reference-hunt
Use existing source code as the specification when the user can't describe what they want in words. Use when the user points at a library, module, folder, or site and says "like this," even if it's in a different language or stack.
npx skills add Neeeophytee/finding-unknowns-skills --skill reference-hunt --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Reference hunt Some requirements are too intricate or too tacit to write down, but working code somewhere already embodies them. The best reference is not a screenshot or a description — it's source. Read it like a spec, then reimplement the semantics, not the syntax. ## Steps 1. Get the reference: a repo path, a vendored folder, a library name, or a site whose underlying code can be read. Ask what specifically to extract from it — behavior, structure, visual system, API shape — so you don't imitate the wrong dimension. 2. Read the reference and produce a **semantics summary** before writing any code: - the behaviors and guarantees it implements (timing, ordering, error handling, edge cases), - the decisions that look deliberate versus incidental, - anything that won't translate to the target language or stack, with a proposed equivalent. 3. Have the user confirm the semantics summary. This is the moment misreadings get caught cheaply. 4. Reimplement in the target stack: same semantics, native idioms. Do not transliterate line by line, and do not copy code verbatim from references whose license doesn't allow it — note the license if it's unclear. 5. Close the loop: list each beha
- Steps
- Guardrails
What does the reference-hunt skill do?
Use existing source code as the specification when the user can't describe what they want in words. Use when the user points at a library, module, folder, or site and says "like this," even if it's in a different language or stack.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add Neeeophytee/finding-unknowns-skills --skill reference-hunt --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From Neeeophytee/finding-unknowns-skills, a repository with 298 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.