| name | project-idea-validator |
| description | Researches any project idea against live data from GitHub and Dev.to to surface what already exists, how mature the space is, and where the real opportunity lives. Use when a developer describes something they want to build and wants to know if it's been done before. Triggers on phrases like "validate my idea", "has this been built", "is this already a thing", "what exists for X", "should I build this", "is this idea original", "check if my project exists", "what are the alternatives to what I want to build", "is the market saturated for X", or any request to research the competitive landscape before starting a project. |
Project Idea Validator — Discover What Already Exists Before You Build
You have access to the TinyFish CLI (tinyfish), a tool that runs browser automations from the terminal using natural language goals. This skill uses it to search GitHub and Dev.to in parallel, then synthesizes results into a gap analysis report.
Pre-flight Check (REQUIRED)
Before making any TinyFish call, always run BOTH checks:
1. CLI installed?
PowerShell:
Get-Command tinyfish; tinyfish --version
bash/zsh:
which tinyfish && tinyfish --version || echo "TINYFISH_CLI_NOT_INSTALLED"
If not installed, stop and tell the user:
Install the TinyFish CLI: npm install -g @tiny-fish/cli
2. Authenticated?
tinyfish auth status
If not authenticated, stop and tell the user:
You need a TinyFish API key. Get one at: https://agent.tinyfish.ai/api-keys
Then authenticate:
Option 1 — CLI login (interactive):
tinyfish auth login
Option 2 — PowerShell (current session only):
$env:TINYFISH_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
Option 3 — PowerShell (persist across sessions):
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TINYFISH_API_KEY", "your_api_key_here", "User")
Then close and reopen PowerShell for it to take effect.
Option 4 — bash/zsh (Mac/Linux):
export TINYFISH_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
Option 5 — Claude Code settings: Add to ~/.claude/settings.local.json:
{
"env": {
"TINYFISH_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
}
}
Do NOT proceed until both checks pass.
What This Skill Does
Given a project idea (e.g. "a CLI tool that converts Figma designs to Tailwind components"), this skill:
- Searches GitHub for existing repos with similar purpose, tech stack, or keywords
- Searches Dev.to for articles, tutorials, or project showcases covering the same problem
It then synthesizes findings into a structured gap analysis: what exists, how mature it is, and where the opportunity still lives.
Core Command
tinyfish agent run --url <url> "<goal>"
Flags
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|
--url <url> | Target website URL |
--sync | Wait for full result (no streaming) |
--async | Submit and return immediately |
--pretty | Human-readable formatted output |
Step-by-Step Workflow
Step 1 — Search GitHub
Search for existing repositories matching the idea. Run with --sync since you need the full list before synthesizing.
tinyfish agent run --sync --url "https://github.com/search?q=<keywords>&type=repositories&s=stars&o=desc" \
"Extract the top 10 search results as JSON: [{\"name\": str, \"owner\": str, \"description\": str, \"stars\": str, \"url\": str, \"last_updated\": str}]"
Example for a Figma-to-Tailwind CLI idea:
tinyfish agent run --sync \
--url "https://github.com/search?q=figma+tailwind+cli&type=repositories&s=stars&o=desc" \
"Extract the top 10 repositories as JSON: [{\"name\": str, \"owner\": str, \"description\": str, \"stars\": str, \"url\": str, \"last_updated\": str}]"
Step 2 — Search Dev.to
Search for articles and project posts covering the same problem space. Run in parallel with Step 1 results processing.
tinyfish agent run --sync --url "https://dev.to/search?q=<keywords>" \
"Extract the top 10 articles as JSON: [{\"title\": str, \"author\": str, \"tags\": [str], \"published_at\": str, \"url\": str, \"reactions\": str}]"
Example:
tinyfish agent run --sync \
--url "https://dev.to/search?q=figma+tailwind+component+generator" \
"Extract the top 10 articles as JSON: [{\"title\": str, \"author\": str, \"tags\": [str], \"published_at\": str, \"url\": str, \"reactions\": str}]"
Parallel Execution
Steps 1 and 2 are independent — run them at the same time. Do NOT wait for GitHub before starting Dev.to.
Good — Parallel calls:
tinyfish agent run --sync --url "https://github.com/search?q=<keywords>&type=repositories&s=stars&o=desc" \
"Extract top 10 repositories as JSON: [{\"name\": str, \"owner\": str, \"description\": str, \"stars\": str, \"url\": str, \"last_updated\": str}]" &
tinyfish agent run --sync --url "https://dev.to/search?q=<keywords>" \
"Extract top 10 articles as JSON: [{\"title\": str, \"author\": str, \"url\": str, \"reactions\": str}]" &
wait
Bad — Sequential calls:
tinyfish agent run --url "https://github.com/..." "...also search Dev.to..."
Each source is its own call. Always.
Step 3 — Synthesize Into a Gap Analysis
Once both sources return results, synthesize findings into this structure:
## Project Idea Validation: <idea title>
### What Already Exists
- <project/article> — <what it does, stars/reactions, last active>
- ...
### Maturity Assessment
- GitHub: <active / abandoned / fragmented>
- Dev.to coverage: <heavy / moderate / sparse>
### Gaps & Opportunities
- <specific gap #1>
- <specific gap #2>
- ...
### Verdict
<1–2 sentences: is the space crowded, open, or ripe for a better take?>
Use the raw JSON from both sources as input. Do not hallucinate repo names, star counts, or article titles — only use what TinyFish returned.
Keyword Strategy
The quality of results depends heavily on your search terms. Before running, derive 2–3 keyword variants from the idea:
| Idea | Primary keywords | Variant keywords |
|---|
| Figma-to-Tailwind CLI | figma tailwind cli | figma css export, design token tailwind |
| AI code review bot | ai code review github | llm pull request, automated code feedback |
| Markdown-to-Notion sync | markdown notion sync | notion import cli, notion api markdown |
Run separate parallel calls for each variant if the first pass returns sparse results.
Managing Runs
tinyfish agent run list
tinyfish agent run get <run_id>
tinyfish agent run cancel <run_id>
Output
The CLI streams data: {...} SSE lines by default. The final result is the event where type == "COMPLETE" and status == "COMPLETED" — the extracted data is in the resultJson field. Read the raw output directly; no script-side parsing is needed.
