Research-before-coding workflow. Search for existing tools, libraries, and patterns before writing custom code. Systematizes the "search for existing solutions before implementing" approach. Use when starting new features or adding functionality.
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
## Scope and Approval Rules
Default to read-only research: inspect the repo, package metadata, docs, and public examples before recommending a dependency or integration. Do not install packages, configure MCP servers, publish artifacts, open PRs, or make external write actions from this skill unless the user has explicitly approved that action in the current task.
When a candidate requires credentials, paid services, network writes, or project-wide config changes, return a recommendation and approval checkpoint instead of applying it directly.
## Workflow
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. NEED ANALYSIS │
│ Define what functionality is needed │
│ Identify language/framework constraints │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260430.c9962bf, 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.
A 17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
pass: Frontmatter block present
pass: Frontmatter declares a name
pass: Frontmatter declares a description
pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (7908 bytes)
pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
pass: No credential-shaped string
pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
pass: No text hidden with inline styles
pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
pass: No link to a raw IP address
pass: No script tag
Source
GitHub
affaan-m/ecc · 293,827 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-30 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_sswimuwrn2w5oqgq
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=affaan-m/ecc/search-first
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/2e87baf9f9fc93678c60f8fea64a26615a6463d0cbf32284c73677ed0daaa772
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.
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