Preflight: prepare your machine

Untimed preparation
Complete this page before starting the 90-minute workshop.

What you’ll have ready

By the end of preflight, you’ll have the repository cloned, the Copilot CLI authenticated, the starter project built, and Playwright MCP downloaded and ready.

What you need

Requirement	Why the workshop needs it	Verify
.NET 10 SDK	Builds and runs the C# console application	dotnet --version
Node.js 22 or newer	Runs the Playwright MCP server	node --version
GitHub Copilot CLI	Provides the Copilot runtime used by the SDK	copilot --version
Visual Studio Code	Opens and edits the SDK lab folder	code --version
GitHub Copilot access	Authorizes Copilot requests	copilot login
Microsoft Edge (default) or Google Chrome	Lets Playwright inspect the target page	Open the browser once before the workshop

Your commands should return output in this shape:

$ dotnet --version
10.0.x
$ node --version
v22.x.x
$ copilot --version
GitHub Copilot CLI ...

1. Open the SDK lab folder

Clone the dedicated SDK workshop repository and open it in Visual Studio Code:

git clone https://github.com/jamesmontemagno/workshop-accessibility-agent.git
cd workshop-accessibility-agent
code .

If code is not on your path, use your editor’s Open Folder command and select workshop-accessibility-agent instead.

2. Authenticate Copilot

Install the CLI with the method from the official setup guide, then run:

copilot login

The repository recognizes common WinGet and Homebrew installs. If dotnet build cannot find the Copilot CLI, set its path for the current terminal:

Windows macOS or Linux

$env:COPILOT_CLI_BINARY_PATH = (Get-Command copilot).Source

export COPILOT_CLI_BINARY_PATH="$(command -v copilot)"

3. Warm up Playwright MCP

Run this once to download the pinned package and print its options without starting a server:

npx -y @playwright/mcp@0.0.78 --help

The package version is pinned so everyone sees the same tool names and behavior. The code uses Microsoft Edge with --browser=msedge. If you prepared Google Chrome instead, use --browser=chrome when the argument appears in Step 4.

4. Copy and build the starter

Windows macOS or Linux

Copy-Item -Recurse start/HelloCopilotSDK workshop-app
dotnet build workshop-app

cp -R start/HelloCopilotSDK workshop-app
dotnet build workshop-app

A successful build ends with:

Build succeeded.
    0 Warning(s)
    0 Error(s)

Open the controlled target page once to make sure you can reach it:

https://jamesmontemagno.github.io/workshop-accessibility-agent/target-app/

Troubleshooting preflight

Symptom	Fix
copilot is not recognized	Restart the terminal after installation, or set COPILOT_CLI_BINARY_PATH with the command above.
Copilot asks you to authenticate	Run copilot login, finish the browser flow, then retry.
NuGet restore cannot reach the package source	Check proxy or package-source settings, then run dotnet restore workshop-app.
npx is not recognized	Install Node.js 22 or newer and restart the terminal.
The browser cannot start later	Install Edge or Chrome, or follow the Playwright MCP browser configuration.

Start Step 1 when: dotnet build workshop-app succeeds, copilot login is complete, and the target page opens.

Continue to Step 1: Create your first Copilot session.