skill-scout

Trigger phrases

Phrases that activate this skill when typed to Claude Code:

• is there a skill for this workflow
• find a skill before I create one
• what existing skills cover release notes

What it does

skill-scout is the pre-create search skill in Affaan M’s everything-claude-code — see skills/skill-scout. It runs a six-step workflow before any new skill gets created: capture intent (task, triggers, domain, 3–5 keywords + synonyms), search local sources first (~/.claude/skills/, marketplace skills), then remote (gh search repos, gh search code filtered to SKILL.md), then vet external matches by reading the frontmatter and looking for unexpected shell commands, file writes, network calls, or credential handling.

The ranking is explicit: exact keyword match in skill name, then keyword/synonym match in description, then local installed or marketplace source, then maintained GitHub source with recent activity, web-only mentions last. The cap is 10 results. Presentation is a decision table — Use existing (invoke or install as-is) / Fork or extend (copy the closest and modify) / Create fresh (only after confirming no close match). New skills only get created after the user picks that path or the search finds no close match.

Anti-patterns called out: jumping to new-skill creation without searching, installing external skills without reading them, presenting long unranked weak-match lists, treating web-only mentions as trusted, editing installed marketplace originals in place. The “prefer copying into a fresh local branch and reviewing the diff” rule keeps marketplace originals clean and gives the vet step a real diff to review.

When to use it

• User says “create a skill”, “build a skill”, “make a skill” or “new skill” — the trigger before authoring
• User asks “is there a skill for X?” or “does a skill exist that does Y?”
• Operator describes a workflow and the next step would be authoring — search first
• Considering forking or extending an existing skill — pull the closest first, diff before editing
• Auditing whether a new requested capability is actually a gap in the existing skill set or just an unfamiliar one

When not to reach for it:

• The user explicitly said “skip search, create from scratch” — acknowledge and proceed
• Auditing the existing installed skills — that’s skill-stocktake
• Authoring the new skill itself — that’s a separate authoring skill
• Quick “does X exist” checks on a brand-new domain — overhead exceeds value

Install

From affaan-m/everything-claude-code at skills/skill-scout/. Drop the folder into ~/.claude/skills/skill-scout/. The skill is markdown — runtime is find, grep, the gh CLI for GitHub search, and WebSearch for web mentions. No extra MCP server needed. Salvaged from a stale community PR (the upstream notes attribution); the version in this repo keeps the workflow and removes anything unmaintained.

What a session looks like

1. Capture intent. “I want a skill that generates release notes from merged PRs.” Task = release notes from PRs. Keywords = release-notes, changelog, synonyms = pr-summary, merge-log.
2. Search local first. find ~/.claude/skills -maxdepth 2 -name SKILL.md | grep -iE "release|changelog". Finds two close matches: article-writing (general drafting) and content-engine (multi-format).
3. Search remote. gh search code "name: release" --filename SKILL.md --limit 10 and a couple of focused web queries ("claude code skill" release notes).
4. Vet external matches. Open the top remote candidate’s frontmatter and body. Look for unexpected shell commands, file writes outside ~/.claude/skills/, network calls, credential references. If clean, mark as adoptable; otherwise drop it.
5. Rank. Exact name match in release-notes-generator (external, recently maintained) > local article-writing (general) > local content-engine (heavy).
6. Present the decision table. Use-existing for the external if vetted; Fork-or-extend the local article-writing if the external is risky; Create-fresh only if both paths fail.
7. Operator picks. Skill exits if the user picks “use existing” or “fork.” Only on “create fresh” does the next skill (the authoring one) take over.

The discipline that makes it work: vet before adopt. The skill is explicit — don’t install external skills without reading them, and prefer a fresh local branch + diff over editing marketplace originals in place. The ranking pushes web-only mentions to the bottom so they’re never the default recommendation.

Receipts

TODO — to be filled in from a real session. Once the skill has been used to scout for a real new-skill request, this section will capture: which source (local / marketplace / GitHub / web) produced the best match for the operator’s actual workflow, what the vet step found in the highest-ranked external candidate (clean / suspicious / blocked), whether the decision-table format produced a clear pick or required more iteration, and whether the operator ended up adopting an existing skill, forking, or creating fresh.

Source and attribution

From Affaan M’s everything-claude-code — an MIT-licensed skill collection covering harness construction, agent ops, video, payments, and platform-specific patterns.

License: MIT.

Quoting the search-before-create rule verbatim: “Only create a new skill after the user chooses that path or after the search finds no close match.” The default is “find what exists” — authoring is the fallback when adoption is genuinely impossible.