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Muhny Mohamed
Muhny Mohamed

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RepoSidekick: Your Terminal's AI Companion 🤖

#devchallenge #githubchallenge #cli #githubcopilot

GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge Submission



RepoSidekick: Your Terminal's AI Companion 🤖

This is a submission for the GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge

What I Built

I built RepoSidekick, a terminal-first AI prompt helper that makes GitHub Copilot CLI easier and more powerful for repository analysis.

RepoSidekick generates optimized GitHub Copilot CLI commands for common developer tasks—like understanding repositories, finding code, getting refactoring suggestions, and creating onboarding guides. Instead of remembering complex prompt syntax, developers use simple commands like reposidekick summarize and get the perfect gh copilot command to run.

The goal was to eliminate the friction of crafting good prompts and make GitHub Copilot CLI more accessible to developers of all experience levels.

Demo

Repository: github.com/MOHAMED-MUHNI/reposidekick

How It Works 

# Run a simple command
$ reposidekick summarize

# RepoSidekick generates the optimal Copilot CLI command
📋 Run this command:
  gh copilot suggest "Analyze this repository and provide a comprehensive 
  summary including: 1. What this project does, 2. Main technologies used..."

# Copy and run the command
$ gh copilot suggest "Analyze this repository..."
# GitHub Copilot CLI provides detailed AI-powered analysis!
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Available Commands

Command What It Generates
reposidekick summarize Repository overview prompt
reposidekick explain <concept> Concept explanation prompt
reposidekick find <query> Code search prompt
reposidekick refactor Refactoring analysis prompt
reposidekick onboarding Contributor guide prompt
reposidekick complexity Code complexity prompt

The Problem It Solves: Remembering how to phrase questions for GitHub Copilot CLI is hard. RepoSidekick makes it effortless.

Screenshots

Getting a comprehensive repository summary
1. RepoSidekick generates the command:
RepoSidekick Summary Command

2. Run the Copilot CLI command to get AI analysis:
GitHub Copilot CLI Response

3. All commands provide optimized prompts:
Multiple Commands

GitHub Copilot CLI was the core engine of this entire project.

Instead of manually digging through documentation or grepping through files, I used Copilot CLI to:

  • ✅ Understand repository structure and architecture
  • ✅ Locate relevant files and logic patterns
  • ✅ Explain complex code paths
  • ✅ Suggest improvements and refactorings

Real Commands I Used During Development 

# Understanding the GitHub CLI command structure
gh copilot suggest "how to execute gh copilot commands programmatically from Node.js"

# Designing the CLI interface
gh copilot suggest "best practices for building CLI tools in Node.js with commander"

# Optimizing prompts for better results
gh copilot suggest "how to craft effective prompts for code analysis and suggestions"

# Error handling
gh copilot suggest "how to detect if GitHub CLI and Copilot extension are installed"
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What Surprised Me

I originally expected GitHub Copilot CLI to behave like an autocomplete tool—suggesting commands or fixing syntax errors.

Instead, it felt like a thinking partner that understands both my intent and my codebase context.

For example, when I asked:

gh copilot suggest "summarize this repository for a new developer"
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Copilot didn't just give me a template response. It actually analyzed the project structure, identified key files, understood the tech stack, and provided a contextual overview that was immediately useful.

This experience directly inspired RepoSidekick's design: simple commands powered by deep reasoning.

Why This Matters

RepoSidekick demonstrates how GitHub Copilot CLI can:

✅ Improve onboarding - New contributors can understand codebases faster

✅ Speed up development - Developers spend less time searching, more time building

✅ Reduce cognitive load - Complex repos become easier to navigate

✅ Transform the terminal - From command executor to conversational workspace

This project wouldn't exist in its current form without GitHub Copilot CLI—it's not just used in the project, it IS the project.

Technical Implementation

Tech Stack:

  • Node.js (CLI runtime)
  • Commander.js (CLI framework)
  • GitHub Copilot CLI (AI engine)
  • Chalk & Ora (Terminal UX)

Architecture:

User Command → RepoSidekick → Optimized Prompt → Copilot CLI → AI Response → Formatted Output
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RepoSidekick handles:

  • Command parsing and validation
  • Prompt engineering for better results
  • Error handling and user feedback
  • Response formatting and presentation

GitHub Copilot CLI handles:

  • Repository analysis
  • Code understanding
  • Intelligent suggestions
  • Context-aware reasoning

Future Enhancements

  • 🎯 Custom prompt templates
  • 📊 Export responses to markdown
  • 🔄 Interactive mode for follow-up questions
  • 🎨 Code diff visualization
  • 🚀 CI/CD integration suggestions

How to Try It 

# Prerequisites
# 1. Install GitHub CLI: https://cli.github.com/
# 2. Install Copilot: gh extension install github/gh-copilot

# Install RepoSidekick
git clone https://github.com/MOHAMED-MUHNI/reposidekick.git
cd reposidekick
npm install
npm link

# Navigate to any repo and try it
cd ~/your-project
reposidekick summarize
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Built with ❤️ and GitHub Copilot CLI

Tags: #devchallenge #githubchallenge #cli #githubcopilot

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