Streamline AL Development Using Copilot Code Review
GitHub's Copilot Code Review feature can assist with AL code reviews by checking code against detailed standards beyond what CI pipelines catch. Set up the feature in GitHub settings and create a codereview.instructions.md file with AL-specific guidelines to guide Copilot's review process and ensure AppSource-ready, high-quality extensions.
post Aardvark Labs
"We create a codereview.instructions.md file. This will contain the detailed instruction for how we expect Copilot to review the code."
Key points
- Enable Copilot Code Review in GitHub settings under Settings > Copilot > Code review to get AI-assisted code reviews on pull requests
- Create a codereview.instructions.md file with detailed AL development standards to guide Copilot’s review process beyond what CI pipelines validate
- Include comprehensive guidelines covering best practices, code quality, performance, security, extensibility, UI standards, and common AL mistakes
- Keep instruction files under 1000 lines to avoid overloading Copilot and prevent false positives when reviewing complex AL code
- Use Copilot to catch issues that are technically correct but don’t meet project standards or best practices
Quotes
- “We create a codereview.instructions.md file. This will contain the detailed instruction for how we expect Copilot to review the code.” (Shows how to customize Copilot’s behavior with project-specific AL development standards)
- “It is recommended that you keep these instructions under 1000 lines. Too many things to check will overburden the Copilot system.” (Provides practical guidance on optimizing instruction files to avoid Copilot performance issues and false positives)
Context
- Features: Copilot Code Review, GitHub integration, AL code analysis, Pull request automation, Custom review guidelines, Standard enforcement
Source: Aardvark Labs, community blog. Summary, key points and quotes are derived (CONTENT-NOTICE.md); read the original for the full text.