github-project-search

A Claude Code skill that automatically searches GitHub for existing similar projects before you start building something new.

What it does

When you ask Claude to build, create, or implement something, this skill will:

1. Extract relevant keywords from your task
2. Search GitHub repositories (sorted by stars)
3. Check project activity and maintenance status
4. Run a web search for broader coverage
5. Report findings with a recommendation:
   • Use existing project — if a mature, active alternative exists
   • Use as reference — if partial matches exist
   • Proceed with implementation — if nothing similar found

Installation

Copy the github-project-search folder to your Claude Code skills directory:

# For the current project
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r github-project-search .claude/skills/
# Or globally
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r github-project-search ~/.claude/skills/

Or install as a plugin:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/user-plugins/github-project-search/skills
cp -r github-project-search ~/.claude/plugins/user-plugins/github-project-search/skills/

Requirements

• gh CLI installed and authenticated (gh auth login)
• Claude Code

Example

User: Write a Python CLI that compresses images
Claude (with this skill):
## GitHub Search Results
Found 3 potentially relevant projects:
| Project | Stars | Activity | Description | Link |
|---------|-------|----------|-------------|------|
| xinntao/Real-ESRGAN | 28k | Active | Image upscaler | ... |
| lovell/sharp | 29k | Active | Image processing | ... |
| imgproxy/imgproxy | 8k | Maintenance | Image proxy | ... |
### Recommendation
These are mature image processing libraries. However, none is specifically a CLI
image compressor. Proceeding with implementation using `Pillow` as the base.

Features

• Smart keyword extraction from task descriptions
• Multi-strategy search with different keyword combinations
• Activity checking to identify actively maintained projects
• Topic-based search for better categorization
• Web search integration for broader coverage
• Structured reporting with stars, activity status, and descriptions