On branch edburns/spotless-agentic-workflow-42

modified:   .github/copilot-instructions.md

 - Added a new "Pre-commit Hooks and Formatting (Coding Agent)" section
that:
  - Explains the hook is automatically enabled via copilot-setup-steps.yml
  - Gives explicit 3-step recovery instructions: mvn spotless:apply → git
add -u → retry commit
  - Recommends running mvn spotless:apply proactively before committing

Now when the Copilot coding agent starts a session, the setup steps will
enable the pre-commit hook, and if a commit is rejected by Spotless
formatting checks, the agent has clear instructions to fix and retry.

modified:   .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml

 - Added a new step "Enable pre-commit hooks" that runs git config
core.hooksPath .githooks before the verification step
 - Updated the verification step to also print the configured hooks path for
 confirmation

Signed-off-by: Ed Burns <edburns@microsoft.com>

Author: edburns

.github/copilot-instructions.md

@@ -244,6 +244,18 @@ This SDK is designed to be **lightweight with minimal dependencies**:
   5. Check for security vulnerabilities
   6. Get team approval for non-trivial additions
 
+## Pre-commit Hooks and Formatting (Coding Agent)
+
+The repository has a pre-commit hook (`.githooks/pre-commit`) that is **automatically enabled** in the Copilot coding agent environment via `copilot-setup-steps.yml`. The hook runs `mvn spotless:check` on any commit that includes changes under `src/`.
+
+**If a commit fails due to the pre-commit hook:**
+
+1. Run `mvn spotless:apply` to auto-fix formatting issues.
+2. Re-stage the changed files with `git add -u`.
+3. Retry the commit.
+
+**Best practice:** Always run `mvn spotless:apply` before committing Java source changes to avoid hook failures in the first place. If you forget and the hook rejects the commit, follow the three steps above and continue.
+
 ## Commit and PR Guidelines
 
 ### Commit Messages

.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml

@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ jobs:
           distribution: 'temurin'
           cache: 'maven'
 
+      # Enable pre-commit hooks so Spotless formatting is enforced on every commit
+      - name: Enable pre-commit hooks
+        run: git config core.hooksPath .githooks
+
       # Verify installations
       - name: Verify tool installations
         run: |
@@ -50,4 +54,6 @@ jobs:
           java -version
           gh --version
           gh aw version
+          echo "--- Git hooks path ---"
+          git config core.hooksPath
           echo "✅ All tools installed successfully"