ripwire-reuse-first

# Reuse before you write > Routing — pick the right door: > • Starting a whole FEATURE (multi-symbol, needs a plan / interface / sizing) → **ripwire-before-you-build**. > • The cross-cutting *map-before-you-read* token discipline for any read → **ripwire-orient** (`map-before-you-read.md`). > • Judging whether what you wrote got better or worse before "done" → **ripwire-quality-bar**. > • Not sure which skill? → **ripwire-router**. The cheapest, simplest, most readable code is the code you don't write. Before authoring anything non-trivial, spend one `ripwire` call (on PATH) to find what already exists. ## Retrieve by ROLE, never by raw similarity This is the load-bearing rule, not a style preference: **similarity-retrieved "here's similar code, paste it" measurably HURTS** — up to **−15% Pass@1** (arXiv:2503.20589). What helps is API/type-signature context (+17-20%) and dependency-graph-structured retrieval (+6 EM; enabled 5/6 multi-file edits vs 0/6 without a graph). ripwire's shape — signatures + call-graph + role-ranked exemplars — is the validated retrieval shape; "find me a similar-looking snippet" is the anti-pattern to avoid, even though it's the tempting first instinct. ## Before you write a function / class / util 1. **Find the building block first** — `ripwire <dir> --for="<what you're about to build>"` → ranked existing signatures (plus, when the code has them, the `<lego>` / `<compose>` HAS-A blocks — what a class already owns). If you can name the help...