---

name: github-solution-finder description: Search GitHub for battle-tested open-source libraries and solutions

GitHub Solution Finder

Find battle-tested libraries instead of building from scratch. Use GitHub's search operators — they're far more precise than plain Google.

Search Operators (combine with spaces = AND)

| Operator | Example | Effect | |---|---|---| | stars:>N | stars:>1000 | More than N stars | | stars:N..M | stars:100..500 | Between N and M | | language:X | language:python | Primary language | | pushed:>DATE | pushed:>2025-06-01 | Commits after date — the key freshness signal | | created:>DATE | created:>2024-01-01 | Repo created after date | | topic:X | topic:cli | Tagged with topic | | license:X | license:mit | Specific license | | -X | -language:javascript | Exclude (prefix any qualifier) | | archived:false | | Exclude archived repos | | is:public fork:false | | No forks | | in:name / in:readme | http in:name | Restrict where term matches | | user:X / org:X | org:google | Scope to owner | | "exact phrase" | "rate limiter" | Phrase match | | NOT | redis NOT cache | Exclude keyword (strings only) |

High-Signal Query Templates

# Baseline: established + actively maintained
<problem> language:<lang> stars:>500 pushed:>2025-06-01 archived:false

# Find the dominant library (only a few results = clear winner)
<problem> language:python stars:>5000

# Hidden gems (newer, not yet famous, but active)
<problem> language:go stars:50..500 pushed:>2025-09-01 fork:false

# Curated lists — these exist for almost every topic
awesome <topic> in:name stars:>1000

# CLI tools
<task> topic:cli stars:>200 pushed:>2025-01-01

# Commercial-safe only
<problem> license:mit OR license:apache-2.0 stars:>500

# Boolean grouping
(language:rust OR language:go) <problem> stars:>1000

# Code search (different syntax — searches file contents)
path:**/*.py "from fastapi import" symbol:RateLimiter

Execute via webSearch

webSearch("site:github.com rate limiter python stars 1000")
webSearch("awesome self-hosted analytics github")
webSearch("<specific error message> site:github.com/issues")

Note: GitHub-specific qualifiers like language:, stars:>, and pushed:> only work on GitHub's own search engine. Through webSearch, use natural-language equivalents (e.g. "python" instead of language:python). For precise filtering, use gh search repos if the GitHub CLI is available (see below).

Then webFetch the repo URL to read the README directly.

Registry alternatives: site:pypi.org <problem> (Python), site:npmjs.com <problem> (Node), site:crates.io <problem> (Rust).

GitHub CLI (if available)

gh search repos "rate limiter" --language=python --stars=">1000" \
  --sort=stars --limit=10 --json=name,stargazersCount,pushedAt,url,description

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO --jq '{stars:.stargazers_count, pushed:.pushed_at, issues:.open_issues_count, license:.license.spdx_id, archived:.archived}'

Health Evaluation — Check These Fast

| Signal | Healthy | Walk away | |---|---|---| | Last commit | <3 months | >18 months | | Stars | >1000 (lib), >100 (niche) | <20 | | Open/closed issue ratio | <0.3 | >1.0 with no replies | | Contributors | 5+ | 1 (bus factor) | | "Used by" (sidebar) | >1000 | 0 | | Releases | Tagged, semver, changelog | No tags | | License | MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD | None, GPL/AGPL (if commercial) | | CI badge | Green | Missing or red | | archived: true banner | — | Instant no |

Red flags in issues: Search the issue tracker for "memory leak", "abandoned", "unmaintained", "alternative". If maintainer hasn't replied to anything in 6 months, the project is effectively dead regardless of star count.

Download trend check:

• Python: https://pypistats.org/packages/<name> — declining = dying
• npm: https://npmtrends.com/<pkg1>-vs-<pkg2> — compare candidates head-to-head
• Check bundle size: https://bundlephobia.com/package/<name> (frontend only)

License TL;DR

| License | Commercial OK | Must open-source your code? | |---|---|---| | MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, ISC | Yes | No | | LGPL | Yes | Only if you modify the lib itself | | GPL | Yes | Yes, if you distribute (viral) | | AGPL | Yes | Yes, even for SaaS (network-viral) | | No LICENSE file | No | default is all rights reserved |

Awesome Lists (curated entry points)

sindresorhus/awesome — the root of all awesome lists. Then: awesome-python, awesome-go, awesome-rust, awesome-react, awesome-selfhosted, awesome-nodejs, free-for-dev, build-your-own-x (learn by reimplementing), public-apis.

Comparison Output Template

## pkg-name  [12.4k stars, pushed 2 weeks ago, MIT]
github.com/owner/pkg-name

**Does:** One-line pitch.
**Fit:** Why it matches this specific problem.
**Install:** `pip install pkg-name`

**Pro:** Active, typed, 89% test coverage.
**Con:** Pulls in 23 transitive deps; async-only API.

```python
from pkg import Thing
Thing().do(x)  # minimal working example
```

Decision Rules

1. Two libs within 2x stars of each other → pick the one pushed more recently
2. A lib with 50k stars but last commit 2023 → it's dead, find the fork (check "Forks" tab sorted by stars)
3. Lib does 10x more than needed → check if you can vendor the 200 lines you actually need (with attribution)
4. Can't find anything with >100 stars → problem may be too niche; search blog posts / Stack Overflow for how others solved it
5. Found 3+ viable options → npmtrends/pypistats comparison, then read the top 5 closed issues of each

Output

Always present key findings and recommendations as a plaintext summary in chat, even when also generating files. The user should be able to understand the results without opening any files.