Authoring Agentic Workflows

GitHub Agentic Workflows provide a prompt file that turns your favorite agent into a powerful workflow authoring tool. This guide explains how to use this mode to author agentic workflows in natural language.

Quick Start

Initialize your repository to set up GitHub Copilot instructions and prompt files for authoring agentic workflows:

gh aw init

This creates:

• .github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md - Custom Copilot instructions for better workflow authoring
• .github/prompts/create-agentic-workflow.prompt.md - The /create-agentic-workflow command for Copilot Chat
• .github/prompts/create-shared-agentic-workflow.prompt.md - The /create-shared-agentic-workflow command for creating reusable workflow components

VS Code integration

Once initialized, GitHub Copilot will automatically use these instructions when you edit workflow files in VS Code. See VS Code Integration for more details.

What is the /create-agentic-workflow prompt?

.github/prompts/create-agentic-workflow.prompt.md is a prompt file that contains the structure and instructions the Copilot-style assistant will use to generate a workflow markdown file that the gh aw CLI understands.

Use the prompt file when you want to:

• Draft a new agentic workflow using natural language
• Iterate on workflow steps with AI assistance inside your editor

The prompt contains instructions and toolset to enable efficient workflow authoring.

To get this file in your repository, run the init command:

gh aw init

How to use the /create-agentic-workflow prompt

GitHub Copilot Chat in Visual Studio Code

In Visual Studio Code and the GitHub Copilot Chat, you can load it using the /create-agentic-workflow command.

/create-agentic-workflow

This will start the agentic workflow authoring process.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Assuming you have the GitHub Copilot CLI installed, you can load the file in a session using the @ syntax:

load @.github/prompts/create-agentic-workflow.prompt.md

Other Agents and chats

Load the prompt file into your preferred AI chat or agent interface that supports loading from files. The prompt is designed to be compatible with various AI tools, although the tools might not be completely configured and you’ll need to allow running the compiler.

Dictating Agentic Workflows

When creating agentic workflows using speech-to-text (dictation), you may encounter terminology mismatches and formatting issues common to voice recognition systems. To help correct these issues, use the dictation instructions prompt or Copy full instructions .

This prompt helps rephrase text captured through speech-to-text recognition by:

• Correcting project-specific terminology (e.g., “ghaw” → “gh-aw”, “work flow” → “workflow”)
• Transforming casual dictated sentences into clear, imperative task descriptions
• Removing filler words and improving technical tone
• Adding necessary context that might be implicit in spoken requests

Load the dictation prompt into your AI assistant before or after dictating your workflow instructions to improve accuracy and clarity.

After compiling

Commit the generated files (.lock.yml) if they are part of the project’s tracked artifacts. The project uses compiled workflows in version control.