$ ~/registry/skill/affaan-m-search-first

SKILL

search-first

Name: search-first
Author: affaan-m

Research-before-coding workflow. Search for existing tools, libraries, and patterns before writing custom code. Invokes the researcher agent.

Stars

★ 229,796

Source

GitHub

Updated

2026-07-15

// securityLow risk

Prompt only, no code
Open source
Community-trusted· 229.8k

Running security audit…

Credentials
Network egress
Code execution
Data access
Supply chain

// install

Copy the install command and let the AI configure it · recommended for beginners

Please install the "search-first" skill from askskill:
1. Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/affaan-m/ECC/main/skills/search-first/SKILL.md
2. Save it as ~/.claude/skills/search-first/SKILL.md
3. Reload skills and tell me it's ready

// download

Download SKILL.mdInstall manifest ↗

// docs

/search-first — Research Before You Code

Systematizes the "search for existing solutions before implementing" workflow.

Trigger

Use this skill when:

Starting a new feature that likely has existing solutions
Adding a dependency or integration
The user asks "add X functionality" and you're about to write code
Before creating a new utility, helper, or abstraction

Workflow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  0. TOOL AVAILABILITY PREFLIGHT             │
│     Check search channels before relying on │
│     them; report skipped channels honestly   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1. NEED ANALYSIS                           │
│     Define what functionality is needed      │
│     Identify language/framework constraints  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  2. PARALLEL SEARCH (researcher agent)      │
│     ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐  │
│     │  npm /   │ │  MCP /   │ │  GitHub / │  │
│     │  PyPI    │ │  Skills  │ │  Web      │  │
│     └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  3. EVALUATE                                │
│     Score candidates (functionality, maint, │
│     community, docs, license, deps)         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  4. DECIDE                                  │
│     ┌─────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────┐  │
│     │  Adopt  │  │  Extend  │  │  Build   │  │
│     │ as-is   │  │  /Wrap   │  │  Custom  │  │
│     └─────────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────┘  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  5. IMPLEMENT                               │
│     Install package / Configure MCP /       │
│     Write minimal custom code               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Decision Matrix

Signal	Action
Exact match, well-maintained, MIT/Apache	Adopt — install and use directly
Partial match, good foundation	Extend — install + write thin wrapper
Multiple weak matches	Compose — combine 2-3 small packages
Nothing suitable found	Build — write custom, but informed by research

How to Use

Step 0: Tool Availability Preflight

This is agent guidance, not an executable setup script. Check only the channels that are relevant to the task and project in front of you.

Channel	Check	If missing
Repository search	`rg --files` and targeted `rg` queries	State that only visible files were inspected
Package registry	`npm --version`, `python -m pip --version`, or project package manager	Use web/docs search and avoid claiming registry coverage
GitHub CLI	`gh auth status`	Use public web or local git history only
MCP/docs tools	Available tool list or local MCP config	Fall back to official docs/web search
Skills directory	`ls ~/.claude/skills ~/.codex/skills` where applicable	Say no local skill catalog was available

Quick Mode (inline)

Before writing a utility or adding functionality, mentally run through:

Does this already exist in the repo? → rg through relevant modules/tests first
Is this a common problem? → Search npm/PyPI
Is there an MCP for this? → Check ~/.claude/settings.json and search
Is there a skill for this? → Check ~/.claude/skills/
Is there a GitHub implementation/template? → Run GitHub code search for maintained OSS before writing net-new code

Full Mode (agent)

For non-trivial functionality, launch the researcher agent:

Agent(subagent_type="general-purpose", prompt="
  Research existing tools for: [DESCRIPTION]
  Language/framework: [LANG]
  Constraints: [ANY]

  Search: npm/PyPI, MCP servers, Claude Code skills, GitHub
  Return: Structured comparison with recommendation
")

Older Claude Code docs may call this Task(...); use the current agent/subagent tool name exposed by the active harness.

Search Shortcuts by Category

…

View full docs ↗

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Please install the "search-first" skill from askskill: 1. Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/affaan-m/ECC/main/skills/search-first/SKILL.md 2. Save it as ~/.claude/skills/search-first/SKILL.md 3. Reload skills and tell me it's ready