microsoft/hve-core

HVE Core – an AI‑augmented software‑development framework

What it is – HVE Core is a Microsoft‑maintained, open‑source framework that embeds generative‑AI agents directly into the software‑development lifecycle (SDLC). It supplies a set of agents, instructions and skills that can be invoked from VS Code or the GitHub Copilot CLI to automate repetitive engineering tasks such as research, planning, code generation, security checks, and review. The framework is deliberately opinionated: it encodes a company‑wide set of standards, compliance checks and architectural guidelines so that the AI can surface the right context while a human still makes the final decisions.

Key concepts

• Agents – specialised AI assistants (e.g., research, planning, implementation, review) that run as slash‑commands (/hve‑builder) or via the Copilot chat picker.
• Instructions – prompt templates that automatically apply coding‑style, security, and compliance rules to generated code.
• Skills – reusable workflow fragments that expose tool capabilities (e.g., CI checks, architecture reviews) and can be added to a project with a single command.
• RPI methodology – a four‑step workflow (Research → Plan → Implement → Review) that structures how the agents are used.

How you use it

1. Install the HVE Core VS Code extension (or add the plugin to Copilot CLI).
2. Open any repository and start a Copilot chat.
3. Pick the RPI Agent and describe the task; the agent will guide you through the RPI steps, applying the configured instructions and skills.
4. Teams can adopt the framework via the provided Team Adoption Guide and customise it by forking the repo and adding their own agents, prompts or compliance rules.

Who it’s for – engineering teams that want a consistent, AI‑assisted way to enforce internal standards, security requirements and architectural reviews without building their own tooling from scratch. It is positioned as a learning and pattern source rather than a production‑grade platform; Microsoft explicitly warns that APIs and behaviours may change.

Documentation & support – Full docs live at https://microsoft.github.io/hve-core/, with quick‑start guides, a plugin inventory, and detailed references for agents, instructions and skills. The repo includes contribution guidelines, security policy, governance model and a Responsible‑AI transparency note.

License – MIT (with some skill content under CC‑BY‑SA 4.0).