Using these examples with other AI tools

The agents, instructions, prompts, and skills on this site are written for GitHub Copilot’s configuration format, but the content — the rules, standards, and patterns — works with any AI coding tool. The rules themselves come from Defra software development standards (opens in new tab), which remain the single source of truth regardless of which tool you use. This page shows how to adapt the examples for other tools.

How the content maps across tools

Every AI coding tool has its own configuration format, but they all solve the same problem: giving the AI context about your project. The table below shows where each tool expects to find that context.

GitHub Copilot

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Adapting the examples

Claude Code

Claude Code reads project context from CLAUDE.md files and .claude/ configuration. To use the Defra examples:

1. Create a CLAUDE.md in your repo root with the content from copilot-instructions.md
2. Append the relevant backend instructions (Node.js or C#)
3. Append the frontend instructions if your service has a UI
4. Replace applyTo frontmatter with paths frontmatter in any .claude/rules/*.md files

For scoped rules, you have two options:

Option A — subdirectory CLAUDE.md files (simpler):

your-repo/
├── CLAUDE.md                    # Root instructions (always active)
├── src/
│   └── CLAUDE.md                # Backend-specific rules
└── views/
    └── CLAUDE.md                # Frontend-specific rules

Option B — .claude/rules/ with paths frontmatter (more precise):

your-repo/
├── CLAUDE.md                    # Root instructions
└── .claude/
    └── rules/
        ├── node-backend.md      # Scoped to JS/MJS files
        └── frontend.md          # Scoped to Nunjucks/SCSS files

Each rule file uses paths frontmatter to target specific file patterns:

---
paths:
  - "**/*.js"
  - "**/*.mjs"
---

Agent content: Claude Code supports custom subagents via .claude/agents/. Create agent definitions here to replicate the behaviour of the Defra App Developer agent.

Prompt content: Create .claude/commands/*.md — each file becomes a reusable command invoked as /project:command-name. Use $ARGUMENTS as a placeholder for dynamic input.

Cursor

Cursor uses rule files in .cursor/rules/. To use the Defra examples:

1. Create .cursor/rules/ in your repository root
2. Copy the root instructions into a .mdc file with alwaysApply: true
3. Copy scoped instructions into separate files with globs frontmatter
4. Update the frontmatter from applyTo to globs:

Copilot format:

---
applyTo: "**/*.js,**/*.mjs"
---

Cursor format:

---
description: Node.js backend rules
globs: "**/*.js,**/*.mjs"
alwaysApply: false
---

Cursor supports four rule types controlled by frontmatter:

Agent and prompt content: Cursor does not have separate agent or prompt files. Merge agent rules into your rule files and paste prompt templates into the chat when needed.

Windsurf

Windsurf uses a rules directory at .windsurf/rules/. To use the Defra examples:

1. Create .windsurf/rules/ in your repository root
2. Create an always-on rule file with root instructions
3. Create scoped rule files with Glob triggers for backend and frontend rules
4. Set the appropriate trigger type in each file’s frontmatter

Windsurf rule frontmatter:

---
trigger: glob
globs: ["**/*.js", "**/*.mjs"]
description: Node.js backend rules
---

Windsurf supports four trigger types:

Legacy: .windsurfrules in the repo root still works as a single-file alternative. Use it if your team does not need scoped rules.

Agent content: Windsurf supports AGENTS.md for defining agent personas.

Prompt content: Windsurf does not have a prompt file system. Paste prompt templates into the chat when needed.

Skills across tools

GitHub Copilot is currently the only tool that supports the Agent Skills open standard (opens in new tab). For other tools, convert each skill’s content into their native rule format:

The skill content (Defra standards, GOV.UK accessibility rules, PII handling) transfers directly — only the file location and frontmatter format change. See the Skills examples for the source content.

What stays the same across tools

The configuration format changes between tools but the underlying rules — Defra coding standards, GOV.UK Design System, WCAG 2.2 AA, OWASP practices, SonarCloud quality gates, 90% test coverage, and no PII in logs — are identical everywhere.

Multi-tool setup

If your team uses multiple AI tools, maintain canonical rules in .github/copilot-instructions.md and copy the same content into CLAUDE.md, .cursor/rules/, or .windsurf/rules/ as needed. Use the scaffold prompt to generate the initial config, then update the canonical source when rules change.

Back to Getting Started