How does App Niche Scout help me decide which app to build next?

This skill validates app ideas by querying the iTunes Search API to identify niche viability, search volume gaps, and competitor saturation before you commit to development.

What files and technical requirements are included in this skill?

You will receive the `sweep.py` script, which is compatible with Python 3.9+ and requires no external packages, making it lightweight and easy to integrate into your workflow.

What specific criteria does the skill use to disqualify a potential app niche?

The skill flags 'dead' ideas based on low rating counts, off-topic search results by the fifth position, and 'gold rush' patterns where too many new apps are failing to gain traction.

Does this skill provide qualitative analysis in addition to raw App Store data?

Yes, for ideas that pass the initial data sweep, the skill uses Claude to analyze market leaders for specific gaps and provide maintenance cost estimates.

What are the licensing terms for using this script in my own development process?

The skill is released under the MIT License, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the source code found on GitHub for your own projects.

Are there any limitations on the types of search terms I should use?

For the most accurate results, use search terms consisting of one to three words, as these reflect how users typically search the App Store.

App Niche Scout (App Store Search Data)

Example session with this skill installed

Is a pizza dough calculator worth building?

Read your context and instructions
Compiled the app niche scout

What I ran

Three ways someone might search for a pizza dough calculator:

TERM: pizza dough
  on-topic  9/11  |  fall-through at #7  |  TOTAL RATINGS 4,897
  launched in 6mo: 3 (at ~0 ratings: 3)  |  updated in 6mo: 7  |  genres: Food & Drink
  VERDICT: no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)
  audience ceiling 4,536
  leaders:  (classify each as AUDIENCE / TOOL / ADJACENT)
        4,536 *4.8  Free     Ooni Pizza Ovens                         [Ooni Limited] upd 2026-09-24
          186 *4.4  Free     PizzApp+                                 [NFP SOFTWARE] upd 2026-02-20
          105 *4.8  Free     Pizza Pro - Dough Calculator             [Moritz Berger] upd 2026-09-24
           49 *4.8  Free     Pizza dough recipes                      [Luca Champoussin] upd 2026-03-01

TERM: dough calculator
  on-topic 11/11  |  fall-through at #-  |  TOTAL RATINGS 30,072
  launched in 6mo: 3 (at ~0 ratings: 3)  |  updated in 6mo: 9  |  genres: Finance, Food & Drink, Utilities
  VERDICT: no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)
  audience ceiling 25,215
  leaders:  (classify each as AUDIENCE / TOOL / ADJACENT)
       25,215 *4.7  Free     Calculator with History +                [Beijing Free Calculato] upd 2026-09-19
        4,536 *4.8  Free     Ooni Pizza Ovens                         [Ooni Limited] upd 2026-09-24
          186 *4.4  Free     PizzApp+                                 [NFP SOFTWARE] upd 2026-02-20
          105 *4.8  Free     Pizza Pro - Dough Calculator             [Moritz Berger] upd 2026-09-24

TERM: pizza calculator
  on-topic 11/11  |  fall-through at #-  |  TOTAL RATINGS 4,880
  launched in 6mo: 1 (at ~0 ratings: 1)  |  updated in 6mo: 4  |  genres: Food & Drink, Utilities
  VERDICT: no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)
  audience ceiling 4,536

RANKED BY TOTAL RATINGS (us)
     30,072  dough calculator      no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)
      4,897  pizza dough           no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)
      4,880  pizza calculator      no kill-flag -- READ THE LEADERS (and check CONSUMABLE-OWNED)

What it means

No automatic kill. Every term has real ratings, Apple indexes all three, and only a few new apps launched recently.

Check consumable-owned. The biggest on-topic leader is Ooni, a company that sells pizza ovens. That's the pattern the by-hand check exists for. Here it isn't fatal, because neutral tools rank right behind it.

"dough calculator" is inflated by a general calculator app with 25k ratings. That's ADJACENT, not the audience.
The neutral tools are small: Pizza Pro has 105 ratings and PizzApp+ has 186. A focused app can compete here.

Next steps

Read the top neutral tools by hand. What do their reviews say is missing?
Estimate maintenance: a calculator is low upkeep, with no content to keep feeding.
Only then build.

Output is from a real run on 2026-10-05 (separator lines trimmed).

Connects securely to your tools. The creator never sees your data.

About this skill

With no ad budget, an app only gets found through store search. So the question before building is whether people search for it, who already ranks, and whether the leaders are stale enough to beat.

This skill sweeps candidate search terms against the free iTunes Search API and drops dead ideas with numbers:

No market: under 100 ratings across every app that ranks for the term.
No index: Apple shows off-topic apps by position 5, so there's no search traffic to catch.
Gold rush: four or more new apps in six months, all sitting at almost no ratings.
Consumable-owned (checked by hand): the leaders are companies selling the supplies, so there's no room for a neutral tool.

For the ideas that survive, it has Claude read the leaders by hand for a real gap, and it estimates what the app will cost to maintain.

App Store data only. Competitor complaints in reviews are not counted as demand. Search terms work best at one to three words.

Script: sweep.py. Python 3.9+, no packages.

These are free and MIT-licensed, and the source is at github.com/jameskrupnik/indie-app-skills. If you ship several Flutter apps, my paid skills cover the rest of the release: new-app (forking without carrying the parent's Firebase and ad ids), ship-ios (fork to App Store review), bug-hunt and daily-update (pacing releases across many apps).

How to use

Skills on Agensi run inside your AI agent. Copy the prompt, paste it into your agent, and it connects to Agensi and installs this skill for you. If a payment is needed, your agent shows it to you first.

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App Niche Scout (App Store Search Data)