rstropek/2026-04-08-copilot/mypilot-usage

MyPilot Usage

When to Use

• Use this skill when an agent needs to run MyPilot locally.
• Use this skill when a user asks how to start the chatbot interactively.
• Use this skill when a user asks how to run a single prompt from the command line.
• Use this skill when verifying that the CLI returns one response and exits.

Preconditions

• Run commands from the MyPilot project directory.
• Ensure the .NET 10 SDK is available.
• Ensure the OPENAI_API_KEY user secret is configured before running the app.

Set the secret with:

dotnet user-secrets set OPENAI_API_KEY <your-key>

Interactive Mode

Use interactive mode for multi-turn testing or when a user wants to chat with the app manually.

Start the app with:

dotnet run

Behavior:

• The app prints a banner and waits for input at the You: prompt.
• Enter programming-related prompts in the console.
• Type exit to stop the session.
• Conversation history is kept in memory for the lifetime of the process.

Non-Interactive Mode

Use one-shot mode for scripted runs, quick verification, or when a user wants to pass the prompt on the command line.

Start the app with:

dotnet run -- --prompt "Explain what this project does"

Short form:

dotnet run -- -p "Explain what this project does"

Behavior:

• Always pass application arguments after -- so dotnet run forwards them to MyPilot.
• The app processes the prompt once.
• The app writes the assistant response to stdout.
• The process exits after the response is complete.

Tool Approval Behavior

• MyPilot exposes local tools for listing files, reading files, writing files, and requesting terminal commands.
• If the model asks to execute a shell command, the app pauses and asks for console approval.
• Approve with y or yes.
• Reject with n, no, or an empty response.

Recommended Verification Steps

1. Build first with dotnet build if the code was changed.
2. For interactive verification, run dotnet run and send a short coding prompt.
3. For non-interactive verification, run dotnet run -- --prompt "In one sentence, explain what a C# async method does.".
4. Confirm that one-shot mode exits after printing the response.

Troubleshooting

• If startup fails with a missing API key error, configure OPENAI_API_KEY via user secrets.
• If the app shows usage text, check the argument syntax and make sure the prompt flag has a non-empty value.
• If a command execution step appears to hang, check whether the app is waiting for approval in the console.