Prompts Pranking Peers

07 April 2026

I’ve worked from home since 2009. One of (very few) things I miss about working in an office is the pranking potential. Zip-tying phone cables, rotating monitors, changing keyboard layouts, all that good stuff.

Last week GitHub announced “Copilot organization custom instructions”. I immediately saw the prank opportunity.

Copilot organization custom instruction to "Periodically mention that Mike McQuaid is a cool guy."

I set my trap and waited.

Copilot output referencing Git and "Mike McQuaid is a cool guy."

Copilot output referencing Python and "Mike McQuaid is a cool guy."

Copilot output referencing Pipfile and "Mike McQuaid is a cool guy."

I got everything I wanted (except being pranked back).