tool-scout
Skill0 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
Find current external tools, services, libraries, MCP servers, APIs, or models that could solve a concrete task faster than building from scratch. Use when the user needs ecosystem research before spending build time or money.
3 other projects use a version of this.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- Marco-Satis/claude-setuptheir own version, first seen Oct 20, 2026
- SHAdd0WTAka/Zen-Ai-Pentesttheir own version, first seen Oct 8, 2026
- LpcPaul/tool-scout-skilltheir own version, first seen May 30, 2026
Other versions3 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 3
- SHAdd0WTAka/Zen-Ai-Pentest★ 470same name
- LpcPaul/tool-scout-skill★ 0same name
- Marco-Satis/claude-setup★ 0same name
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
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The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
3 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈2
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
1
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 10
Do not use when: the job is obviously smaller than the cost of a tool hunt.
- Distinctive: line 22
Always browse for this skill.
- Very specific: line 30
If architecture or vendor lock-in risk is material, a note that the choice deserves $product-council or $adr-log.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Tool Scout
Metadata
- Trigger when: the real question is “what already exists for this?” rather than “how do we implement it ourselves?”.
- Do not use when: the job is obviously smaller than the cost of a tool hunt.
Skill Purpose
Research the current tool landscape, verify finalists at primary sources, and recommend the smallest honest option set without padding weak candidates into the answer.
Instructions
- Clarify the concrete task, constraints, and whether a tool hunt is even justified. If the job is truly trivial, say that and recommend custom code instead of performing fake research theater.
- Browse the current landscape using primary sources first, with GitHub, official docs, pricing pages, and other relevant discovery sources. Use
~/.codex/skills/tool-scout/references/search-patterns.mdfor search patterns and~/.codex/skills/tool-scout/references/evaluation-matrix.mdfor the comparison frame only when needed. - Compare only the strongest 3-6 candidates, dedupe repeated discoveries, and end with a recommendation:
Try first,Avoid for now, orBuild it ourselves insteadwhen that is honestly the best call.
Non-Negotiable Acceptance Criteria
- Always browse for this skill; tool ecosystems are time-sensitive.
- Finalists are verified at their own primary sources, not just blog posts or reposts.
- Archived or obviously stale tools are clearly flagged.
- The answer does not inflate weak tools just to hit a list length.
Output
- A short comparison table covering tool, type, maturity/signals, why it fits, limits, and link.
- A clear recommendation section:
Try first,Avoid for now, orBuild it ourselves instead. - If architecture or vendor lock-in risk is material, a note that the choice deserves
$product-councilor$adr-log. Next skill options(only if needed):$product-council— debate a high-impact or ambiguous tool choice;$adr-log— record the chosen tool and rejected alternatives durably;$spec-bundle— turn the chosen tool into contracts, boundaries, and implementation tasks.
Does it work?
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Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.