---
title: HVE Core Documentation
description: Documentation index for HVE Core Copilot customizations
author: Microsoft
ms.date: 2026-02-18
ms.topic: overview
keywords:
- hve core
- documentation
- copilot customizations
estimated_reading_time: 3
---
HVE Core is a prompt engineering framework for GitHub Copilot designed for team-scale adoption. It provides specialized agents, reusable prompts, instruction sets, and a validation pipeline with JSON schema enforcement. The framework separates AI concerns into distinct artifact types with clear boundaries, preventing runaway behavior through constraint-based design.
## Audience
| Role | Description | Start Here |
|--------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Engineer | Write code, implement features, fix bugs | [Engineer Guide](hve-guide/roles/engineer.md) |
| TPM | Plan projects, manage requirements, track work | [TPM Guide](hve-guide/roles/tpm.md) |
| Tech Lead / Architect | Design architecture, review code, set standards | [Tech Lead Guide](hve-guide/roles/tech-lead.md) |
| Security Architect | Assess security, create threat models | [Security Architect Guide](hve-guide/roles/security-architect.md) |
| Data Scientist | Analyze data, build notebooks, create dashboards | [Data Scientist Guide](hve-guide/roles/data-scientist.md) |
| SRE / Operations | Manage infrastructure, handle incidents, deploy | [SRE Guide](hve-guide/roles/sre-operations.md) |
| Business Program Manager | Define business outcomes, manage stakeholders | [BPM Guide](hve-guide/roles/business-program-manager.md) |
| New Contributor | Get started contributing to the project | [New Contributor Guide](hve-guide/roles/new-contributor.md) |
| All Roles | Cross-cutting utility tools | [Utility Guide](hve-guide/roles/utility.md) |
**[Browse All Role Guides →](hve-guide/roles/README.md)**
## AI-Assisted Project Lifecycle
HVE Core supports a 9-stage project lifecycle from initial setup through ongoing operations, with AI-assisted tooling at each stage. The project lifecycle guides walk through each stage, covering available tools, role-specific guidance, and starter prompts.
* [Stage Overview](hve-guide/lifecycle/README.md) - Full lifecycle map with Mermaid flowchart
* [Stage 6: Implementation](hve-guide/lifecycle/implementation.md) - Highest-density stage with 30 assets
* [Stage 2: Discovery](hve-guide/lifecycle/discovery.md) - Research, requirements, and BRD creation
**[AI-Assisted Project Lifecycle Overview →](hve-guide/lifecycle/README.md)**
## Role Guides
Find your role-specific guide for AI-assisted engineering. Each guide maps the agents, prompts, and collections relevant to your responsibilities.
* [Engineer](hve-guide/roles/engineer.md) - RPI workflow, coding standards, implementation
* [TPM](hve-guide/roles/tpm.md) - Requirements, backlog management, sprint planning
* [New Contributor](hve-guide/roles/new-contributor.md) - Guided onboarding with progression milestones
**[Browse All Role Guides →](hve-guide/roles/README.md)**
## Getting Started
The Getting Started guide walks through installation, configuration, and running your first Copilot workflow.
* [Installation Methods](getting-started/install.md) - Seven setup options from VSCode extension to submodule
* [MCP Configuration](getting-started/mcp-configuration.md) - Model Context Protocol server setup
* [First Workflow](getting-started/first-workflow.md) - End-to-end example with RPI agents
**[Getting Started Guide →](getting-started/README.md)**
## Agent Systems
hve-core provides specialized agents organized into functional groups. Each group combines agents, prompts, and instruction files into cohesive workflows for specific engineering tasks.
* [RPI Orchestration](rpi/README.md) separates complex tasks into research, planning, implementation, and review phases
* [GitHub Backlog Manager](agents/github-backlog/README.md) automates issue discovery, triage, sprint planning, and execution across GitHub repositories
* Additional systems documented in the [Agent Catalog](agents/README.md)
**[Browse the Agent Catalog →](agents/README.md)**
## RPI Methodology
Research, Plan, Implement (RPI) is a structured methodology for complex AI-assisted engineering tasks. It separates concerns into three specialized agents that work together.
* [Why RPI?](rpi/why-rpi.md) - Problem statement and design rationale
* [Task Researcher](rpi/task-researcher.md) - Discovery and context gathering
* [Task Planner](rpi/task-planner.md) - Structured task planning
* [Task Implementor](rpi/task-implementor.md) - Execution with tracking
* [Using Together](rpi/using-together.md) - Agent coordination patterns
**[RPI Documentation →](rpi/README.md)**
## Prompt Engineering
HVE Core provides a structured approach to building AI artifacts with protocol patterns, input variables, and maturity lifecycle management.
* [Prompt Builder Agent](../.github/agents/hve-core/prompt-builder.agent.md) - Interactive artifact creation with sandbox testing
* [AI Artifacts Overview](contributing/ai-artifacts-common.md) - Common patterns across artifact types
* [Activation Context](architecture/ai-artifacts.md#activation-context) - When artifacts activate within workflows
### Key Differentiators
| Capability | Description |
|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| Constraint-based design | Agents know their boundaries, preventing runaway behavior |
| Subagent delegation | First-class pattern for decomposing complex tasks |
| Maturity lifecycle | Four-stage model from experimental to deprecated |
| Schema validation | JSON schema enforcement for all artifact types |
## Contributing
Learn how to create and maintain AI artifacts including agents, prompts, instructions, and skills.
* [Instructions](contributing/instructions.md) - Passive reference guidance
* [Prompts](contributing/prompts.md) - Task-specific procedures
* [Agents](contributing/custom-agents.md) - Custom personas and modes
* [Skills](contributing/skills.md) - Executable utilities with documentation
**[Contributing Guide →](contributing/README.md)**
## Architecture
Technical documentation for system design, component relationships, and build pipelines.
* [Component Overview](architecture/README.md) - System components and interactions
* [AI Artifacts](architecture/ai-artifacts.md) - Four-tier artifact delegation model
* [Build Workflows](architecture/workflows.md) - GitHub Actions CI/CD architecture
* [Testing](architecture/testing.md) - PowerShell Pester test infrastructure
**[Architecture Overview →](architecture/README.md)**
## Templates
Pre-built templates for common engineering documents:
* [ADR Template](templates/adr-template-solutions.md) - Architecture Decision Records
* [BRD Template](templates/brd-template.md) - Business Requirements Documents
* [Security Plan Template](templates/security-plan-template.md) - Security planning
**[Browse Templates →](templates/)**
## Quick Links
| Resource | Description |
|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| [CHANGELOG](../CHANGELOG.md) | Release history and version notes |
| [CONTRIBUTING](../CONTRIBUTING.md) | Repository contribution guidelines |
| [Scripts README](../scripts/README.md) | Automation script reference |
| [Extension README](../extension/README.md) | VS Code extension documentation |
<!-- markdownlint-disable MD036 -->
*🤖 Crafted with precision by ✨Copilot following brilliant human instruction,
then carefully refined by our team of discerning human reviewers.*
<!-- markdownlint-enable MD036 -->microsoft/hve-core
Publicmirrored fromhttps://github.com/microsoft/hve-coreAvailable
docs/README.md
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