GitHub Copilot Skills

T2 ships a set of GitHub Copilot skills — focused instruction files that give Copilot deep knowledge of the T2 plugin. Skills eliminate repetitive context-setting and produce correct, T2-idiomatic output without manual explanation.

Last modified: April 21, 2026

link What are skills?

A skill is a SKILL.md file that contains step-by-step instructions, conventions, and code patterns for a specific, repeatable task. When Copilot detects that a task matches a skill, it reads the skill file first — before generating any response — ensuring the output follows the project's actual structure, APIs, and conventions.

Skills come in two forms:

link Skills for T2 contributors

If you are working inside the T2 repository (adding blocks, extensions, or tests), the development skills are located in .github/skills/. GitHub Copilot auto-discovers skills in .github/skills/ when you open the repository in VS Code.

Skill When to invoke
add-t2-block Scaffolding a new block in packages/block-library/src/
add-t2-extension Scaffolding a new extension in packages/extension-library/src/
write-t2-e2e-test Writing Playwright E2E tests for blocks or extensions
t2-dev-workflow Build, lint, test, and debug commands reference
t2-architecture-reference Boot sequence, package map, PHP APIs, REST endpoints, build system

link Skills for theme and plugin developers

If you are using T2 as a plugin in a client project, the usage skills are located in skills/.

Skill When to invoke
theme-integration Setting up T2 in a new WordPress theme end-to-end
configure-t2-json Writing or updating a theme's t2.json configuration file
configure-people-extension Enabling and customizing the People extension
configure-wiki-extension Enabling and customizing the Wiki extension
configure-custom-block-margin Setting up block spacing with Custom Block Margin v1/v2/v3
customize-featured-content Creating Featured Content card templates in a theme
override-block-settings Restricting allowed blocks, templates, and template locks
register-external-block Registering a third-party block with T2's admin system
t2-block-catalog Quick-reference for all 44 T2 blocks
t2-extension-catalog Quick-reference for all 60+ T2 extensions
t2-hooks-reference All WordPress actions and filters T2 provides

link How to use skills in a client project

Skills are only auto-discovered in the repository they live in. To use T2 usage skills in a client project, choose one of the following approaches:

link Option A — Copy skills into the client project (recommended for teams)

Copy the skills your project needs into .github/skills/ in the client repository:

# From your client project root
mkdir -p .github/skills

# Copy individual skills
cp -r /path/to/t2/skills/configure-t2-json .github/skills/
cp -r /path/to/t2/skills/theme-integration .github/skills/

Skills committed to the project repository are available to all team members automatically.

Make the skills available across all your projects by symlinking into ~/.copilot/skills/:

cd ~/.copilot/skills

# Link all T2 usage skills at once
for dir in /path/to/t2/skills/*/; do
  ln -s "$dir" "$(basename $dir)"
done

This is a local-only setup — not shared with teammates.

link Option C — Reference from project instructions

Add a note to .github/copilot-instructions.md in the client project pointing Copilot to the T2 skill library:

## T2 Plugin
This project uses the T2 WordPress plugin (v8.x). Copilot skills for T2
are available at `/path/to/t2/skills/`. Read the relevant
SKILL.md before answering questions about blocks, extensions, or t2.json.

link Invoking a skill

Skills are invoked automatically when Copilot recognises the task. You can also invoke them explicitly:

Use the configure-t2-json skill to help me set up t2.json for a news site.

Using the t2-block-catalog skill, which block should I use for a before/after image comparison?