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title Copilot CLI Plugin
description Register the HVE Core marketplace and install the complete hve-core plugin
sidebar_position 2
author Microsoft
ms.date 2026-10-07
ms.topic how-to
keywords
copilot cli
plugins
installation

Install the complete HVE Core component set as a Copilot CLI plugin for terminal-based AI-assisted development workflows.

Prerequisites

  • GitHub Copilot CLI installed and authenticated

Register the HVE Core Marketplace

Register the repository as a plugin marketplace:

copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/hve-core

The registration tracks the main branch, which has no release gate or release attestation. Each push to main publishes an unattested dependency SBOM, described in Continuous Main SBOM. PreRelease and Stable are VS Code extension channels, so the plugin has no channel to select.

Browse Available Plugins

List the plugins in the registered marketplace:

copilot plugin marketplace browse hve-core

You can also type /plugin in a Copilot CLI chat session to browse available plugins.

Install the Plugin

Install hve-core from the registered marketplace. The plugin includes the complete HVE Core component set, including the Research, Plan, Implement, Review lifecycle.

copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core

Update an Installed Plugin

Refreshing the marketplace catalog and updating the installed plugin are separate actions. Because the registration tracks main, refresh the catalog before updating the plugin:

copilot plugin marketplace update hve-core
copilot plugin update hve-core@hve-core

Replace an Earlier Registration

If you registered a release-channel or tag ref, such as microsoft/hve-core#release/stable or microsoft/hve-core#hve-core-v<version>, remove that registration and register the repository again to follow main. The repository does not publish release/prerelease or release/stable branches, so those refs no longer resolve, and a tag ref stays fixed at that tag:

copilot plugin marketplace remove hve-core --force
copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/hve-core
copilot plugin install hve-core@hve-core

In some Copilot CLI versions, --force also uninstalls plugins installed from that marketplace. Check copilot plugin marketplace remove --help for your version.

If you previously registered or installed a retired package identity, the retired package identities section of the migration guide maps each retired extension, command, skill, and agent to its replacement.

Plugin Contents

The plugin includes:

Component CLI Discovery Description
Agents Yes Custom chat agents for specialized workflows
Skills Yes Self-contained skill packages
Instructions No Included for #file: references, not auto-applied

The marketplace has one entry, which resolves to the repository root. Root plugin.json lists the plugin's agents, commands, rules (instruction files), and skills as repository-relative .github/... paths. The client also reads the root README and LICENSE; no generated plugin tree or plugin ZIP is involved.

Limitations

Instructions are not auto-applied from plugins

The Copilot CLI plugin spec recognizes agents, skills, commands, hooks, mcpServers, and lspServers as component types. There is no instructions component type.

The CLI loads path-specific instructions exclusively from .github/instructions/**/*.instructions.md in the project repo. Instruction files in plugin directories are not auto-applied via applyTo pattern matching.

Instruction files are still included in the plugin because agents reference them via #file: directives and skills link to them. Those cross-file references resolve correctly within the plugin directory tree. The difference is between explicit inclusion (an agent pulls in instruction content at execution time) and automatic application (the CLI matches applyTo patterns against the files you are editing).

For full path-specific instruction behavior, copy instruction files into your project's .github/instructions/ directory.

Other limitations

  • Skills require skill-compatible agent environments

Using Agents After Installation

After installing a plugin, agents and skills are available in your CLI session.

Skills vs Agent Mode

CLI plugins provide two distinct interaction patterns:

Mode Command Behavior
Skill /rpi-research Activates one reusable capability from the default mode
Agent Mode /agent hve-core:rpi-agent Switches to the coordinated RPI lifecycle

Skills run a specific workflow and produce structured output. Agent mode enables freeform conversation with a specialized agent until you exit.

Important

The CLI does not switch to a custom agent on behalf of a skill. Select hve-core:rpi-agent when you want lifecycle coordination, or invoke a direct phase skill such as /rpi-research:

/agent hve-core:rpi-agent
Research API authentication patterns before deciding whether planning is ready.

Skills that do not require an agent context work directly from the default mode.

Manual-only skills such as git-commit, git-merge, and git-setup set disable-model-invocation: true. Copilot CLI does not currently run skills with that setting (github/copilot-cli#4438), so use them from VS Code until that issue is resolved.

Example: Research Workflow

Invoke the Research phase skill directly:

> /rpi-research topic="API authentication patterns"
[Skill executes the research workflow and creates a research document]

Continue with follow-up questions in the same session:

> What are common API authentication patterns for REST APIs?
[Research conversation continues]
> How do OAuth2 and API keys compare for microservices?
[Follow-up within same agent context]

Available Agents

After installing the hve-core plugin, these agents are available via /agent <qualified-name>:

  • hve-core:rpi-agent coordinates Research, Plan, Implement, Review, and Follow-up
  • hve-core:documentation audits, authors, and validates documentation

Start an interactive scripted invocation with the same qualified identifier:

copilot --agent hve-core:rpi-agent

For the complete list, run /help in a CLI session to see all available commands and agents.

When to Use Each Mode

  • Use direct skills (/rpi-research, /rpi-plan, /rpi-implement, /rpi-review) from default mode for one bounded responsibility that does not require a custom agent.
  • Use agent mode with /agent hve-core:rpi-agent for lifecycle coordination.
  • Stay in agent mode for exploratory conversations, follow-up questions, or tasks that don't fit a predefined skill.

🤖 Crafted with precision by ✨Copilot following brilliant human instruction, then carefully refined by our team of discerning human reviewers.