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DanWahlinCopilot
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docs: add .claude/settings.json support and model picker reasoning effort
- Chapter 04: Add .claude/settings.json and .claude/settings.local.json to the Instruction File Formats table, plus a new 'Settings Files' section explaining how they differ from instruction files (added in CLI v1.0.12) - Chapter 01: Update the Switching Models section to describe the new full-screen model picker and inline reasoning effort adjustment with ← / → arrow keys (added in CLI v1.0.12) Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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01-setup-and-first-steps/README.md

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copilot
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> /model
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# Shows available models and lets you pick one. Select Sonnet 4.5.
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# Opens a full-screen model picker. Select a model and press Enter.
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```
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> 💡 **Tip**: Some models cost more "premium requests" than others. Models marked **1x** (like Claude Sonnet 4.5) are a great default. They're capable and efficient. Higher-multiplier models use your premium request quota faster, so save those for when you really need them.
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> 💡 **Reasoning effort**: Inside the model picker, use the ← and → arrow keys to adjust the **reasoning effort** for the selected model. Lower effort is faster; higher effort is more thorough. The current effort level is shown next to the model name in the session header (e.g., `claude-sonnet-4.5 (high)`). Start with the default and raise it only when you need deeper analysis.
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</details>
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04-agents-custom-instructions/README.md

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| `.github/copilot-instructions.md` | Project | GitHub Copilot specific |
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| `.github/instructions/*.instructions.md` | Project | Granular, topic-specific instructions |
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| `CLAUDE.md`, `GEMINI.md` | Project root | Supported for compatibility |
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| `.claude/settings.json` | Project | Project-level behavior settings (committed, shared with team) |
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| `.claude/settings.local.json` | Project | Personal settings override (not committed, stays on your machine) |
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> 🎯 **Just getting started?** Use `AGENTS.md` for project instructions. You can explore the other formats later as needed.
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### Settings Files (.claude/settings.json)
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In addition to instruction files, Copilot reads **settings files** from your project's `.claude/` folder. These control *how* Copilot behaves rather than *what it knows* about your project. Think of instruction files as "here's our coding standards" and settings files as "here's how the tool should behave."
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- **`.claude/settings.json`** — Project settings committed to your repo, shared with the whole team.
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- **`.claude/settings.local.json`** — Your personal overrides, not committed (add it to `.gitignore`).
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```
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your-project/
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└── .claude/
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├── settings.json # committed — everyone gets these defaults
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└── settings.local.json # NOT committed — personal overrides
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```
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> 💡 **Tip**: Both files are optional. Start with `AGENTS.md` for instructions, and only add a `settings.json` when you need to tune Copilot's behavior for the whole team.
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### AGENTS.md
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`AGENTS.md` is the recommended format. It's an [open standard](https://agents.md/) that works across Copilot and other AI coding tools. Place it in your repository root and Copilot reads it automatically. This project's own [AGENTS.md](../AGENTS.md) is a working example.

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