Getting Started

AgentRC — prime your repositories for AI-assisted development.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• GitHub Copilot CLI — bundled with the VS Code Copilot Chat extension. Run copilot → /login to authenticate.
• Git host auth — GitHub: gh CLI or GITHUB_TOKEN/GH_TOKEN env var. Azure DevOps: AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT (or AZDO_PAT) env var.

Run

No install needed:

npx github:microsoft/agentrc

The TUI is an interactive menu where you can generate instructions, score readiness, run evals, and batch-process repos — all from one place. On first run, start with init to scaffold everything in one pass:

npx github:microsoft/agentrc init

init analyzes your repo, scores readiness, and generates tailored instructions and configs. Commit the output:

File	What it does
.github/copilot-instructions.md	Teaches AI agents your repo’s conventions
.vscode/mcp.json	Connects AI to your stack's tools and data
.vscode/settings.json	Tunes VS Code for AI-assisted dev

Tip: For multi-agent support (Copilot + Claude + others), also generate AGENTS.md:

npx github:microsoft/agentrc instructions --output AGENTS.md

See Custom instructions in VS Code for details on instruction file types.

Verify

Measure whether your instructions actually improve AI responses:

npx github:microsoft/agentrc eval --init   # scaffold test cases
npx github:microsoft/agentrc eval          # run evaluation

Keep it green

Add to CI to catch drift:

npx github:microsoft/agentrc readiness --fail-level 3 --json    # gate on maturity level
npx github:microsoft/agentrc eval --fail-level 80 --json        # gate on eval pass rate

See CI Integration for full GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines examples.

Next steps

• Concepts — maturity model, readiness pillars, how instructions are generated
• Commands — full CLI reference
• Configuration — agentrc.config.json for monorepos
• At Scale — batch processing across GitHub orgs and Azure DevOps
• Customize AI in VS Code — instructions, MCP servers, prompt files, custom agents