dev-search-first

version	1.0.0
name	dev-search-first
description	Research-before-coding workflow. Search for existing tools, packages, and patterns before writing custom code. Checks NuGet, npm, MCP servers, GitHub, and the existing codebase. Use when starting a new feature, adding a dependency, or before creating a new utility.
disable-model-invocation	true
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	[what you need]

Search First — Research Before You Code

Search for existing solutions before implementing custom code.

Stack: C#/.NET + Angular/TypeScript

When to Use

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

Workflow

1. NEED ANALYSIS
   Define what functionality is needed
   Identify framework constraints (.NET / Angular)

2. PARALLEL SEARCH
   ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
   │  NuGet / │ │  MCP /   │ │ Existing │ │ GitHub / │
   │  npm     │ │  Skills  │ │ Codebase │ │  Web     │
   └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘

3. EVALUATE
   Score candidates (functionality, maintenance,
   community, docs, license, dependencies)

4. DECIDE
   ┌─────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────┐
   │  Adopt  │  │  Extend  │  │  Build  │
   │ as-is   │  │  /Wrap   │  │ Custom  │
   └─────────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────┘

5. IMPLEMENT
   Install package / Configure / 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 small packages
Nothing suitable found	Build — write custom, informed by research

Search Checklist

Before writing anything, mentally run through:

0. Does this already exist in the repo? → rg through relevant code first
1. Is this a common problem? → Search NuGet (C#) or npm (Angular)
2. Is there an MCP for this? → Check configured MCP servers
3. Is there a skill for this? → Check .claude/skills/
4. Is there an llms.txt? → Check the library/framework docs site for /llms.txt
5. Is there a GitHub implementation? → Search for maintained OSS

Search Shortcuts by Stack

C#/.NET

Need	Look for
Validation / Result types	Results (ValidationBuilder, Result<T>)
Mapping	Mapster with Mapster.Tool (compile-time code generation). Manual mapping preferred for simple cases
HTTP client	IHttpClientFactory (built-in), Refit, Flurl
Serialization	System.Text.Json (built-in)
Logging	Serilog, NLog (over raw ILogger)
Testing	xUnit, NSubstitute, Testcontainers
Background jobs	Hangfire, Quartz.NET
Caching	HybridCache (Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Hybrid), IMemoryCache (built-in), IDistributedCache
Auth	ASP.NET Core Identity, Duende IdentityServer
Rate limiting	Microsoft.AspNetCore.RateLimiting (built-in .NET 7+)
Feature flags	Microsoft.FeatureManagement
Health checks	Microsoft.Extensions.Diagnostics.HealthChecks (built-in)
OpenAPI	Swashbuckle, NSwag
Resilience	Polly, Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Resilience
Domain building blocks	ErikLieben.* NuGet packages (event sourcing, strongly typed IDs, specifications, etc.)
ID generation	Guid.CreateVersion7() (.NET 9+)

Angular/TypeScript

Need	Look for
State management	Signals (built-in, preferred), NgRx only for complex event-driven scenarios
Forms	Template-driven forms with FormsModule (preferred), Reactive Forms for complex cases
HTTP	HttpClient (built-in), interceptors for auth/retry
UI components	Angular Material, PrimeNG
Tables	ag-Grid, ngx-datatable
Charts	ngx-charts, Chart.js wrappers
i18n	@ngx-translate/core, Angular i18n (built-in)
Validation	class-validator, zod
Date handling	date-fns, Luxon (over Moment.js)
Feature flags	@internal/ng-feature-flags (custom internal library)
Permissions	@internal/ng-permissions (custom internal library)
Testing	Vitest, @testing-library/angular, Playwright
Linting	eslint + @angular-eslint

Shared / Infrastructure

Need	Look for
CI/CD	GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps pipelines
Containers	Docker multi-stage builds
Database	EF Core migrations, Flyway
Monitoring	OpenTelemetry, Application Insights
Docs site	VitePress (you have /tool-vitepress)

Examples

Example 1: "Add retry logic to HTTP calls"

Need: Resilient HTTP calls with retry and circuit breaker
Search: NuGet "resilience http"
Found: Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Resilience (built-in .NET 8+)
Action: ADOPT — already in the framework, zero extra deps
Result: AddStandardResilienceHandler() on HttpClient registration

Example 2: "Add a data table with sorting and filtering"

Need: Feature-rich data table for Angular
Search: npm "angular data table"
Found: ag-Grid Community (score: 9/10), PrimeNG Table (score: 8/10)
Action: ADOPT — ag-Grid for complex needs, PrimeNG if already using PrimeNG
Result: One package, battle-tested, accessible

Example 3: "Add input validation to API"

Need: Request validation in ASP.NET Core
Search: NuGet "validation", check built-in options
Found: Results (in-house), DataAnnotations (built-in)
Action: ADOPT Results for Result-based validation with Railway-Oriented flow
Result: Explicit success/failure flow, TypedResults integration, error accumulation

Example 4: "Persist domain state with full audit trail"

Need: Persist domain state with full audit trail
Search: NuGet "event sourcing", check built-in options
Found: EventSourcing (in-house, Azure Storage backend)
Action: ADOPT — already in-house, battle-tested, includes analyzers + testing helpers
Result: Aggregate + event pattern with blob storage, projections for read models

Anti-Patterns

• Jumping to code: Writing a utility without checking if one exists
• Ignoring built-ins: .NET and Angular have rich built-in capabilities — check the framework first
• Dependency bloat: Installing a massive package for one small feature
• Over-wrapping: Wrapping a library so heavily it loses its benefits
• Outdated packages: Preferring a familiar but unmaintained package over the modern equivalent