Copilot CLI: context: fork frontmatter ignored — 11 skills lose worktree isolation

[easingthemes]

Problem

The context: fork skill frontmatter field is ignored by Copilot CLI. In Claude Code, this creates an isolated git worktree for the skill execution, preventing changes from affecting the main working tree until explicitly merged.

11 skills use context: fork and lose this isolation on Copilot CLI.

Impact

Skills that modify files during execution (e.g., step execution, bug fixes) run directly in the user's working directory instead of an isolated worktree. Risk of unintended changes to uncommitted work.

Upstream tracking

• github/copilot-cli#1169

[easingthemes]

Upstream status check — 2026-03-28

Upstream issue: github/copilot-cli#1169 — "Support skill metadata to invoke subagents"

Status: Still open. Filed 2026-01-28. Labeled Feature, triage. Covers both context: fork and agent: frontmatter support.

Related worktree issues in Copilot CLI ecosystem:

• copilot-cli#1725 — Global git stash leaks across worktrees (cross-worktree contamination)
• copilot-cli#1613 — Feature request: built-in git worktree lifecycle management
• copilot-cli#2243 — "Worktrees are nightmare, should be disabled by default"

Note: Copilot CLI does now support worktree isolation as a session-level feature (choose isolation mode when creating a session), but this is user-initiated, not skill-metadata-driven. The context: fork frontmatter in skills is still not respected.

Verdict: Still blocked upstream.

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Generated by Claude Code

[easingthemes]

Still valid as of 2026-04-29. Verified locally: 8 skills currently declare context: fork (down from 11 at filing) — 6 in dx-aem (aem-doc-gen, aem-editorial-guide, aem-fe-verify, aem-qa-handoff, aem-snapshot, aem-verify) and 2 in dx-core (dx-step-build, dx-step-verify). grep -rl '^context: fork' plugins/*/skills/*/SKILL.md confirms. Upstream copilot-cli#1169 still referenced as the blocker.

[easingthemes]

Still blocked as of 2026-05-30. Same upstream tracker as #22 — copilot-cli#1169 is still OPEN (last activity 2026-04-06). context: fork worktree isolation is still ignored on Copilot CLI. No change.