From 29dfcbb58449632d9b6401906628683ae0dee0ba Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Evan Mattson <35585003+moonbox3@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:18:39 +0900
Subject: [PATCH] .NET: Validate SkillsInstructionPrompt contains {0}
 placeholder in FileAgentSkillsProvider (#4642)

* Fix FileAgentSkillsProvider accepting SkillsInstructionPrompt without {0} placeholder (#4638)

BuildSkillsInstructionPrompt validated only format-string syntax via
string.Format(template, ""), which silently accepted templates without a
{0} placeholder. The generated skills list was then dropped from the final
instructions.

Tighten validation to format with a sentinel string and verify it appears
in the output, rejecting templates that do not reference argument 0 with
an ArgumentException.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

* Fix netstandard2.0 compat and simplify prompt template validation (#4638)

- Replace string.Contains(string, StringComparison) with IndexOf for
  netstandard2.0/net472 compatibility
- Remove sentinel round-trip check; validate {0} directly on the raw
  template string using IndexOf
- Add positive test verifying custom SkillsInstructionPrompt with {0}
  is accepted and applied to output

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 .../Skills/FileAgentSkillsProvider.cs         | 12 +++++--
 .../FileAgentSkillsProviderTests.cs           | 36 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI/Skills/FileAgentSkillsProvider.cs b/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI/Skills/FileAgentSkillsProvider.cs
index cd64cdc723..460faced70 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI/Skills/FileAgentSkillsProvider.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI/Skills/FileAgentSkillsProvider.cs
@@ -175,15 +175,23 @@ public sealed partial class FileAgentSkillsProvider : AIContextProvider
             try
             {
                 _ = string.Format(optionsInstructions, string.Empty);
-                promptTemplate = optionsInstructions;
             }
             catch (FormatException ex)
             {
                 throw new ArgumentException(
-                    "The provided SkillsInstructionPrompt is not a valid format string. It must contain a '{0}' placeholder and escape any literal '{' or '}' by doubling them ('{{' or '}}').",
+                    "The provided SkillsInstructionPrompt is not a valid format string.",
                     nameof(options),
                     ex);
             }
+
+            if (optionsInstructions.IndexOf("{0}", StringComparison.Ordinal) < 0)
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException(
+                    "The provided SkillsInstructionPrompt must contain a '{0}' placeholder for the generated skills list.",
+                    nameof(options));
+            }
+
+            promptTemplate = optionsInstructions;
         }
 
         if (skills.Count == 0)
diff --git a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.UnitTests/AgentSkills/FileAgentSkillsProviderTests.cs b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.UnitTests/AgentSkills/FileAgentSkillsProviderTests.cs
index 92dc5a5418..5da49525d4 100644
--- a/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.UnitTests/AgentSkills/FileAgentSkillsProviderTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.UnitTests/AgentSkills/FileAgentSkillsProviderTests.cs
@@ -127,6 +127,42 @@ public sealed class FileAgentSkillsProviderTests : IDisposable
         Assert.Equal("options", ex.ParamName);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Constructor_PromptWithoutPlaceholder_ThrowsArgumentException()
+    {
+        // Arrange -- valid format string but missing the required placeholder
+        var options = new FileAgentSkillsProviderOptions
+        {
+            SkillsInstructionPrompt = "No placeholder here"
+        };
+
+        var ex = Assert.Throws<ArgumentException>(() => new FileAgentSkillsProvider(this._testRoot, options));
+        Assert.Contains("{0}", ex.Message);
+        Assert.Equal("options", ex.ParamName);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Constructor_PromptWithPlaceholder_AppliesCustomTemplateAsync()
+    {
+        // Arrange — valid custom template with {0} placeholder
+        this.CreateSkill("custom-tpl-skill", "Custom template skill", "Body.");
+        var options = new FileAgentSkillsProviderOptions
+        {
+            SkillsInstructionPrompt = "== Skills ==\n{0}\n== End =="
+        };
+        var provider = new FileAgentSkillsProvider(this._testRoot, options);
+        var invokingContext = new AIContextProvider.InvokingContext(this._agent, session: null, new AIContext());
+
+        // Act
+        var result = await provider.InvokingAsync(invokingContext, CancellationToken.None);
+
+        // Assert — the custom template wraps the skill list
+        Assert.NotNull(result.Instructions);
+        Assert.StartsWith("== Skills ==", result.Instructions);
+        Assert.Contains("custom-tpl-skill", result.Instructions);
+        Assert.Contains("== End ==", result.Instructions);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task InvokingCoreAsync_SkillNamesAreXmlEscapedAsync()
     {