Tool Scout — find the right tools for your tasks

This skill helps you discover tools for project tasks. Not everything needs to be built from scratch — a service, MCP server, AI model, or no-code platform might already solve your problem.

Step 0. Configuration (First Run)

Read the config file at ~/.claude/skills/tool-scout/config.md.

If the config file does not exist, run the setup:

Question 1 — Search engine:

Ask the user: "Which web search tool do you have available in Claude Code?"

Options:

Exa MCP (recommended) — best results, supports both web search and code context search. Setup: https://docs.exa.ai/reference/mcp
WebSearch — built-in Claude Code web search (no setup needed, but less precise)
Other MCP search — if you have a different search MCP server, specify its tool name

Question 2 — Language:

Ask the user: "What language should I use for results and communication?"

Default: English.

Write answers to ~/.claude/skills/tool-scout/config.md in this format:

search_engine: exa | websearch | other
search_tool_name: mcp__exa__web_search_exa
code_search_tool_name: mcp__exa__get_code_context_exa
language: english

If search_engine is "websearch", use the built-in WebSearch tool. If search_engine is "other", use the tool name specified by the user.

Input

A task or list of subtasks from the user's prompt:

Free text: "need to build a UI for a dashboard"
Plan reference: "find tools for tasks 3-5 from the plan"
Specific subtask: "best way to generate PDF reports"

If a plan file is referenced — read it and extract tasks.

Process

Step 1. Parse input

Identify specific tasks/subtasks from the prompt. If input is a plan file, read it. Formulate each task as a short search phrase.

Step 2. Classify by domain

Group tasks by domain:

UI/design
Backend/API
Data/analytics
Automation/integration
Content/text
Infrastructure/deployment
Other

Step 3. Quick scan (Level 1)

For each domain, make 2-3 search queries using the configured search engine:

Established tools query: "best tools for [task] [current year]"

New tools query: "new AI tool [task] launch [current and previous year]"

Technical integration query (if applicable): "[task] MCP server" or "[task] library [language]"

Always use the current year in queries. Never hardcode a specific year.

If multiple domains — run queries in parallel.

Step 4. Build the table

From search results, compile a table:

Task	Tool	Type	Maturity	Why it fits	Link

Tool types:

MCP server — can be connected to Claude Code
SaaS/service — external web service
AI model — specialized neural network
Library — npm/pip package
API — external API for integration
No-code — visual builder

Maturity:

Established — 1+ year, has community
New — recently launched, promising

Step 5. Output and offer deep dive

Display the table in chat. After the table, ask:

Want to dig deeper into any of these? Say "dig into [name]".

Deep Dive (Level 2)

If the user asks to dig deeper into a specific tool or domain:

Launch an Agent tool (subagent) with a detailed prompt:
- Make 5-8 search queries about the tool
- Find: detailed description, usage examples, pricing, limitations, alternatives
- Return a structured report
Show result in chat:

[Tool name]

What it is: brief description Price: free / freemium / paid (how much) Maturity: when launched, how many users Pros: list Cons/limitations: list Alternatives: list How to integrate: MCP / API / web interface Link: URL

Important

Communicate in the language specified in config (default: English)
Freshness is critical — always search for tools from the current and previous year
Do not recommend dead or abandoned tools
If a tool is an MCP server, say so explicitly (can be connected to Claude Code)
If the task is trivial and better solved with code — say so directly
Search engine is configurable — check config.md for which tool to use