search-before-build

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Why does this exist?

Vibe coding has made the distance between “I have an idea” and “I’m writing code” incredibly short. That feels great, but it also makes it easy to build an entire system for a one-off problem, discover a mature product halfway through, reinvent the wheel, or spend a huge number of tokens on a project you will never use.

search-before-build is not here to discourage ideas. It simply asks you to pause for a few minutes before starting and answer three questions:

1. What are you actually trying to solve?
2. Does this really need to be built?
3. Is there an existing solution you can use or adapt?

How does it work?

A vague idea
     │
     ▼
Clarify the real problem ──→ Decide whether it is worth building ──→ Find and verify existing solutions
                                                                                  │
                                                                                  ▼
                                                             Build / Adapt / Use existing / Stop

It ends with a clear recommendation that you remain free to override:

Recommendation	Meaning
Build	The need is real, and existing solutions do not cover the critical gap
Adapt	A close solution already exists, and modifying it makes more sense than starting from scratch
Use existing	A mature solution already addresses the main problem, so using it is the better trade-off
Stop	Evidence for the need is weak, or the cost of building clearly outweighs the benefit

Two skills

Skill	Best for	What it does
search-before-build-assess	You have an idea but have not started	Reads the available context first, asks only for missing critical information (one question at a time, up to five), then researches and recommends a direction
search-before-build-compare	You already have a plan, prototype, or repository	Extracts capabilities from the existing material, then looks directly for comparable products and reusable solutions

/search-before-build:search-before-build-assess I want to build a tool that automatically organizes saved content
/search-before-build:search-before-build-compare ./docs/plan.md

More than GitHub search

The plugin first determines what it needs to find, then chooses where to look. It extracts a functional fingerprint from your needs and searches only relevant sources instead of scanning every platform every time.

What you are looking for	Preferred source
Open-source repositories, source code, or reusable implementations	GitHub
JavaScript / Node.js dependencies, CLIs, or plugins	npm
Cross-ecosystem package metadata and maintenance signals	Ecosyste.ms Packages
MCP tools or connectors for agents	Official MCP Registry
JVM dependencies (Java / Kotlin / Android)	Maven Central
Rust crates	crates.io
Models, datasets, or reusable AI applications	Hugging Face Hub
Algorithms, papers, or academic precedents	arXiv

For SaaS products, commercial tools, app-store listings, and other solutions outside those catalogs, it supplements the research with web search and official product pages. When the target market is unclear, it searches in both Chinese and English. Stars and download counts help assess maturity, but never replace functional matching, and similar names alone are not treated as evidence that two products compete.

Optional in-depth GitHub search

If a GitHub MCP server, connector, or equivalent tool is available, the plugin reuses it. Otherwise, it can still work through public APIs and web search. With your consent, it can install GitHub’s official MCP server automatically:

Enable in-depth GitHub search