Cowork Custom Instructions Not Autoloading

When you tell Cowork "remember this for next time" or "always do X," Cowork suggests (or just goes ahead and makes) an update to copilot-instructions file. 

It tells you the preference has been saved and the file does get written.

However, it doesn't automatically load the custom instructions file at the start of new sessions.  You have to specifically mention it in a prompt.  Once you do, it will load the and use the file to guide its responses for the remainder of the session.

I feel like one of two things are happening here:
1. I'm missing something
2. The Cowork dev team missed implementing what I would consider a basic feature, even for a "Frontier" feature.

Can anyone else confirm that this is the behavior they experience?