Add Copilot preference for a chat's custom instructions loading (from all projects or from referenced projects only) by travkin79 · Pull Request #136 · microsoft/copilot-for-eclipse

travkin79 · 2026-05-05T09:52:51Z

This PR fixes issue #62 according to the comment #62 (comment)

The PR

introduces a new setting in the Copilot preferences with currently two options for loading custom instructions in Copilot chats:
- Load instructions from all projects in the Eclipse workspace
- Load only instructions from projects derived from files / folders selected in the chat window (from the resources' parent projects) new default
if activated, derives projects only from given resources and passes the corresponding workspace folders to the language server (CopilotLanguageServerConnection), i.e.
- if no files / folders are selected => no custom instructions are loaded at all
- if a set of files / folders is selected in the chat window, only these resources' parent projects are checked for custom instructions. Custom instructions from other projects are ignored.
adds some unit tests

Preference page preview (new group highlighted):

travkin79 · 2026-05-05T16:09:56Z

Hi @iloveeclipse,
I'm not sure, if it's OK if the custom copilot instructions are only loaded when starting a new chat. The set of loaded custom instructions doesn't change in an open chat window when the set of files in the context changes. I think, as a user, I would expect the set of custom instructions to change with the file selection in the chat. WDYT?

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds a new chat preference to control how project-level Copilot custom instructions are scoped when starting a chat, so Eclipse can avoid loading unrelated projects’ instruction files and reduce the prompt bloat behind issue #62.

Changes:

Added a persisted CustomInstructionsChatLoadScope preference with UI labels/defaults for chat instruction loading.
Derived workspace folders from selected/current resources in ChatView and threaded that list into conversation creation.
Added enum/helper tests and ResourceUtils coverage for workspace-folder derivation.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/utils/ResourceUtils.java`	Adds helper to derive distinct accessible workspace folders from selected resources.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/preferences/messages.properties`	Adds user-facing labels for the new chat instruction scope preference.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/preferences/Messages.java`	Exposes new NLS message keys.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/preferences/CustomInstructionPreferencePage.java`	Adds the new combo box to the preferences UI and persists the selection.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/preferences/CopilotPreferenceInitializer.java`	Sets the default chat instruction scope preference.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/chat/ChatView.java`	Derives scoped workspace folders before creating a new conversation.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.test/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/ui/utils/ResourceUtilsTest.java`	Adds tests for workspace-folder derivation behavior.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.ui.test/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF`	Adds JUnit params dependency for new parameterized tests.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.core/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/core/lsp/CopilotLanguageServerConnection.java`	Adds a `createConversation` overload that accepts scoped workspace folders.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.core/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/core/Constants.java`	Defines the new preference key and enum values/default.
`com.microsoft.copilot.eclipse.core.test/src/com/microsoft/copilot/eclipse/core/CustomInstructionsChatLoadScopeTest.java`	Adds enum serialization/deserialization tests.

+      List<WorkspaceFolder> workspaceFolders = deriveWorkspaceFolders(currentFile, references);
      CompletableFuture<ChatCreateResult> createConversationFuture = null;
      if (StringUtils.isBlank(agentSlug)) {
        createConversationFuture = ls.createConversation(workDoneToken, processedMessage, references, currentFile,
-            currentSelection, turns, activeModel, chatModeName, customChatModeId, todosToRestore, null, null);
+            currentSelection, turns, activeModel, chatModeName, customChatModeId, todosToRestore, null, null,
+            workspaceFolders);


iloveeclipse · 2026-05-05T16:12:27Z

I think, as a user, I would expect the set of custom instructions to change with the file selection in the chat. WDYT?

Correct.

travkin79 · 2026-05-05T16:59:41Z

Hi @iloveeclipse,

I think, as a user, I would expect the set of custom instructions to change with the file selection in the chat. WDYT?

Correct.

I've adapted the code to retrieve custom instructions from selected files on each conversation turn, i.e. each time a new prompt is sent to the LS.

jdneo · 2026-05-06T00:15:23Z

+  private static String getCustomInstrLoadScopeLabel(CustomInstructionsChatLoadScope scope) {
+    // the cases here must relate to SCOPE_ORDER array
+    return switch (scope) {
+      case ALL_PROJECTS -> Messages.preferences_page_custom_instructions_chat_load_scope_all;


How about making the item label simpler, for example, just All Projects & Referenced Projects, and show the detailed text as their tooltip?

I checked that, but it seems, we can only add a single tooltip to the drop-down list, not to each entry. Besides, the combobox has enough space for longer text. What about adding an explaining tooltip to the combobox like that

and leaving relatively long, self-explaining drown-down list entries like that?

ethanyhou · 2026-05-06T07:32:20Z

+    }
+    return switch (scope) {
+      // take all projects from Eclipse workspace
+      case ALL_PROJECTS -> LSPEclipseUtils.getWorkspaceFolders();


As this is a UI package, you can use WorkspaceUtils.listWorkspaceFolders() instead.

I've checked the code and there is a significant difference between using LSPEclipseUtils.getWorkspaceFolders() and WorkspaceUtils.listWorkspaceFolders():

LSPEclipseUtils.getWorkspaceFolders() takes all accessible projects from the Eclipse workspace

WorkspaceUtils.listWorkspaceFolders() takes only top-level accessible projects from the Eclipse workspace, no nested projects (Maybe the method should be renamed to listTopLevelWorkspaceFolders() to make that clear?)

Nested projects could also have custom instructions that we should take into account here, don't we?

iloveeclipse reviewed May 5, 2026

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travkin79 force-pushed the feature/select-custom-instructions branch from 7c28fcc to 8c9cc48 Compare May 5, 2026 14:14

travkin79 marked this pull request as ready for review May 5, 2026 16:06

travkin79 requested review from duzitong, ethanyhou, jdneo and xinyi-gong as code owners May 5, 2026 16:06

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings May 5, 2026 16:06

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of travkin79 May 5, 2026 16:07 View session

Copilot AI reviewed May 5, 2026

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travkin79 force-pushed the feature/select-custom-instructions branch 2 times, most recently from f90fdfc to 6728703 Compare May 5, 2026 16:56

jdneo reviewed May 6, 2026

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ethanyhou reviewed May 6, 2026

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iloveeclipse mentioned this pull request May 6, 2026

[Bug] Error when using search tool in workspaces with 20 or more projects open #24

Open

travkin79 force-pushed the feature/select-custom-instructions branch from 6728703 to cf9a3ce Compare May 6, 2026 11:08

feat: add preference for a chat's custom instructions loading

66a07f1

travkin79 force-pushed the feature/select-custom-instructions branch from cf9a3ce to 66a07f1 Compare May 6, 2026 12:54

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travkin79 commented May 5, 2026 •

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