Use before writing custom code or a research workflow when a maintained library, tool, skill, or proven pattern may already exist. Start with local reuse and targeted evidence; broaden to external research for new dependencies, new mechanisms, or uncertain external facts.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# /search-first — Research Before You Code
Systematizes the "search for existing solutions before implementing" workflow.
## Trigger
Use this skill when:
- 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
## Workflow
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 0. NEED + LOCAL REUSE GATE │
│ Inspect approved local implementations │
│ and results before external searching │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. RESEARCH DECISION │
│ Decide whether reuse, targeted lookup, │
│ or broader research is actually needed │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. TARGETED SEARCH (only when warranted) │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │
│ │ Registry │ │ Tools / │ │ GitHub / │ │
│ │ / docs │ │ skills │ │ evidence │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. EVALUATE │
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260905.1cfe2a2, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_mnzxsclusktne4tq
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library/search-first
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/fd455281a018be487661c7ff556dfc9e2afb9fbd29d66db3080ede6bf64e3305
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/app-bug-forensics/SKILL.md · Use when diagnosing or fixing user-reported application bugs. Guides evidence-backed root-cause analysis from symptoms…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/app-feature-craft/SKILL.md · Use when implementing or improving a user-facing app workflow. Guides product-grade UX, frontend, backend/API behavior…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/app-release-readiness/SKILL.md · Use when preparing a desktop or web app update for commit, packaging, installer validation, GitHub publication, release…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/codex-session-restore/SKILL.md · Use when Codex Desktop sidebar sessions disappear, fail with systemError, or cannot continue after a model_provider…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/design-taste-frontend/SKILL.md · Anti-slop frontend skill for landing pages, portfolios, and redesigns. The agent reads the brief, infers the right…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/experiment-planner/SKILL.md · Use when exploring, continuing, or accepting a deep-learning or computer-science research idea. Converts claims into…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/feishu-paper-reading/SKILL.md · Search, screen, deeply read, synthesize, and publish recent research papers for a user-specified topic, window, count…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/github-project-release/SKILL.md · Use when preparing or publishing a local project as a clean GitHub repository. Covers new repositories, private staging…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/grill-me/SKILL.md · Use when a user asks for or clearly wants to be grilled, interviewed, or to stress-test a plan or design, including…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/paper-review-panel/SKILL.md · Use when independently reviewing a research-paper draft before submission, running a mock top-conference panel…
sidiangongyuan/codex-skills-library · skills/paper-share-html/SKILL.md · Create or revise audience-ready HTML paper presentations for lab meetings and journal clubs. Use when Codex needs…
frankxai/claude-skills-library · absorbed/harness/search-first/SKILL.md · Look for an existing repo, package, and skill before writing a new one. Use when starting a feature, adding a…
leeyudok/agents-scaffold · .claude/skills/search-first/SKILL.md · 코드를 새로 짜기 전에 기존 솔루션(레포 내부 → 사내 미러 → 패키지 레지스트리 → MCP/스킬 → GitHub)을 먼저 검색하는 워크플로. 새 기능/유틸/의존성 추가 직전, "X 기능 넣어줘" 요청에 코드부터…
shimo4228/claude-harness · skills/search-first/SKILL.md · Search the live web, registries and primary sources at decision time and report what exists outside. Use when choosing…
shimo4228/search-first · skills/search-first/SKILL.md · Search the live web, registries and primary sources at decision time and report what exists outside. Use when choosing…
shimo4228/akc-cycle · skills/search-first/SKILL.md · Search the live web, registries and primary sources at decision time and report what exists outside. Use when choosing…
