fix(code-evidence): skip uv when code-finder is already installed

uv run --with code-finder creates an ephemeral environment every time,
ignoring locally pip-installed packages. This triggers ~1GB of downloads
(torch, scipy, scikit-learn, etc.) on first run per Python version.

Now both code-evidence skills check if code-finder is importable first
and only fall back to uv when it's not installed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

rh-pre-commit.version: 2.3.2
rh-pre-commit.check-secrets: ENABLED

Author: aireilly

plugins/docs-tools/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "docs-tools",
-  "version": "0.0.40",
+  "version": "0.0.41",
   "description": "Documentation review, writing, and workflow tools for Red Hat AsciiDoc and Markdown documentation.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Red Hat Documentation Team",

plugins/docs-tools/skills/code-evidence/SKILL.md

@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@ Uses hybrid search: BM25 for exact keyword matches + vector embeddings for seman
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- **uv** must be installed: `brew install uv` (macOS) or see https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
-- **code-finder** is installed automatically at runtime via `uv run --with code-finder`. No manual pip install required.
+- **code-finder** Python package. Install once with `python3 -m pip install code-finder`, or let the skill auto-install via `uv run --with code-finder` (requires **uv**: `brew install uv` on macOS, or see https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)
 - The wrapper script at `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/docs-workflow-code-evidence/scripts/find_evidence.py` calls the code-finder Python API directly (no CLI entry point required)
 
 ## Arguments
@@ -41,23 +40,34 @@ Validate:
 
 ### 2. Run evidence retrieval
 
+First, check if code-finder is already installed:
+
 ```bash
-uv run --with code-finder python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/docs-workflow-code-evidence/scripts/find_evidence.py \
+python3 -c "import claude_context" 2>/dev/null && echo "INSTALLED" || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"
+```
+
+Use the appropriate command based on the result. If **INSTALLED**, run directly (avoids re-downloading ~1GB of ML dependencies). If **NOT_INSTALLED**, prefix with `uv run --with code-finder`.
+
+**Direct (code-finder installed):**
+
+```bash
+python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/docs-workflow-code-evidence/scripts/find_evidence.py \
   --repo "<REPO_PATH>" \
   --query "<QUERY>" \
   --limit <LIMIT>
 ```
 
-If `--filter-paths` was provided:
+**Fallback (via uv):**
 
 ```bash
 uv run --with code-finder python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/docs-workflow-code-evidence/scripts/find_evidence.py \
   --repo "<REPO_PATH>" \
   --query "<QUERY>" \
-  --limit <LIMIT> \
-  --filter-paths <FILTER_PATHS>
+  --limit <LIMIT>
 ```
 
+If `--filter-paths` was provided, add `--filter-paths <FILTER_PATHS>` to the command.
+
 If `--reindex` was provided, add `--reindex` to the command.
 
 ### 3. Present results

plugins/docs-tools/skills/docs-workflow-code-evidence/SKILL.md

@@ -18,8 +18,7 @@ The writer typically works from the **documentation repository**, not the code r
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- **uv** must be installed: `brew install uv` (macOS) or see https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
-- **code-finder** is installed automatically at runtime via `uv run --with code-finder`. No manual pip install required.
+- **code-finder** Python package. Install once with `python3 -m pip install code-finder`, or let the skill auto-install via `uv run --with code-finder` (requires **uv**: `brew install uv` on macOS, or see https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)
 - The wrapper script `scripts/find_evidence.py` calls the code-finder Python API directly (no CLI entry point required)
 
 ## Arguments
@@ -129,6 +128,23 @@ For each search query derived from the plan, add **two entries**:
 
 #### 5b. Run batch retrieval
 
+First, check if code-finder is already installed:
+
+```bash
+python3 -c "import claude_context" 2>/dev/null && echo "INSTALLED" || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"
+```
+
+If **INSTALLED**, run directly (avoids re-downloading ~1GB of ML dependencies):
+
+```bash
+python3 scripts/find_evidence.py \
+  --repo "$REPO_PATH" \
+  --queries-file "${OUTPUT_DIR}/queries.json" \
+  --limit <LIMIT>
+```
+
+If **NOT_INSTALLED**, fall back to uv:
+
 ```bash
 uv run --with code-finder python3 scripts/find_evidence.py \
   --repo "$REPO_PATH" \