creation-guard

name	creation-guard
description	Analyze existing skills, agents, commands before creating new ones. Prevents duplicates and suggests alternatives.
use_when	Claude is about to create any new skill, agent, slash command, or CLI tool. MUST be invoked before writing any new artifact definition.

Creation Guard

Prevents duplicate functionality and enforces analysis before creating new Claude Code artifacts.

Purpose

Before creating ANY new:

• Skill (~/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md)
• Agent (~/.claude/agents/*.md)
• Slash command (~/.claude/commands/*.md)

This skill MUST be invoked to:

1. Search for existing artifacts with similar functionality
2. Identify potential overlap or extension opportunities
3. Present findings with recommendation
4. Get explicit user approval before proceeding

Trigger Phrases

Invoke this skill when you detect:

• "Create a skill for..."
• "I want a new command that..."
• "Let's add an agent for..."
• "Build a tool to..."
• Any intent to create new automation/tooling
• "Should we build/make/create..."
• "What if we had a tool that..."

---

Analysis Process

Step 1: Identify the Proposal

Extract from the request:

• Name: Proposed name for the artifact
• Type: skill | agent | command
• Purpose: What it does (one sentence)
• Key Functions: 3-5 main capabilities
• Keywords: Searchable terms related to functionality

Step 2: Search Existing Artifacts

Run these searches:

# Skills - search names and descriptions
for skill in ~/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md; do
  echo "=== $(basename $(dirname $skill)) ==="
  head -20 "$skill"
done

# Agents - search all agent definitions
for agent in ~/.claude/agents/*.md; do
  echo "=== $(basename $agent) ==="
  head -20 "$agent"
done

# Commands - search all command definitions
for cmd in ~/.claude/commands/*.md; do
  echo "=== $(basename $cmd) ==="
  head -10 "$cmd"
done

Also search by keywords:

grep -ril "[keyword]" ~/.claude/skills/ ~/.claude/agents/ ~/.claude/commands/

Step 3: Analyze Overlap

For each potentially related artifact, assess:

Criterion	Question
Functional overlap	Does it do the same thing? (0-100%)
Naming confusion	Could names be confused?
Extension potential	Could the proposal extend this instead?

Step 4: Generate Recommendation

Based on analysis, recommend ONE of:

Recommendation	Criteria	Action
PROCEED	<20% overlap, genuinely new capability	Create new artifact
EXTEND	50%+ overlap with single existing artifact	Modify existing instead
BLOCK	Would create problematic duplication	Do not create

---

Output Format

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
CREATION GUARD ANALYSIS
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

PROPOSAL:
  Type: [skill|agent|command]
  Name: [proposed-name]
  Purpose: [one sentence]

EXISTING ARTIFACTS ANALYZED: [count]

RELATED ARTIFACTS FOUND:

1. [artifact-name] ([type])
   Purpose: [what it does]
   Overlap: [X]% - [explanation]

RECOMMENDATION: [PROCEED|EXTEND|BLOCK]

RATIONALE:
[2-3 sentences explaining the recommendation]

SUGGESTED ACTION:
[Specific next step based on recommendation]
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Proceed with creation? (y/n)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

---

Self-Check Questions

Before creating ANY new artifact, ask:

1. Does something similar already exist?
2. Could this be added to an existing artifact?
3. Would a user know to look for this vs the existing one?
4. Am I creating this because it's needed or because it's easier than finding what exists?

---

Examples

Example: Duplicate Detection

User: "Create a skill for detecting AI-generated writing patterns"

Analysis finds: antislop skill already exists with 95% functional overlap.

Recommendation: BLOCK

• antislop already detects AI writing patterns
• User should use existing skill

Example: Extension Opportunity

User: "Create a command for logging work to projects"

Analysis finds: log-to-daily skill exists (70% overlap)

Recommendation: EXTEND

• log-to-daily logs to daily notes
• Suggest: Add project targeting to existing skill

Example: Genuine New Need

User: "Create a skill for managing analytics"

Analysis finds: No existing analytics skills.

Recommendation: PROCEED

• New capability not covered by existing artifacts
• Proceed with creation