Microsoft Developer and MVP Jeremy Sinclair, joined by Justin Garrett, reveal how they built the Social Media Commander app using GitHub Copilot and latest AI features, demonstrating real-world coding, agent instructions, and CI/CD automation.

Developing Social Media Commander: Building a Cross-Platform .NET App with GitHub Copilot

Overview

In this MVP Unplugged premiere episode, host Justin Garrett meets Microsoft MVP Jeremy Sinclair to discuss and demonstrate the development of Social Media Commander—a cross-platform .NET application. The discussion highlights the practical use of GitHub Copilot and Agent Instructions to accelerate coding workflows, integrate advanced AI models, and streamline feature development.

Key Topics Covered

• Why Build Social Media Commander: Jeremy shares the motivation and goals behind creating a cross-platform social media management tool using modern .NET and Avalonia frameworks.
• Leveraging GitHub Copilot: Real-time demos on harnessing Copilot agent mode to generate code, manage context through Microsoft Learn docs, and implement features like Blue Sky v2 integration.
• AI Agent Instructions: Best practices for prompting, guiding Copilot, and leveraging advanced models such as Claude Sonnet 4.5.
• Tech Stack Deep Dive: Discussion of core technologies—.NET for cross-platform development, Avalonia for UI, GitHub Spark, and the integration of Microsoft Learn MCP server.
• CI/CD Automation: Showcasing how Copilot can streamline continuous integration and deployment, including live demos of automation workflows.
• Error Handling and Iteration: Tips on troubleshooting Copilot-generated code, steering AI outputs, and iterating solutions.
• Developer Knowledge: The ongoing importance of human understanding, critical thinking, and expertise alongside AI-assisted coding.
• Live Demonstration: Adding new features live (e.g., posting to Blue Sky), prompt engineering, AI-generated alt text enhancements, and advancing the product in real-time.

Resources & Links

• Jeremy's GitHub Repo for Social Media Commander
• Learn more about GitHub Copilot
• Microsoft Learn MCP
• GitHub Spark
• Avalonia
• MVP Unplugged Playlist

Takeaways

• AI in Coding: GitHub Copilot and agent instructions can significantly speed up development, but informed human decisions remain crucial.
• Agent Model Practices: Integrating docs like Microsoft Learn improves Copilot's code context and output.
• CI/CD Automation: Developers can leverage Copilot to automate testing and deployment pipelines.
• Cross-Platform Development: .NET tools and Avalonia UI enable building robust, portable applications.

About the Authors

• Jeremy Sinclair: Microsoft MVP with deep .NET and Windows expertise, passionate about community learning and sharing innovations.
• Justin Garrett: Principal PM in Microsoft Developer Relations; advocate for developers embracing the latest advancements in Cloud + AI.

This episode delivers practical insights for developers looking to incorporate AI into their everyday workflows and build advanced, cross-platform apps using Microsoft's ecosystem.