Brand Name Checker

Check product and brand names for conflicts across trademarks, domains, social media, and package registries (npm, PyPI, Homebrew, apt).

When to Use

Use this skill before adopting a product or brand name. To stay within the agent's context budget, lean sections (templates, examples) live in references/*.md and per-source workers live in agents/*.md — only the orchestrator instructions are inlined here.

Subagent Architecture

This skill uses parallel subagents to handle 13+ sequential web fetches across independent sources. Pattern: B (Parallel Workers) + D (Research+Synthesis).

Agents

Agent	Role	Output
social-checker	Search 6 platforms (Twitter, Instagram, GitHub, LinkedIn, TikTok, Discord) in parallel	JSON: per-platform availability status
registry-checker	Check npm, PyPI, Homebrew, apt availability with owner info	JSON: per-registry status and owner details
domain-checker	Check .com, .io, .app, .co, regional TLDs availability	JSON: per-TLD registration status
trademark-checker	Search WIPO, EUIPO, INPI trademark databases	JSON: conflict analysis per database
synthesizer	Apply risk matrix and produce final recommendation	Markdown + JSON: Risk level, verdict, alternatives

Parallelization Strategy

• Early Exit Logic: If social-checker finds exact handle taken on main platform, skip steps 2-4 and jump to synthesizer with "Abandon" verdict
• Independent Workers: Registry, domain, trademark checkers run in parallel without dependencies
• Sequential Flow: Social → (if clear) → Parallel {Registry, Domain, Trademark} → Synthesizer

Speedup: ~4x faster than sequential approach (13+ web fetches parallelized into 2-3 waves).

Environment Check

Before executing:

1. Verify WebSearch and WebFetch tools are available
2. Confirm internet connectivity for external service queries
3. Check rate limits on social platforms and registries

Repo Sync Before Edits (mandatory)

Before creating/updating/deleting files in an existing repository, sync the current branch with remote. See references/repo-sync.md for the exact git fetch / git pull --rebase commands and stash recovery flow.

Input

Name to analyze provided in $ARGUMENTS. If empty, ask user for the name.

Optionally check for prd.md in project to understand product context.

Analysis Protocol

If an exact social handle is taken, skip Steps 2-4 and jump directly to Step 6 (Recommendation) with an "Abandon" verdict.

Step 1: Social Media Check (First Priority)

Use WebSearch to check handles on:

• X/Twitter: "@[NAME]" site:twitter.com OR site:x.com
• Instagram: "@[NAME]" site:instagram.com
• Facebook: "[NAME]" site:facebook.com
• LinkedIn: "[NAME]" site:linkedin.com/company
• YouTube: "[NAME]" site:youtube.com
• TikTok: "@[NAME]" site:tiktok.com

If exact handle taken: Return NEGATIVE: Exact social handle taken (@platform) and STOP. Suggest different name.

Step 2: Package Registry Check (if Step 1 clear)

Package registries are first-come-first-served namespaces. Unlike GitHub (which allows duplicate project names), registries enforce unique names — once someone claims "your-name" on PyPI or npm, you cannot publish under that name. This makes registry checks urgent: if the name is taken on a registry you plan to publish to, you either need a different name or a naming variant (e.g., prefix/suffix).

Use WebFetch to check these registries directly:

Registry	Check URL	Taken if...
npm	https://registry.npmjs.org/[NAME]	Returns JSON with package data (not a 404)
PyPI	https://pypi.org/pypi/[NAME]/json	Returns JSON with package data (not a 404)
Homebrew	https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/[NAME].json	Returns JSON (not a 404)
apt	Search: "[NAME]" site:packages.debian.org OR site:packages.ubuntu.com	Package listing found

For each registry, report:

• Available: 404 / not found — safe to claim
• Taken: Package exists — note the owner, description, and last publish date (a recently claimed but empty package could indicate namespace squatting)
• Similar: No exact match but close variants exist (e.g., name-js, py-name) — worth noting

If the name is taken on a registry the user plans to publish to, flag it prominently and suggest variants (e.g., name-cli, name-py, name-lib, prefixed with org scope like @org/name for npm).

Step 3: Domain Check (if Step 1 clear)

Use WebSearch to check:

• .com (highest priority)
• .io, .app, .co
• Regional: .eu, .fr

Search: site:[NAME].com and "[NAME].com" domain availability

Status:

• Available: No active site
• Parked: Domain exists but for-sale/parking
• Active: In use (flag if same industry)

Step 4: Trademark Check (if Step 1 clear)

Use WebSearch for trademark databases:

Database	Search Query
WIPO	"[NAME]" site:branddb.wipo.int
EUIPO	"[NAME]" site:euipo.europa.eu
INPI (France)	"[NAME]" site:inpi.fr

Focus on Nice Classes 9, 35, 42 (software/technology). Note if marks are live or expired.

Step 5: Risk Assessment

Risk Level	Criteria
Low	Social handles available, .com available/parked, no trademark conflicts, package registries available
Moderate	Some handles taken (not exact), .com taken but alternatives available, similar trademarks exist, or name taken on a registry the user doesn't plan to use
High	Multiple handles taken, .com active in same industry, active trademarks in classes 9/35/42, or name taken on a target package registry

Step 6: Recommendation

• Proceed: Low risk - name is viable
• Modify: Moderate risk - suggest 1-2 variants addressing conflicts
• Abandon: High risk - suggest completely different alternatives

Output Format

SOCIAL: Clear | NEGATIVE: [reason]
REGISTRY: npm (status) | PyPI (status) | Homebrew (status) | apt (status)
DOMAIN: .com (status) | .io (status) | .app (status)
TM: WIPO (status) | EUIPO (status) | INPI (status)
RISK: [Low/Moderate/High] - [reason]
RECOMMEND: [Proceed/Modify/Abandon] (+ variants if needed)

PRD Integration

If prd.md found, add:

Name Fit Assessment:

• Alignment with product vision
• Memorability, pronunciation, spelling
• Target audience fit

Alternative Suggestions:

Name	Rationale	Quick Risk
Name1	Why it fits	Availability
Name2	Why it fits	Availability
Name3	Why it fits	Availability

Step Completion Reports

After each major step, emit a status report. The general template, plus per-step examples (Social, Registry, Domain, Trademark, Risk), live in references/step-reports.md. Adapt check names to what the step actually validates; use √ for pass, × for fail.

Acceptance Criteria

• Social media check completed across all 6 platforms with clear available/taken status
• Package registry status confirmed for npm, PyPI, Homebrew, and apt
• Domain availability checked for .com and at least two alternative TLDs
• Trademark search completed against WIPO, EUIPO, and INPI
• Risk level assigned (Low / Moderate / High) with supporting rationale
• Final recommendation delivered (Proceed / Modify / Abandon) with named alternatives if needed

Expected Output

SOCIAL: Clear (Twitter, Instagram, GitHub, LinkedIn, TikTok, Discord all available)
REGISTRY: npm (available) | PyPI (TAKEN — owner: example-org, last publish: 2022-03) | Homebrew (available) | apt (available)
DOMAIN: .com (active — unrelated industry) | .io (available) | .app (available)
TM: WIPO (clear) | EUIPO (clear) | INPI (similar mark in class 42 — "Acme Tools SAS", filed 2021)
RISK: Moderate — PyPI name taken on a target registry; .com parked; minor trademark similarity in France
RECOMMEND: Modify — use "acme-cli" (npm/PyPI clear, .com available, no TM conflicts)

Edge Cases

• Exact social handle taken on primary platform: Skip all remaining checks and immediately return an Abandon recommendation with alternative name suggestions.
• Rate-limited registry API: Retry once after 5 seconds; if still blocked, mark the registry as "unchecked" and note it in the report — do not skip silently.
• Trademark database unavailable: Note the outage per database; downgrade risk only if all three TM sources are inaccessible (warn user).
• Name contains special characters or spaces: Normalize to slug form (e.g., my tool → my-tool) before all checks; report both the original and normalized forms.
• Very short names (1–3 characters): Flag high trademark collision risk upfront; abbreviations are almost always claimed across social and TM databases.
• Name already in use by a well-known brand (typosquat risk): Escalate to High risk even if all technical checks pass.

Final Action

• Proceed: Confirm safe to use, suggest registration order:
  1. Package registries first — claim names on npm/PyPI/Homebrew immediately, even with a placeholder package. These are first-come-first-served and the most vulnerable to namespace squatting.
  2. Domain — register the primary domain.
  3. Social handles — secure handles on key platforms.
• Modify: Recommend best variant with explanation
• Abandon: Recommend best alternative from suggestions