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appendix z github skills catalog
Listen to Episode 43: GitHub Skills - Complete Course Catalog - a conversational audio overview of this chapter. Listen before reading to preview the concepts, or after to reinforce what you learned.
GitHub Skills is GitHub's free, self-paced interactive learning platform. Every course runs entirely inside GitHub - no external site, no separate login, no video. You copy a course repository to your own account, and an automated bot named Mona teaches you through real issues and pull requests.
This appendix catalogs every available GitHub Skills module, organized into learning paths that build on the skills you practiced in this workshop. Use it as a roadmap for continued learning after Day 2.
Each course follows the same pattern:
- Navigate to the course URL and select "Start course"
- GitHub copies the course repository to your account
- Mona (GitHub's automated learning bot) opens an issue with Step 1 instructions within 20 seconds
- You complete the task described in the issue (create a branch, edit a file, open a PR)
- Mona detects your action, validates it, and posts the next step as a comment or new issue
- Repeat until Mona closes the final issue with a completion message
All interaction happens through GitHub's standard interface. The screen reader navigation skills from this workshop - heading navigation, landmark jumping, issue and PR workflows - apply directly.
For detailed screen reader navigation instructions, see Appendix U Section 3 (GitHub Skills).
These three modules are integrated into the Day 1 agenda. You complete them during the workshop with facilitator guidance.
The following table lists the three GitHub Skills modules used during Day 1, with their workshop block and what each teaches.
| Module | Workshop Block | What Mona Teaches | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to GitHub | Day 1, Blocks 1-3 | Branches, commits, pull requests, merge | Start course |
| Communicate Using Markdown | Day 1, Block 3 | Headings, emphasis, links, code blocks, task lists, tables | Start course |
| Review Pull Requests | Day 1, Block 4 | Assign reviewers, leave comments, suggest changes, approve, merge | Start course |
If you did not finish these during the workshop, complete them first before moving to the paths below.
The remaining courses are organized into six learning paths. Each path builds on skills from this workshop and progresses from introductory to advanced. You do not need to complete every path - choose the ones that match your goals.
Deepen your understanding of Git version control beyond what the workshop covered.
The following table lists Git fundamentals courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Git | Less than 1 hour | None | Git CLI and VS Code - branches, commits, and merges using command line | Start course |
| 2 | Resolve Merge Conflicts | Less than 30 min | Introduction to GitHub | Why conflicts happen, reading conflict markers, resolving in the web editor | Start course |
| 3 | Change Commit History | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to Git | Amend commits, interactive rebase, squash, and reorder history | Start course |
Workshop connection: Day 1, Block 5 introduced merge conflicts in the learning room. Path 1 gives you deep practice with Git's conflict resolution and history tools.
Learn the collaboration features that power open source projects and team workflows.
The following table lists GitHub collaboration courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Repository Management | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Branch protection, issue templates, labels, milestones, and contributor-friendly settings | Start course |
| 2 | Connect the Dots | Less than 30 min | Introduction to GitHub | Cross-referencing issues and PRs, linking work across your repository | Start course |
| 3 | GitHub Pages | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Deploy a site from your repository using GitHub Pages | Start course |
| 4 | Release-Based Workflow | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Create releases, tag versions, and manage a release-based workflow | Start course |
Workshop connection: Day 1, Block 6 covered labels, milestones, and notifications. Path 2 extends those skills into full repository management and publishing.
Build automated workflows that test, build, and deploy your projects.
The following table lists GitHub Actions courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hello GitHub Actions | Less than 30 min | Introduction to GitHub | Workflow files, triggers, jobs, steps, and your first automated run | Start course |
| 2 | Test with Actions | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Continuous integration (CI) - run tests automatically on every push and PR | Start course |
| 3 | Reusable Workflows | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Create shared workflows, call them from other repos, use matrix strategies | Start course |
| 4 | Write JavaScript Actions | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Build custom actions with JavaScript - action.yml metadata, inputs, outputs | Start course |
| 5 | Publish Docker Images | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Build Docker containers and publish to GitHub Packages using Actions | Start course |
| 6 | Deploy to Azure | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Create deployment workflows for Azure using GitHub Actions | Start course |
| 7 | AI in Actions | Less than 1 hour | Hello GitHub Actions | Integrate AI models from GitHub Models into your Actions workflows | Start course |
| 8 | Create AI-Powered Actions | Less than 1 hour | Write JavaScript Actions | Build intelligent JavaScript-based Actions that use GitHub Models | Start course |
Workshop connection: Day 2 introduced GitHub Actions through the accessibility agents workflows. Path 3 teaches you to build your own automation from scratch.
Master AI-assisted development with GitHub Copilot across editors, CLI, and GitHub itself.
The following table lists GitHub Copilot courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Getting Started with GitHub Copilot | Less than 1 hour | None | Code completion, Copilot Chat, debugging assistance, and your first AI-assisted project | Start course |
| 2 | Build Applications with Copilot Agent Mode | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Use Copilot's agent mode to build multi-file applications from natural language | Start course |
| 3 | Copilot Code Review | Less than 30 min | Getting Started with Copilot | Use Copilot to review pull requests, catch quality issues, and improve code before merging | Start course |
| 4 | Customize Your GitHub Copilot Experience | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Custom instructions, prompt files, and chat modes for your specific workflows | Start course |
| 5 | Expand Your Team with Copilot | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Copilot coding agent - assign issues directly to Copilot on GitHub, no editor needed | Start course |
| 6 | Integrate MCP with Copilot | Less than 1 hour | Customize Your Copilot Experience | Connect MCP servers to Copilot for external tool access and custom capabilities | Start course |
| 7 | Scale Institutional Knowledge Using Copilot Spaces | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Organize project knowledge into Copilot Spaces for team-wide context sharing | Start course |
| 8 | Create Applications with the Copilot CLI | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Use Copilot in the terminal to manage issues and build applications from the command line | Start course |
| 9 | Your First Extension for GitHub Copilot | Less than 1 hour | Getting Started with Copilot | Build a Copilot extension that teaches Copilot about your industry, terminology, and processes | Start course |
| 10 | Modernize Your Legacy Code with GitHub Copilot | Less than 2 hours | Build Applications with Agent Mode | Use Copilot to modernize a legacy COBOL accounting system to Node.js | Start course |
Workshop connection: Day 2, Blocks 2-4 used Copilot for contributions and code review. Path 4 expands from basic chat to agent mode, MCP integration, CLI usage, and extension building.
Learn to identify vulnerabilities, scan for secrets, and secure your supply chain.
The following table lists security courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secure Code Game | 1-2 hours | Basic coding knowledge | Find and fix real security vulnerabilities in an interactive, gamified format | Start course |
| 2 | Introduction to Secret Scanning | Less than 30 min | Introduction to GitHub | Enable secret scanning, detect leaked credentials, and prevent secrets from being committed | Start course |
| 3 | Secure Repository Supply Chain | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Understand dependencies, find vulnerabilities with Dependabot, and patch them | Start course |
| 4 | Introduction to CodeQL | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Enable code scanning with CodeQL to find security issues automatically | Start course |
| 5 | Configure CodeQL Language Matrix | Less than 30 min | Introduction to CodeQL | Simplify code scanning workflows with CodeQL language matrices for multi-language repos | Start course |
Workshop connection: Appendix L covers GitHub security features conceptually. Path 5 gives you hands-on practice enabling and using each one.
Deploy to the cloud and migrate existing projects to GitHub.
The following table lists cloud and migration courses in recommended order.
| Order | Module | Duration | Prerequisite | What You Learn | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Code with Codespaces | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to GitHub | Create and configure cloud development environments with GitHub Codespaces | Start course |
| 2 | Migrate ADO Repository | Less than 1 hour | Introduction to Git | Create a sample Azure DevOps project and migrate it to GitHub using the CLI | Start course |
| 3 | Idea to App with Spark | Less than 1 hour | None | Turn ideas into web applications by describing them in natural language - no coding required | Start course |
Workshop connection: Appendix N covers Codespaces conceptually. Path 6, course 1 gives you the hands-on setup experience.
The following table alphabetically lists every GitHub Skills course with its category and link for quick lookup.
| Module | Category | Link |
|---|---|---|
| AI in Actions | Actions | Start course |
| Build Applications with Copilot Agent Mode | Copilot | Start course |
| Change Commit History | Git | Start course |
| Code with Codespaces | Cloud | Start course |
| Communicate Using Markdown | Workshop | Start course |
| Configure CodeQL Language Matrix | Security | Start course |
| Connect the Dots | Collaboration | Start course |
| Copilot Code Review | Copilot | Start course |
| Create AI-Powered Actions | Actions | Start course |
| Create Applications with the Copilot CLI | Copilot | Start course |
| Customize Your GitHub Copilot Experience | Copilot | Start course |
| Deploy to Azure | Actions | Start course |
| Expand Your Team with Copilot | Copilot | Start course |
| Getting Started with GitHub Copilot | Copilot | Start course |
| GitHub Pages | Collaboration | Start course |
| Hello GitHub Actions | Actions | Start course |
| Idea to App with Spark | Cloud | Start course |
| Integrate MCP with Copilot | Copilot | Start course |
| Introduction to CodeQL | Security | Start course |
| Introduction to Git | Git | Start course |
| Introduction to GitHub | Workshop | Start course |
| Introduction to Repository Management | Collaboration | Start course |
| Introduction to Secret Scanning | Security | Start course |
| Migrate ADO Repository | Cloud | Start course |
| Modernize Your Legacy Code with GitHub Copilot | Copilot | Start course |
| Publish Docker Images | Actions | Start course |
| Release-Based Workflow | Collaboration | Start course |
| Resolve Merge Conflicts | Git | Start course |
| Reusable Workflows | Actions | Start course |
| Review Pull Requests | Workshop | Start course |
| Scale Institutional Knowledge Using Copilot Spaces | Copilot | Start course |
| Secure Code Game | Security | Start course |
| Secure Repository Supply Chain | Security | Start course |
| Test with Actions | Actions | Start course |
| Write JavaScript Actions | Actions | Start course |
| Your First Extension for GitHub Copilot | Copilot | Start course |
Three courses are woven into Day 1. You set each one up during the block where it appears, work through Mona's steps alongside the learning room exercises, and finish before moving to the next block. No preparation is required beyond having a GitHub account.
-
Finish any incomplete workshop courses first. If Introduction to GitHub, Communicate Using Markdown, or Review Pull Requests are still in progress, complete them before starting new modules.
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Pick one path that matches your next goal:
- Want to contribute to open source? Start with Path 2 (Collaboration).
- Want to automate your workflow? Start with Path 3 (Actions).
- Want to code faster with AI? Start with Path 4 (Copilot).
- Want to secure your projects? Start with Path 5 (Security).
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Work through one course at a time. Each course takes 30-60 minutes. Spreading them across multiple days helps with retention.
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Use the workshop materials as reference. When a GitHub Skills course asks you to create a branch or open a PR, the chapter guides from this workshop describe the same operations with screen reader instructions.
GitHub Skills does not have a central dashboard for tracking completions. Use these strategies instead:
- GitHub profile: Completed courses appear as repositories in your account. Pin your favorites to your profile.
- Repository list: Filter your repositories by the "skills-" prefix to see all courses you have started.
- Mona's final message: When you finish a course, Mona posts a completion message in the final issue. Bookmark it.
- This checklist: Copy the list below into a personal note or issue to track which courses you have completed.
Copy this list into your own notes to track progress:
Workshop Courses
- [ ] Introduction to GitHub
- [ ] Communicate Using Markdown
- [ ] Review Pull Requests
Path 1: Git Fundamentals
- [ ] Introduction to Git
- [ ] Resolve Merge Conflicts
- [ ] Change Commit History
Path 2: GitHub Collaboration
- [ ] Introduction to Repository Management
- [ ] Connect the Dots
- [ ] GitHub Pages
- [ ] Release-Based Workflow
Path 3: GitHub Actions and Automation
- [ ] Hello GitHub Actions
- [ ] Test with Actions
- [ ] Reusable Workflows
- [ ] Write JavaScript Actions
- [ ] Publish Docker Images
- [ ] Deploy to Azure
- [ ] AI in Actions
- [ ] Create AI-Powered Actions
Path 4: GitHub Copilot
- [ ] Getting Started with GitHub Copilot
- [ ] Build Applications with Copilot Agent Mode
- [ ] Copilot Code Review
- [ ] Customize Your GitHub Copilot Experience
- [ ] Expand Your Team with Copilot
- [ ] Integrate MCP with Copilot
- [ ] Scale Institutional Knowledge Using Copilot Spaces
- [ ] Create Applications with the Copilot CLI
- [ ] Your First Extension for GitHub Copilot
- [ ] Modernize Your Legacy Code with GitHub Copilot
Path 5: Security
- [ ] Secure Code Game
- [ ] Introduction to Secret Scanning
- [ ] Secure Repository Supply Chain
- [ ] Introduction to CodeQL
- [ ] Configure CodeQL Language Matrix
Path 6: Cloud and Migration
- [ ] Code with Codespaces
- [ ] Migrate ADO Repository
- [ ] Idea to App with Spark
- GitHub Skills homepage - browse all courses with descriptions
- GitHub Skills organization - view all course repositories directly
- GitHub Skills Discussions - ask questions and share feedback with the GitHub Skills community
- Skills Exercise Creator - build your own GitHub Skills courses using Copilot
Last updated: March 2026