Skill Scout

Skill Scout

Use this skill before creating a new skill. It checks whether an existing skill already covers the intended capability.

When to Use

• Before creating a new skill
• When thinking "I need a skill for X"
• When a user asks to add a new capability
• Before importing a third-party skill

Process

Step 1: Capture Intent

Record what the new skill would do:

• Target capability (1-sentence summary)
• Key scenarios it should handle
• Intended tags

Step 2: Search Local Registry

Scan existing skills for overlap:

# Search by keyword in skill names and descriptions
cd web && npx tsx -e "
import skillsData from './src/data/skills-data.json' assert { type: 'json' };
const query = process.argv[1].toLowerCase();
const matches = skillsData.filter(s =>
  s.id.includes(query) ||
  s.description.toLowerCase().includes(query) ||
  s.tags.some(t => t.toLowerCase().includes(query))
);
matches.forEach(s => console.log(s.id, '|', s.tags.join(','), '|', s.description.slice(0,80)));
" "<keyword>"

Also check manually:

• Read registry/skills.json for tag-based overlap
• Read skills/*/SKILL.md titles for name collision

Step 3: Check Tag Coverage

Determine if the new skill's intended tags are already well-covered:

• If there are 5+ skills with the same tag combination, the new skill must offer something genuinely different
• If the tag is rare (< 2 skills), the new skill is likely additive

Step 4: Decision

Present the verdict:

Step 5: If Creating

After confirming the skill should be created, suggest:

• A unique kebab-case name (verified not taken)
• Appropriate tags from the ALLOWED_TAGS whitelist
• Whether upstream metadata is needed (if derived from a third-party source)

Anti-Patterns

• Don't create "better" versions of existing skills without checking first
• Don't create skills with overlapping tags without clear differentiation
• Don't skip this step even when "obviously" new — the registry grows fast