Add AI agent context documentation to template

[Copilot]

Template-based projects require manual setup (renaming script) and knowledge of project tooling (Hatch commands, test workflows, QA tools). AI assistants working with new projects from this template lack this context.

Changes

• Created .github/copilot-instructions.md: GitHub Copilot-recognized file containing:

  • Critical first-time setup: hatch run _wizard must run before any other work
  • Complete Hatch command reference (QA, testing, docs, pre-commit)
  • Project structure and tool configuration (ruff, mypy, pytest, 90% coverage requirement)
  • Development patterns (Google docstrings, type hints, src layout)
  • CI/CD workflows overview

• Updated README.md: Added "For AI Assistants" section linking to copilot-instructions.md

Why .github/copilot-instructions.md

This path is specifically recognized by GitHub Copilot as repository-specific context. Alternative locations (root-level .ai-context.md, CONTRIBUTING.md) are less discoverable or conflate different purposes.

Impact

AI agents working with projects created from this template will now:

• Know to run the renaming script immediately
• Use correct Hatch commands instead of raw pip/pytest
• Follow established conventions without inference
• Maintain project standards (coverage, docstrings, type hints)

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✨ Let Copilot coding agent set things up for you — coding agent works faster and does higher quality work when set up for your repo.

[sonarqubecloud]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
0.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud