search-first

name	search-first
description	Research-before-coding workflow. Search for existing tools, libraries, and patterns before writing custom code. Invokes the researcher agent.
origin	ECC

/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  │  │
│     └─────────┘  └──────────┘  └─────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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:

0. Does this already exist in the repo? → rg through relevant modules/tests first
1. Is this a common problem? → Search npm/PyPI
2. Is there an MCP for this? → Check ~/.claude/settings.json and search
3. Is there a skill for this? → Check ~/.claude/skills/
4. 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
")

Project Notes (tauri-template)

• 对于你仓库的“新增能力”，优先按“前端/IPC/Rust 后端”拆分搜索：先查前端实现是否已有，再查 src-tauri/* 是否已有对应 Rust 工具/命令，最后才补齐 glue。
• 如果搜索到通用库/技能，优先“包装/适配到你现有约定”（例如 Tauri 命令走 invokeWrapper、Rules 展示文案走 i18n），而不是直接把外部实现原样塞进来。