find-npm-packages

name	find-npm-packages
description	Use when you need to find the 2-3 most popular and well-maintained npm packages relevant to a frontend checklist rule, validate they meet quality thresholds, and add them to the rule's frontmatter.
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","category":"content","tags":"npm,packages,rules,frontmatter"}

find-npm-packages

Identify, validate, and add npm package references to a Front-End Checklist rule.

What this skill does

Given a rule file or rule slug, this skill will:

1. Understand what the rule is checking for
2. Research which npm packages are commonly used to implement, automate, or enforce the rule
3. Validate each candidate against quality thresholds (popularity + maintenance)
4. Select the best 2–3 packages
5. Add them to the rule's npmPackages frontmatter field

Quality thresholds (mandatory — do not skip)

Before selecting any package, check it against these criteria using the npm registry:

Criterion	Minimum
Weekly downloads	>10,000/week
Last publish	Within 18 months
npm registry	Must be listed (registry.npmjs.org/{name})

Packages that fail any threshold must be excluded, regardless of how relevant they are.

Research steps

Step 1 — Understand the rule

Read the rule file: packages/content/rules/en/{category}/{slug}.mdx

Focus on:

• What problem does this rule solve?
• What technique, spec, or behavior does it enforce?
• What tools or linters are mentioned in the tools: field?

Step 2 — Identify candidates

Search for packages that:

• Detect the issue (linters, audit tools, CLI scanners)
• Fix or implement the pattern (frameworks, utilities, polyfills)
• Test for compliance (test utilities, CI integrations)

Use https://www.npmjs.com/search?q={keywords} and knowledge of the ecosystem to find candidates.

Prefer packages that are:

• Part of the official toolchain (e.g., eslint, stylelint, official plugins)
• Widely adopted across the industry
• Actively maintained (recent commits, open issues responded to)

Step 3 — Validate each candidate

For each candidate package, fetch and verify:

# Metadata
curl https://registry.npmjs.org/{package}/latest | jq '{name, version, description}'

# Weekly downloads
curl https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/point/last-week/{package} | jq '.downloads'

Record the weekly download count and last publish date. Reject any below threshold.

Step 4 — Select 2–3 packages

• Do not add more than 3 packages per rule
• Prioritize diversity: prefer one detector, one fixer, one framework helper when relevant
• If fewer than 2 pass the threshold, it's acceptable to add only 1 or leave the field empty
• Never invent packages — only list packages that actually exist and pass validation

Step 5 — Update the rule frontmatter

Add a npmPackages array to the frontmatter with the package names only (metadata is fetched at build time):

npmPackages:
  - eslint
  - eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y
  - axe-core

Place it after tools: and before resources:.

Validation after adding

Run the validation script to confirm all packages pass thresholds:

pnpm validate:packages packages/content/rules/en/{category}/{slug}.mdx

If any package fails, either remove it or replace it with a better alternative.

Example output

For the rule accessibility/form-labels:

npmPackages:
  - eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y
  - axe-core
  - @testing-library/jest-dom

All three have >100k weekly downloads and were published within the last 6 months.

What NOT to do

• ❌ Do not add packages with <10k weekly downloads
• ❌ Do not add packages last published >18 months ago
• ❌ Do not add more than 3 packages
• ❌ Do not add general-purpose packages that are only tangentially related
• ❌ Do not invent package names — verify each one exists on npm
• ❌ Do not add the package version (it's fetched at build time)