search-first

Systematizes the "search for existing solutions before implementing" workflow. Use this skill when: Before writing a utility or adding functionality, mentally run through: For non-trivial functionality, launch the researcher agent: The planner should invoke researcher before Phase 1 (Architecture Review): The architect should consult researcher for: Combine for progressive discovery: - 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 - Does this already exist in the repo? → rg through relevant modules/tests first - Is this a common problem? → Search npm/PyPI - Is there an MCP for this? → Check ~/.claude/settings.json and search - Is there a skill for this? → Check ~/.claude/skills/ - Is there a GitHub implementation/template? → Run GitHub code search for maintained OSS before writing net-new code - Linting → eslint , ruff , textlint , markdownlint - Formatting → prettier , black , gofmt - Testing → jest , pytest , go test - Pre-commit → husky , lint-staged , pre-commit - Claude SDK → Context7 for latest docs - Prompt management → Check MCP servers - Document processing → unstructured , pdfplumber , mammoth - HTTP clients → httpx (Python), ky / got (Node) - Validation → zod (TS), pydantic (Python) - Database →...