Be Digital · Bonus material · GenAI Advisory

Context & Token Cheat-Sheet: GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code

How each tool builds context, what it ignores vs loads, and how that drives token usage.

Directory structure — what each tool cares about

Both tools need to understand your project layout, but they discover it in fundamentally different ways.

Aspect	GitHub Copilot	Claude Code
Discovery method	Semantic index — builds a vector embedding of the workspace at startup; retrieves relevant snippets on each prompt	On-demand file reads — Read tool calls triggered by the model during the conversation
What it sees first	Open editor tabs + semantically similar chunks from the index	CLAUDE.md (project memory) + whatever the model decides to read
Tree awareness	Implicit — the index covers all non-ignored files; no explicit tree walk	Explicit — model calls ListDir or Glob to navigate the repo tree
Config that controls scope	.copilotignore, VS Code files.exclude	.claude/settings.json deny rules (block reads/writes by path pattern)

Claude Code tree example — what a typical exploration looks like in the conversation log:

# Claude Code navigates a regulated Java codebase
ListDir → /
├── CLAUDE.md
├── .claude/
│   ├── settings.json
│   └── commands/
├── src/
│   ├── main/java/com/app/   ← denied by settings.json
│   └── test/java/com/app/   ← allowed — write target
├── pom.xml                   ← denied (frozen)
└── target/site/jacoco/       ← read-only, coverage data

Read → target/site/jacoco/jacoco.xml
Read → src/main/java/com/app/PriceService.java
Write → src/test/java/com/app/PriceServiceTest.java

What's IGNORED vs LOADED

GitHub Copilot

Ignored:

• Files matching .copilotignore patterns (same syntax as .gitignore)
• Files excluded by VS Code files.exclude / search.exclude
• Binary files, images, compiled output
• node_modules/, .git/, build artifacts by default

Loaded:

• Currently open editor tabs (highest priority)
• Semantically similar chunks from the workspace index
• .github/copilot-instructions.md — always injected as system context
• *.instructions.md files scoped to specific directories/patterns
• Prompt files (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md) when explicitly invoked
• Project-level skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, or .agents/skills/ — Copilot reads these when committed to the repo (as of April 2026)
• CLAUDE.md if present in the repo — Copilot reads it as project context alongside copilot-instructions.md

Claude Code

Ignored (via deny rules):

• Paths matching deny patterns in .claude/settings.json — blocks Read, Edit, Write tool calls
• The model physically cannot read or write denied paths — it's an enforcement layer, not a hint
• Typical deny targets: src/main/**, pom.xml, .env, secrets, large binaries

Loaded:

• CLAUDE.md at project root — always loaded at session start (project memory)
• Directory-scoped CLAUDE.md files — loaded when the model enters that directory
• Whatever the model explicitly reads via Read tool calls
• Slash command output (.claude/commands/*.md) when invoked
• Conversation history (grows every turn — the main cost driver)

Token usage — the levers

Every turn in an agentic conversation re-sends the full history plus any new context. These are the levers that control how fast the meter runs.

Lever	GitHub Copilot	Claude Code
Always-on context	copilot-instructions.md — keep it lean; it's injected every turn	CLAUDE.md — same principle; every byte is re-sent on every message
Load-on-demand	Prompt files (*.prompt.md) — only loaded when you invoke them	Slash commands + explicit Read calls — model loads files as needed
Scope exclusion	.copilotignore — removes files from the semantic index entirely	Deny rules in .claude/settings.json — blocks tool calls to those paths
Conversation length	Less visible — Copilot manages context window internally, auto-truncates	Fully visible — use /cost to see token count; use /compact to summarize and reset
Output tokens	Controlled by prompt design — shorter prompts, shorter completions	Tool output counts — use maxTokens on Read calls; keep responses concise in CLAUDE.md instructions

Quick mental model

The two tools use different names for the same concepts. Here's the mapping:

Bonus — filling the gaps

Hard token numbers & the /context command

Claude Code exposes its context state directly. Use these commands mid-session to understand where tokens are going:

• /cost — shows total input/output tokens and estimated cost for the current session
• /context — shows what's currently loaded in the context window (CLAUDE.md, conversation, read files)
• /compact — summarizes the conversation so far and starts a fresh context with the summary, dramatically cutting token usage on the next turn
• /clear — fully resets the session (loses all context)

GitHub Copilot doesn't expose equivalent commands. Token usage is managed internally by the service — you can't inspect or reset it. The lever you have is controlling what enters the index (.copilotignore) and what's always injected (instructions files).

Ignore-files — a Copilot/VS Code concept, not a Claude Code one

A common point of confusion: .copilotignore and .gitignore-style exclusion patterns are a GitHub Copilot and VS Code concept. Claude Code does not use ignore files.

In Claude Code, scope control is handled by deny rules in .claude/settings.json. These are not "ignore" hints — they are hard enforcement. A denied path cannot be read or written by the model, period. The model receives an error if it tries.

Concept	GitHub Copilot	Claude Code
Exclude from context	.copilotignore (advisory — removes from index)	Deny rules in .claude/settings.json (hard block)
Enforcement level	Index exclusion — the model simply won't see the file in retrieval results	Tool-call rejection — the model sees an error if it attempts access
Bypass risk	Low (file not in index) but if file is open in editor, still visible	None — deny rules evaluate before allow rules and cannot be overridden at project level

Sources

• GitHub Docs — Adding repository custom instructions for Copilot
• GitHub Docs — Excluding content from GitHub Copilot
• Anthropic Docs — Claude Code settings and permissions
• Anthropic Docs — Claude Code memory (CLAUDE.md)
• Anthropic Docs — Claude Code cost management