APM Dependencies

The dependencies: frontmatter field installs APM (Agent Package Manager) packages before workflow execution. When present, the compiler packs dependencies in the activation job and unpacks them in the agent job for faster, deterministic startup.

APM manages AI agent primitives such as skills, prompts, instructions, agents, hooks, and plugins (including the Claude plugin.json specification). Packages can depend on other packages and APM resolves the full dependency tree.

Reproducibility and governance

APM lock files (apm.lock) pin every package to an exact commit SHA, so the same versions are installed on every run. Lock file diffs appear in pull requests and are reviewable before merge, giving teams and enterprises a clear audit trail and the ability to govern which agent context is in use. See the APM governance guide for details on policy enforcement and access controls.

Format

Simple array format

dependencies:
  - microsoft/apm-sample-package
  - github/awesome-copilot/skills/review-and-refactor
  - anthropics/skills/skills/frontend-design

Object format with options

dependencies:
  packages:
    - microsoft/apm-sample-package
    - github/awesome-copilot/skills/review-and-refactor
  isolated: true   # clear repo primitives before unpack (default: false)

Package reference formats

Each entry is an APM package reference. Supported formats:

Format	Description
`owner/repo`	Full APM package
`owner/repo/path/to/primitive`	Individual primitive (skill, instruction, plugin, etc.) from a repository
`owner/repo#ref`	Package pinned to a tag, branch, or commit SHA

Examples

dependencies:
  # Full APM package
  - microsoft/apm-sample-package
  # Individual primitive from any repository
  - github/awesome-copilot/skills/review-and-refactor
  # Plugin (Claude plugin.json format)
  - github/awesome-copilot/plugins/context-engineering
  # Version-pinned to a tag
  - microsoft/apm-sample-package#v2.0
  # Version-pinned to a branch
  - microsoft/apm-sample-package#main
  # Git URL with sub-path and ref (object format)
  - git: https://github.com/acme/coding-standards.git
    path: instructions/security
    ref: v2.0

Compilation behavior

The compiler emits an apm pack step in the activation job and an apm unpack step in the agent job. The APM target is automatically inferred from the configured engine (copilot, claude, or all for other engines). The isolated flag controls whether existing .github/ primitive directories are cleared before the bundle is unpacked in the agent job.

To reproduce or debug the pack/unpack flow locally, run apm pack and apm unpack directly. See the pack and distribute guide for instructions.

Reference

Resource	URL
APM documentation	https://microsoft.github.io/apm/
APM governance guide	https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/governance/
Pack and distribute guide	https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/pack-distribute/
gh-aw integration (APM docs)	https://microsoft.github.io/apm/integrations/gh-aw/
apm-action (GitHub)	https://github.com/microsoft/apm-action
microsoft/apm (GitHub)	https://github.com/microsoft/apm