4PS Dev Toolkit

A developer productivity toolkit for 4PS teams working with Azure DevOps.

Features

Instruction File Sync

Keep your team's Copilot instruction files in a central Azure DevOps repository. The extension pulls them into every developer's workspace on demand, ensuring everyone works with the latest coding standards and guidelines.

• Preserves the folder structure from the source repository
• Configurable file patterns and source paths
• Files are written to .github/instructions/ where Copilot Chat picks them up as context

Team-Based Content Sync

Sync instructions, agents, prompts, and skills from a shared Azure DevOps repo, scoped per team. General content is shared across all teams, while team-specific content is only synced for the selected team.

Azure DevOps Repo Structure

Organize your repo using this convention:

repo root
├── general/                    ← synced for ALL teams
│   ├── instructions/
│   │   └── coding-standards.instructions.md
│   ├── agents/
│   │   └── code-reviewer.md
│   ├── prompts/
│   │   └── explain-code.md
│   └── skills/
│       └── shared-skill.md
│
├── al/                         ← AL Developer team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
├── web/                        ← Web Developer team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
├── app/                        ← App Developer team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
├── qa/                         ← QA Engineer team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
├── devsecops/                  ← DevSecOps Engineer team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
├── productmanagement/          ← Product Manager team only
│   ├── instructions/
│   ├── agents/
│   ├── prompts/
│   └── skills/
│
└── powerplatform/              ← Power Platform Developer team only
    ├── instructions/
    ├── agents/
    ├── prompts/
    └── skills/

Workspace Result

When a user has team set to "al", the extension syncs general + al into the standard VS Code Copilot locations:

.github/
├── instructions/
│   ├── general/                ← from general/instructions/
│   │   └── coding-standards.instructions.md
│   └── al/                     ← from al/instructions/
│       └── al-patterns.instructions.md
├── agents/
│   ├── general/                ← from general/agents/
│   │   └── code-reviewer.md
│   └── al/                     ← from al/agents/
│       └── al-assistant.md
├── prompts/
│   ├── general/                ← from general/prompts/
│   │   └── explain-code.md
│   └── al/                     ← from al/prompts/
│       └── al-object-wizard.md
└── skills/
    ├── general/                ← from general/skills/
    │   └── shared-skill.md
    └── al/                     ← from al/skills/
        └── al-skill.md

VS Code Copilot recursively picks up all files under .github/instructions/, .github/agents/, etc., so subfolders work transparently.

Enabling Team Mode

Set the teams setting in your VS Code settings. You can select one or more teams:

{
  "instructionFileSync.teams": ["al"]
}

Members working across multiple teams can select all that apply:

{
  "instructionFileSync.teams": ["al", "web"]
}

Or use the persona picker (4PS: Install Extensions for Persona) — it will offer to add the team automatically.

Backward compatible: If teams is empty (the default), the extension works exactly as before — syncing a single sourcePath to targetPath.

Persona-Based Extension Installer

Install a curated set of VS Code extensions and MCP servers based on your role. Select your persona from a list and the toolkit sets everything up for you.

MCP servers are configured in .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace, merging with any existing configuration.

Microsoft SSO Authentication

No Personal Access Tokens needed. The extension uses VS Code's built-in Microsoft authentication provider, so you sign in with your regular Azure/Microsoft account.

Getting Started

1. Install

Install from the VS Code Marketplace or from a .vsix file:

code --install-extension 4ps-dev-toolkit-1.3.0.vsix

2. Configure

Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for Instruction File Sync, or add to your settings.json:

{
  "instructionFileSync.organization": "4ps",
  "instructionFileSync.project": "YourProject",
  "instructionFileSync.repository": "YourRepo"
}

Use the 4PS: Sync Instruction Files from Azure DevOps command when you want to pull the latest files. You'll be prompted to sign in with your Microsoft account on first use.

Optional: Enable Team Mode

To sync team-specific content (instructions, agents, prompts, skills):

{
  "instructionFileSync.teams": ["al"]
}

Or run 4PS: Install Extensions for Persona and accept the prompt to add your team.

3. Use

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Settings

Requirements

• VS Code 1.99 or later
• Access to an Azure DevOps Git repository
• A Microsoft/Azure account with permissions to the target repository

License

MIT