Anti Duplication

Code duplication creates maintenance nightmares:

• Bug fixes must be applied in multiple places
• Features evolve inconsistently across duplicates
• Refactoring becomes exponentially harder
• Codebase grows unnecessarily large
• Onboarding takes longer (more code to learn)

This skill transforms "implement X" requests into a two-phase workflow:

1. Search phase: Find existing similar implementations (endpoints, components, services, models)
2. Reuse or justify: Either reuse/extend existing code OR justify why new implementation is necessary

The result: Codebases stay DRY, maintainable, and consistent.

Trigger phrases:

• "Create a new API endpoint for..."
• "Implement a component that..."
• "Add a service to handle..."
• "Build a model for..."
• "Write a function that..."

Step 2: Search codebase for similar patterns

PRIMARY: Semantic search (mgrep)

• mgrep for: "API endpoints that fetch user data", "profile retrieval handlers"
• Finds similar implementations by meaning, not exact text

SECONDARY: Literal search (Grep/Glob)

• Grep for: "router.get", "app.get", "/api/user", "profile"
• Glob for: "/user.ts", "/profile.ts", "/routes/"

Step 3: Analyze findings

• Found 3 similar endpoints: GET /api/user/:id, GET /api/user/settings, GET /api/admin/users
• All use same auth middleware, validation pattern, error handling

Step 4: Present reuse options

• Option A: Extend existing GET /api/user/:id to include profile data
• Option B: Create new endpoint using same patterns as existing user endpoints
• Option C: Justify why completely new approach is needed

Step 5: Implement chosen option (with existing patterns as template)

After anti-duplication skill: User: "Create an API endpoint to update user email" Claude: Searches codebase, finds 4 existing user endpoints with consistent patterns Claude: "Found 4 similar user endpoints. They all use: authMiddleware, validateUserInput, standardErrorHandler. I'll create the new endpoint following this established pattern." Result: Consistent implementation, reused middleware, maintainable code

Extract key information:

• Type: What are they building? (endpoint, component, service, model, function, utility)
• Domain: What business domain? (user, product, order, payment, auth)
• Operation: What action? (create, read, update, delete, fetch, validate, transform)
• Technology: What stack? (React, Express, TypeScript, SQL, GraphQL)

Example parsing:

Request: "Create a React component to display product details"

Parsed:
- Type: React component
- Domain: Product
- Operation: Display/render
- Technology: React, TypeScript (likely)

Create multiple search approaches to maximize coverage:

PRIMARY: Semantic search (mgrep) Use mgrep FIRST for pattern discovery - finds similar code by meaning:

• "components that display product information"
• "services that handle email sending"
• "validation logic for user input"
• "error handling patterns in API routes"

mgrep finds UserCard, ProductCard, ProfileView when searching for "display user details" even if names don't match.

SECONDARY: Literal searches (when mgrep insufficient)

A. Keyword-based searches (Grep):

• Core domain terms: "product", "Product", "PRODUCT"
• Operation terms: "display", "render", "show", "view"
• Technology patterns: "React.FC", "function Component", "const.=.=>"

B. File pattern searches (Glob):

• Domain files: "/product.tsx", "/Product.tsx"
• Location patterns: "/components//Detail.tsx", "/components//Product*"
• Type-specific: "/models/Product", "/services/product"

C. Structural searches (Grep with regex):

• Class definitions: "class.*Product"
• Function exports: "export (function|const).*product"
• API patterns: "router.(get|post|put|delete).*product"

See references/search-strategies.md for detailed patterns.

Run multiple searches concurrently for speed:

Phase 1: Semantic search (mgrep)

mgrep "components that display product details"
mgrep "detail card patterns for entities"

Reviews results - if sufficient matches found, skip to Step 4.

Phase 2: Literal searches (if needed)

1. Grep: "product" in **/*.tsx (find all product-related components)
2. Grep: "ProductDetail" (find similar detail components)
3. Glob: "/components//Product*.tsx" (find product component files)
4. Grep: "interface.*Product" (find product type definitions)
5. Grep: "display.*product.*props" (find rendering logic)

All searches run in parallel (see parallel-execution-optimizer skill).

Time: ~5-10 seconds for comprehensive search across large codebase.

Categorize findings:

Exact matches: Nearly identical implementations

• Example: Found ProductDetailCard, ProductSummaryCard, ProductPreviewCard
• All render product data with similar structure

Close matches: Similar domain, different operation

• Example: Found ProductList (renders multiple products)
• Could extract shared rendering logic

Pattern matches: Similar operation, different domain

• Example: Found UserDetailCard, OrderDetailCard
• Consistent pattern: DetailCard component for entities

Anti-patterns: What NOT to do

• Example: Found ProductView with 500-line monolithic component
• Shows what to avoid when implementing new component

Rank by relevance:

1. Exact matches (highest reuse potential)
2. Close matches (partial reuse)
3. Pattern matches (pattern consistency)
4. Anti-patterns (learn from mistakes)

Provide user with informed choices:

Option A: Reuse existing implementation "Found ProductDetailCard component that already displays product details. Can we use this directly or does your use case differ?"

Option B: Extend existing implementation "Found ProductSummaryCard (displays basic product info). We can extend it to show full details rather than creating a new component."

Option C: Extract shared pattern "Found 3 similar DetailCard components (Product, User, Order). We can create a generic DetailCard and use it for products."

Option D: Follow established pattern "Found consistent pattern across User/Order detail components. I'll create ProductDetailCard following the same structure for consistency."

Option E: Justify new approach "Existing ProductView is a 500-line monolith with poor separation of concerns. I'll create a new modular ProductDetailCard instead. Here's why the new approach is necessary: [justification]"

Always present Options A-D before suggesting new implementation.

Based on chosen option:

If reusing: Import and use existing code

import { ProductDetailCard } from '@/components/products/ProductDetailCard';

// Use directly
<ProductDetailCard product={product} />

If extending: Modify existing component

// Extend ProductSummaryCard with additional fields
// Before: Shows name, price
// After: Shows name, price, description, images

If extracting pattern: Create generic abstraction

// Create DetailCard<T> generic component
// Reuse for Product, User, Order

If following pattern: Use existing as template

// Copy structure from UserDetailCard
// Adapt for Product domain
// Maintain consistency (same props pattern, same styling, same error handling)

If new approach: Document justification

/**
 * ProductDetailCard
 *
 * NEW IMPLEMENTATION (does not reuse ProductView)
 *
 * Justification:
 * - Existing ProductView is 500-line monolith
 * - Poor separation of concerns (mixing data fetching, rendering, business logic)
 * - Hard to test and maintain
 *
 * This implementation:
 * - Separates concerns (presentational component only)
 * - Reusable across product catalog and cart
 * - Follows established DetailCard pattern from User/Order
 */

mgrep finds code by meaning, not exact text. This catches similar implementations even when naming conventions differ.

mgrep query patterns by artifact type:

When to fall back to Grep/Glob:

• mgrep returns no results (niche terminology)
• Need exact text match (specific function name)
• File pattern search (find all *.test.ts files)

API Endpoints (Express, Fastify, NestJS):

Keywords: router.get, router.post, app.get, @Get, @Post, /api/
Patterns: HTTP methods + route paths + domain terms
Files: **/routes/**, **/controllers/**, **/api/**

Example search for "user profile endpoint":
- Grep: "router\.(get|put).*profile" in **/*routes*.ts
- Grep: "/api/user" in **/*.ts
- Glob: "**/routes/**/user*.ts"
- Grep: "getUserProfile|updateUserProfile" (common naming)

React Components (functional, class):

Keywords: React.FC, function Component, class.*extends React
Patterns: export function ComponentName, const ComponentName =
Files: **/components/**, **/*.tsx, **/*.jsx

Example search for "product card component":
- Grep: "function.*Product.*Card" in **/*.tsx
- Grep: "ProductCard.*=.*=>" in **/*.tsx
- Glob: "**/components/**/Product*.tsx"
- Grep: "export.*ProductCard" in **/*.tsx

Services/Business Logic:

Keywords: class.*Service, export.*service, provide, inject
Patterns: Service naming convention, dependency injection
Files: **/services/**, **/lib/**, **/utils/**

Example search for "email service":
- Grep: "class.*Email.*Service" in **/*.ts
- Grep: "sendEmail|emailService" in **/*.ts
- Glob: "**/services/**/*email*.ts"
- Grep: "nodemailer|sendgrid|aws-ses" (common email libs)

Database Models (Prisma, TypeORM, Sequelize):

Keywords: model, schema, entity, @Entity, interface.*Model
Patterns: Database column definitions, relationships
Files: **/models/**, **/entities/**, **/schema/**

Example search for "user model":
- Grep: "model User" in **/*.prisma
- Grep: "@Entity.*User|class User.*extends" in **/*.ts
- Glob: "**/models/**/user*.ts"
- Grep: "interface User.*{" in **/*.ts

See references/search-strategies.md for comprehensive patterns.

E-commerce domains:

• User: authentication, profile, preferences
• Product: catalog, details, inventory
• Order: cart, checkout, payment
• Shipping: address, tracking, fulfillment

Search strategy: Start with domain term, expand to related terms

Domain: Product
Primary: "product", "Product", "PRODUCT"
Related: "item", "catalog", "inventory", "SKU"
Operations: "addProduct", "getProduct", "updateProduct", "deleteProduct"

Cross-domain patterns: Look for similar operations across different domains:

Operation: "Detail view"
Search: "*DetailCard", "*DetailView", "*Detail.tsx"
Finds: UserDetailCard, ProductDetailCard, OrderDetailCard
Pattern: Consistent structure for entity detail components

TypeScript:

- "interface Product" (type definitions)
- "type Product = " (type aliases)
- "Product extends " (inheritance)
- "as Product" (type assertions)

GraphQL:

- "type Product" (schema definitions)
- "Query.product" (query resolvers)
- "Mutation.createProduct" (mutation resolvers)
- "gql\`.*product" (query strings)

SQL/Prisma:

- "model Product" (Prisma schema)
- "CREATE TABLE product" (SQL migrations)
- "SELECT.*FROM product" (raw queries)
- "prisma.product.findMany" (Prisma client)

React Query/SWR:

- "useQuery.*product" (data fetching hooks)
- "useMutation.*product" (mutation hooks)
- "queryKey:.*product" (cache keys)

Explicit creation intent:

• "Create a new [artifact]"
• "Implement a [artifact]"
• "Add a [artifact]"
• "Build a [artifact]"
• "Write a [artifact]"
• "Generate a [artifact]"

Examples:

• "Create a new API endpoint to fetch orders"
• "Implement a login component"
• "Add a service to handle payments"
• "Build a User model with email and password"
• "Write a function to validate user input"

Implicit creation (inferred from context):

• "I need to [do something]" → May require new code
• "How do I [accomplish task]" → May require new implementation
• "Can you [build feature]" → Definitely requires code

During /implement phase:

• Every task that involves writing new code
• Before writing first line of implementation
• Even for "simple" tasks (search takes <10 seconds)

User explicitly requests new approach:

• "Create a new implementation (don't reuse existing)"
• "I know there's X, but I want a different approach"
• "Ignore existing code and start fresh"

Modifying existing code:

• "Update the UserController to add validation"
• "Fix the bug in ProductCard component"
• "Refactor the OrderService to use async/await"

Non-code tasks:

• "Explain how authentication works"
• "Review the ProductCard component"
• "Run the test suite"

Configuration/data files:

• "Add a new npm package"
• "Update the .env file"
• "Create a migration file" (different from creating models)

1. Immediately pause before writing any code
2. Announce search: "Before implementing, let me search for existing user endpoints to ensure consistency..."
3. Run searches (5-10 seconds)
4. Present findings: "Found 4 existing user endpoints following a consistent pattern. I'll use the same structure."
5. Implement using discovered pattern

This becomes automatic—user doesn't need to ask for the search, it happens proactively.

Q1: Found exact match?

• YES → Reuse directly (Option A)
• NO → Go to Q2

Q2: Found close match (same domain, similar operation)?

• YES → Can we extend it? (Option B)
  • If yes → Extend existing
  • If no → Go to Q3
• NO → Go to Q3

Q3: Found pattern match (similar structure, different domain)?

• YES → Extract generic abstraction? (Option C)
  • If yes → Create generic version
  • If abstraction too complex → Follow pattern (Option D)
• NO → Go to Q4

Q4: Existing implementations are anti-patterns?

• YES → Justify new approach (Option E) + document why existing code should be refactored
• NO → Follow established patterns if any, otherwise implement new

Final check: Before implementing new code, answer:

• "Why can't we reuse existing code?"
• "What makes this implementation different?"
• "Will this create duplication?"

Medium reuse potential (50-79% similar): → Extract shared logic into utility/helper → Adapt existing pattern

Low reuse potential (30-49% similar): → Follow established patterns for consistency → Document differences

No reuse potential (<30% similar): → Implement new, but document why it's different → Consider if this signals missing abstraction

Search phase:

Searches:
1. Grep "router\.(put|patch).*user" → Found 3 endpoints
2. Grep "/api/user.*email" → Found 1 endpoint (GET /api/user/email)
3. Glob "**/routes/**/user*.ts" → Found routes/user.ts

Results:
- PATCH /api/user/profile (updates name, bio)
- PATCH /api/user/password (updates password)
- PUT /api/user/settings (updates preferences)

Analysis: All 3 endpoints follow same pattern:

router.patch('/api/user/:field',
  authMiddleware,           // JWT authentication
  validateUserInput,        // Schema validation
  userController.update,    // Controller method
  standardErrorHandler      // Error handling
);

Recommendation: "Found 3 existing user update endpoints. They all use:

• authMiddleware (JWT auth)
• validateUserInput (Joi schema validation)
• userController.update (centralized controller)
• standardErrorHandler (consistent errors)

Option A: Extend userController.update to handle email updates Option B: Create new endpoint following the same pattern

I recommend Option A (extend existing controller) to avoid endpoint proliferation. The controller already handles profile/password/settings updates, email fits the same pattern."

Implementation (Option A):

// userController.ts (extend existing)
async update(req, res) {
  const { field } = req.params;
  const allowedFields = ['profile', 'password', 'settings', 'email']; // ADD email

  if (!allowedFields.includes(field)) {
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Invalid field' });
  }

  // Add email-specific validation
  if (field === 'email') {
    await this.validateEmail(req.body.email);
  }

  // Existing update logic
  await this.userService.update(req.user.id, field, req.body);
  res.json({ success: true });
}

Duplication prevented: No new endpoint created, reused existing pattern, consistent auth/validation.

See examples/api-endpoint-reuse.md for full example.

Search phase:

Searches:
1. Grep "ProductDetail|ProductCard" in **/*.tsx → Found 2 components
2. Glob "**/components/**/Product*.tsx" → Found 5 product components
3. Grep "function.*Detail.*Card" in **/*.tsx → Found 8 DetailCard components

Results:
- UserDetailCard: Displays user info in card layout
- OrderDetailCard: Displays order info in card layout
- ProductSummaryCard: Displays product summary (not full details)
- ProductListItem: Displays product in list (minimal info)

Analysis: Found pattern: All "DetailCard" components share structure:

interface DetailCardProps<T> {
  data: T;
  loading?: boolean;
  onEdit?: () => void;
  onDelete?: () => void;
}

function DetailCard<T>({ data, loading, onEdit, onDelete }) {
  if (loading) return <Skeleton />;

  return (
    <Card>
      <CardHeader>
        {/* Title */}
      </CardHeader>
      <CardBody>
        {/* Fields */}
      </CardBody>
      <CardActions>
        {onEdit && <Button
        {onDelete && <Button
      </CardActions>
    </Card>
  );
}

Recommendation: "Found consistent DetailCard pattern used for User and Order entities. Rather than creating ProductDetailCard from scratch, I'll extract the pattern into a generic DetailCard component."

Implementation (Option C - Extract pattern):

// components/common/DetailCard.tsx (NEW generic component)
interface DetailCardProps<T> {
  data: T;
  fields: Array<{ label: string; key: keyof T; render?: (value: any) => ReactNode }>;
  loading?: boolean;
  onEdit?: () => void;
  onDelete?: () => void;
}

export function DetailCard<T>({ data, fields, loading, onEdit, onDelete }: DetailCardProps<T>) {
  if (loading) return <Skeleton />;

  return (
    <Card>
      <CardBody>
        {fields.map(field => (
          <div key={String(field.key)}>
            <label>{field.label}</label>
            <div>{field.render ? field.render(data[field.key]) : data[field.key]}</div>
          </div>
        ))}
      </CardBody>
      <CardActions>
        {onEdit && <Button
        {onDelete && <Button
      </CardActions>
    </Card>
  );
}

// components/products/ProductDetailCard.tsx (USE generic)
export function ProductDetailCard({ product, loading, onEdit, onDelete }: Props) {
  return (
    <DetailCard
      data={product}
      loading={loading}
      fields={[
        { label: 'Name', key: 'name' },
        { label: 'Price', key: 'price', render: (val) => `$${val}` },
        { label: 'Description', key: 'description' },
        { label: 'Stock', key: 'stock', render: (val) => `${val} units` },
      ]}
     
     
    />
  );
}

Duplication prevented:

• No duplicate DetailCard implementations
• Generic component reusable for all entities
• Consistent UI/UX across User, Order, Product
• Refactored existing UserDetailCard and OrderDetailCard to use generic

See examples/component-pattern-extraction.md for full example.

Search phase:

Searches:
1. Grep "sendEmail|emailService" → Found EmailService class
2. Grep "nodemailer|sendgrid" → Found nodemailer setup
3. Glob "**/services/**/*email*.ts" → Found services/EmailService.ts

Results:
- EmailService class with sendEmail() method
- Already sends: welcome emails, order confirmations, notifications
- Uses nodemailer + AWS SES

Analysis: EmailService already exists and is well-structured:

class EmailService {
  async sendEmail(to: string, subject: string, template: string, data: any) {
    const html = this.renderTemplate(template, data);
    await this.transporter.sendMail({ to, subject, html });
  }

  async sendWelcomeEmail(user: User) { ... }
  async sendOrderConfirmation(order: Order) { ... }
}

Recommendation: "Found existing EmailService that already sends 3 types of emails. Rather than creating a new service, I'll add a sendPasswordResetEmail method to the existing service."

Implementation (Option B - Extend existing):

// services/EmailService.ts (extend existing class)
class EmailService {
  // ... existing methods ...

  async sendPasswordResetEmail(user: User, resetToken: string) {
    const resetUrl = `${process.env.APP_URL}/reset-password?token=${resetToken}`;

    await this.sendEmail(
      user.email,
      'Password Reset Request',
      'password-reset',  // template name
      { userName: user.name, resetUrl, expiresIn: '1 hour' }
    );
  }
}

Duplication prevented:

• No new email service created
• Reused existing nodemailer configuration
• Reused template rendering logic
• Consistent email sending across app

See examples/service-extension.md for full example.

Bad approach:

User: "Create an API endpoint to update user email"
Claude: *Immediately writes new endpoint from scratch*

Result: Duplicate endpoint with different auth, validation, error handling from existing user endpoints.

Correct approach:

User: "Create an API endpoint to update user email"
Claude: "Let me search for existing user endpoints first..."
Claude: *Finds 3 similar endpoints*
Claude: "Found existing pattern. I'll follow it for consistency."

Rule: ALWAYS search before implementing. Takes 5-10 seconds, prevents hours of refactoring later.

Bad approach:

Search: Found ProductSummaryCard component
Claude: "Found ProductSummaryCard, but I'll create ProductDetailCard from scratch"
*Creates duplicate card component with different styling, props, structure*

Result: Two similar components that should be one, inconsistent UI, double maintenance.

Correct approach:

Search: Found ProductSummaryCard component
Claude: "Found ProductSummaryCard showing basic info. Should we extend it to show full details, or do you need a separate component? The summary version could potentially be enhanced rather than creating a duplicate."

Rule: When search finds similar code, default to reuse/extend. Only create new if justified.

Bad approach:

Request: "Create endpoint GET /api/products/:id"
Search: Only "GET /api/products" (too specific)
Misses: All other GET endpoints with similar structure

Result: Misses established patterns for GET /:id endpoints across User, Order, etc.

Correct approach:

Request: "Create endpoint GET /api/products/:id"
Searches:
- "router.get.*:id" (find all parameterized GET endpoints)
- "/api/.*/:id" (find all resource-by-id patterns)
- "products" (find all product-related code)

Rule: Use multiple search strategies (keywords, patterns, files). Cast wide net, filter results.

Bad approach:

Found: Complex UserDetailCard with 15 props, internal state, side effects
Claude: *Copies entire component, renames User → Product*
Result: Cargo-culted complexity, unnecessary props, confusing code

Correct approach:

Found: Complex UserDetailCard
Claude: "This component is complex (15 props, internal state). Let me analyze what's actually needed for Product use case..."
Claude: "Product details only need 5 props. I'll create simplified version following the core pattern but without unnecessary complexity."

Rule: Understand existing code before reusing. Don't cargo-cult complexity.

Bad approach:

Found: UserDetailCard, ProductDetailCard (2 components)
Claude: "Let me create DetailCard<T> generic component with 20 configuration options to handle all possible cases..."

Result: Over-engineered abstraction that's harder to use than copying code.

Correct approach:

Found: UserDetailCard, ProductDetailCard (2 components)
Claude: "Found 2 similar components. They're simple enough that keeping them separate is fine for now. If we add a 3rd entity (Order), then we'll extract the pattern."

Rule: Abstraction requires 3+ similar pieces (Rule of Three). Two instances don't justify generic abstraction yet.

1. Search executed before implementation: Every "create/implement" request triggers search first
2. Results presented to user: User sees what was found and why reuse is/isn't appropriate
3. Reuse justified: If reusing, explain what's being reused. If not, explain why not.
4. Patterns maintained: New code follows established patterns in codebase
5. Duplication avoided: No near-identical code exists in multiple places
6. Abstractions appropriate: Generic code created only when 3+ similar pieces exist (Rule of Three)

Process metrics:

• % of "create" requests that trigger search (target: 100%)
• Average search time (target: <10 seconds)
• % of searches that find relevant results (target: >60%)

Outcome metrics:

• % of implementations that reuse existing code (target: >40%)
• % of implementations that follow existing patterns (target: >80%)
• Lines of code prevented (compared to from-scratch implementation)

Quality metrics:

• Consistency score: How similar are similar artifacts? (target: >80% structural similarity)
• DRY violations: How many near-duplicates exist? (target: <3 copies of any pattern)
• Refactoring burden: How often do bug fixes need to be applied in multiple places? (target: declining)

• Search was executed (not skipped)
• Search covered multiple strategies (keywords, files, patterns)
• Results were analyzed (exact, close, pattern matches identified)
• Reuse options were considered (A, B, C, D, E)
• If reusing: Existing code was understood (not blindly copied)
• If extending: Extension fits naturally (not forced)
• If new: Justification documented (why existing code doesn't work)
• Patterns followed: New code consistent with existing similar code
• Abstraction appropriate: Generic code only if 3+ similar pieces

Search strategies: references/search-strategies.md

• Comprehensive search patterns by artifact type
• Technology-specific search strategies
• Domain-driven search approaches
• Advanced regex patterns

Reuse patterns: references/reuse-patterns.md

• When to reuse directly vs extend
• Extracting shared logic
• Creating generic abstractions
• Refactoring for reusability

Decision framework: references/decision-framework.md

• Decision tree for reuse vs new implementation
• Calculating similarity scores
• Justifying new code
• Documenting decisions

Integration with phases: references/phase-integration.md

• Using anti-duplication in /plan phase
• Using anti-duplication in /implement phase
• Updating plan.md with discovered patterns
• Documenting reuse decisions in NOTES.md

1. Proactive search: Search triggered automatically before any "create/implement" request
2. Comprehensive coverage: Multiple search strategies used (keywords, files, patterns, domain, technology)
3. Results analyzed: Findings categorized (exact, close, pattern matches) and relevance scored
4. Reuse prioritized: Options A-D (reuse, extend, extract, follow pattern) considered before Option E (new)
5. Patterns maintained: New implementations follow established codebase patterns
6. Justification documented: If creating new code despite similar existing code, justification clearly stated
7. DRY principle upheld: No unnecessary duplication introduced
8. Abstractions appropriate: Generic code created only when justified (Rule of Three: 3+ similar pieces)
9. User informed: User understands what was found and why reuse is/isn't happening
10. Time efficient: Search completes in <10 seconds, doesn't slow down development

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