before-you-build

Before You Build

Overview

Before You Build helps an AI coding workflow pause before implementation and check whether the feature, product, or tool is worth building. It focuses on product risk rather than code structure: who needs the thing, what they use today, why they would switch, how distribution works, and what evidence would make the project safer to start.

The upstream project ships a standalone skill repository and an npx installer for several coding assistants.

When to Use This Skill

• Use when a user asks an AI coding assistant to build a new app, feature, internal tool, SaaS, or side project.
• Use when the idea sounds plausible but the buyer, workflow, distribution path, or switching reason is still vague.
• Use before writing code so the assistant can turn the request into sharper assumptions, risk checks, and validation steps.

How It Works

Step 1: Identify the Build Bet

Restate the product or feature in one concrete sentence. Name the intended user, the job they are trying to finish, and the current workaround or competitor.

Step 2: Check the Main Risks

Review the idea across demand, workflow fit, willingness to switch, distribution, pricing, data access, and operational burden. Prefer specific doubts over generic brainstorming.

Step 3: Decide the Next Small Test

Suggest the smallest useful validation step before implementati