AI-Powered Development Workflows with GitHub Copilot and the gh CLI

AI-Powered Development Workflows with GitHub Copilot and the gh CLI Using GitHub Issues as long-term memory, prompt files as workflow automation, and Copilot as the execution engine Table of Contents Introduction GitHub Issues as Long-Term Memory The gh CLI as Your Workflow Engine Prompt Files: Encoding Workflows for Copilot Setting Up the "Next Issue" Workflow Using the Workflow (includes starter repo and settings guide) Tying It All Together: The Instruction File Chain Practical Patterns Conclusion Introduction Type /next-issue in VS Code Copilot Chat. Copilot queries GitHub for your highest-priority open issue, shows you the title and acceptance criteria, creates a feature branch, reads your architecture rules, and starts implementing. When it's done, type /close-issue . Copilot summarizes the changes, creates a pull request, and updates the issue labels. No copy-pasting context. No explaining what you're working on. No starting from zero. That's the workflow we built and tested. Th