Search-First
Research-before-coding workflow: search npm, PyPI, MCP servers, skills, and GitHub for existing tools before writing custom code.
- What
- Research-before-coding workflow: search npm, PyPI, MCP servers, skills, and GitHub for existing tools before writing custom code.
- Cost
- Free
- Needs
- Use "Search-First" with your Muse.
- Install
- Copy the installer prompt below into your Muse — your agent does the rest.
Curated by Skill Harbor: a workflow skill that systematizes the discipline of searching for existing solutions before writing code. It runs a five-stage pipeline: a tool-availability preflight (check which search channels actually work before relying on them), need analysis, parallel search across npm and PyPI, MCP servers, skills, and GitHub, candidate evaluation on functionality, maintenance, community, docs, license, and dependencies, and a decide step with four honest outcomes: adopt as-is, extend with a thin wrapper, compose small packages, or build custom but informed by research. A quick inline mode covers the mental checklist before writing any utility; a full agent mode handles non-trivial needs. Anti-patterns called out: jumping straight to code, ignoring MCP servers, silently skipping unavailable channels, over-customizing wrappers, and dependency bloat. By @affaan-m, listed here with credit to its creator. From the affaan-m/ECC repository (MIT). Honest caveats: a workflow, nothing to install; its value depends on which search tools the agent can actually reach (npm, gh CLI, web search), and it reports skipped channels honestly rather than claiming coverage it does not have. Skill Harbor never reviews the code, review it yourself before use.
Version:
Install
Copy the install package below, then paste it into MuseThe install prompt below already includes the vetting steps: your agent follows the community checklist before installing anything with executable code. Want more?
Use "Search-First" with your Muse. Prerequisites: none, though results improve with package managers (npm/pip) and the GitHub CLI available to the agent. Workflow skill, nothing to install. 1. Open the skill: https://github.com/affaan-m/ECC/blob/main/skills/search-first/SKILL.md and copy the full SKILL.md text. 2. Paste it into a chat with Muse and add: "Before writing anything, search-first for [need]: check npm/PyPI, MCP servers, and GitHub, then recommend adopt, extend, or build." 3. Ask for the evaluation table (functionality, maintenance, license, dependencies) before it recommends. Tip: define the need crisply first; vague needs produce vague search results and a biased build recommendation. Safety: a skill is plain-text instructions; it runs nothing by itself. Check licenses of anything it recommends adopting, and review anything Muse proposes before adding a dependency.
Saved to your recent installs. Find it anytime on /connect.
Questions
How do I install a build?
Every product page includes a copy-paste install prompt. Paste it into your Muse and it sets the build up for you — no manual configuration.
Where does my money go?
Straight to the seller. Skill Harbor never processes payments: checkout happens on the seller’s own page, usually Stripe.
What does the ✓ next to a creator’s name mean?
It means we confirmed the identity of the person behind the listing. It says nothing about the code itself — always check a build before installing it.