a2mus/search-first

When to Use

Use this skill BEFORE writing any new code when:

• Starting a new feature that likely has existing solutions
• Adding a dependency or integration
• About to implement a utility, helper, or abstraction
• The task starts with "add X functionality"

Workflow

1. NEED ANALYSIS
   └─ Define what functionality is needed
   └─ Identify language/framework constraints

2. PARALLEL SEARCH
   ├─ PyPI / npm — existing packages
   ├─ MCP servers — check mcp_config.json
   ├─ Repo — grep/search existing codebase first
   └─ GitHub / Web — maintained OSS alternatives

3. EVALUATE CANDIDATES
   Score each on: functionality, maintenance, community,
   documentation, license, dependency weight

4. DECIDE
   ├─ Adopt as-is (exact match, well-maintained, MIT/Apache)
   ├─ Extend/Wrap (partial match, good foundation)
   ├─ Compose (combine 2-3 small packages)
   └─ Build Custom (only if nothing suitable found)

5. IMPLEMENT
   Install package / configure MCP / write minimal code

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 | Build — write custom, informed by research |

Quick Pre-Code Checklist

Before writing ANY utility or new functionality, run through:

0. Does this already exist in the repo? → search with grep/rg
1. Is this a common problem? → Search PyPI / npm
2. Is there an MCP for this? → Check ~/.gemini/antigravity/mcp_config.json
3. Is there a skill for this? → Check ~/.gemini/skills/
4. Is there a GitHub implementation? → Search for maintained OSS

Common Tool Lookup

Python / QGIS

• HTTP clients → httpx, requests
• Validation → pydantic
• Config → python-decouple, dynaconf
• CLI → click, typer
• Geo / QGIS → Check QGIS Python API docs first
• Testing → pytest, pytest-qgis

JavaScript / TypeScript

• HTTP clients → ky, got
• Validation → zod
• Testing → jest, vitest
• Linting → eslint, prettier

Examples

Example 1: "Add YAML config loading"

Need: Load YAML config files
Search: PyPI "yaml python"
Found: PyYAML (score: 10/10)
Action: ADOPT — pip install pyyaml
Result: Zero custom code

Example 2: "Add HTTP retries"

Need: HTTP client with retry and timeout
Search: PyPI "httpx retry"
Found: httpx + tenacity (score: 9/10)
Action: ADOPT — use httpx with tenacity retry decorator
Result: Battle-tested, zero custom retry logic

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

• ❌ Writing a utility without checking if one exists
• ❌ Not checking if an MCP server already provides the capability
• ❌ Installing a massive package for one small feature
• ❌ Wrapping a library so heavily it loses its benefits