

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Template Version: 1.0.1
Last Updated: 2026-04-18