Update Dependencies Agent Skill

Update Dependencies

Upgrade project dependencies, researching breaking changes for major version updates.

Optional filter: $ARGUMENTS (e.g., react, Alamofire, serde tokio)

Phase 1: Review Dependencies

Run the /review-dependencies skill to detect package managers and discover available updates. If no updates are available, stop.

Phase 2: User Strategy Selection

Present a summary showing:

• Count and list of major updates (with current → target versions)
• Count of minor updates
• Count of patch updates

Use AskUserQuestion for upgrade strategy:

Header: "Strategy"

Options:

• Cautious — Upgrade minor/patch first, then major one-by-one with research
• All at once — Research all major changes, then upgrade everything together
• Skip major — Only upgrade minor and patch versions
• Interactive — Ask for each major update individually

Phase 3: Research Breaking Changes

For each package with a major version update:

Step 1: Calculate Version Gap

Identify all major versions between current and target. For example:

• react: 17.0.2 → 19.0.0 → research v18 AND v19 breaking changes
• Alamofire: 4.9.1 → 6.0.0 → research v5 AND v6 breaking changes

Step 2: Research Each Major Version

Search for migration documentation:

WebSearch: "[package-name] v[X] migration guide"
WebSearch: "[package-name] v[X] breaking changes"

Common sources: GitHub releases page, official docs, changelog files.

Step 3: Extract Key Breaking Changes

Identify: API changes (renamed/removed functions), configuration changes, peer/transitive dependency requirements, behavioral changes, deprecated features now removed.

Step 4: Search Codebase for Affected Code

Use Grep to find usage of deprecated or changed APIs. Document which files are affected and what changes are needed.

Phase 4: User Confirmation

For each major update, present:

• Package name and version transition
• Breaking changes found (summarized)
• Files potentially affected (count and list)

Use AskUserQuestion to confirm:

Header: "Confirm"

Options:

• Proceed — Continue with upgrades and migrations
• Show details — Display detailed breaking changes for review
• Skip package — Exclude a specific package from upgrade
• Abort — Cancel the upgrade process

If "Show details" selected, display full migration research, then ask again.

Phase 5: Execute Upgrades

Cautious Strategy

First upgrade minor and patch only using the package manager's semver-respecting update command, then run tests. If tests fail, stop before proceeding with major upgrades.

Major Version Upgrades

Update the manifest file (version constraint) and run the install/resolve command. For package managers with a dedicated upgrade command, use it. For others (Swift PM, Maven, Gradle), edit the manifest directly.

Phase 6: Apply Migrations

Step 1: Run Codemods (if Available)

Some ecosystems provide automated migration tools:

| Ecosystem | Migration tools |

|---|---|

| React | npx react-codemod [transform] |

| Next.js | npx @next/codemod [transform] |

| Jest | npx jest-codemods |

| Angular | npx ng update |

| Rust | cargo fix for edition migrations |

| Python | pyupgrade, python-modernize |

Step 2: Manual Code Changes

For changes requiring manual intervention:

• Read the affected file
• Apply the necessary transformation using Edit
• Show the user what changed

Step 3: Update Configuration Files

If configuration format changed, read current config, transform to new format, write updated config.

Step 4: Sync Version-Pinned CI/Container References

Some packages pin their version outside the manifest, beyond the package manager's reach, so a green local run hides the drift. For every upgraded package (major, minor, or patch), search CI and container configs for the old version string with the Grep tool (across .github/, Dockerfile*, docker-compose*, and .devcontainer/) and bump it in lockstep:

• CI container images whose tag must track the package — e.g. a Playwright image tag kept in lockstep with the installed @playwright/test version.
• Base images and tool versions in Dockerfile, .devcontainer/, and docker-compose.yml.
• Pinned tool versions in CI setup steps (actions/setup-node node-version, setup-python, toolchain files).

Phase 7: Verification

Run the project's test, build, and lint commands. Detect which commands are available from the project's config files and scripts. Use project-level task runners when present (Makefile, Taskfile, justfile, npm scripts, etc.).

Report Results

Summarize: packages upgraded (count), breaking changes addressed (count), files modified (count), test results, remaining manual tasks.

Recommend Next Steps

If any migrations could not be automated:

• List specific changes the user needs to review
• Highlight deprecated patterns that need attention
• Note any runtime behavior changes to watch for

Error Handling

Discovery Tool Not Available

If the discovery tool is not installed, /review-dependencies will note it. Fall back to manual version checking via WebSearch.

Network Errors During Research

If WebSearch/WebFetch fails: retry with alternative search terms, provide manual research links, proceed with caution warning that migration research may be incomplete.

Test Failures After Upgrade

• Stop the upgrade process
• Suggest rollback: restore manifest and lockfile from git, then reinstall
• Identify which package likely caused the failure

Migration Research Incomplete

If official migration docs are not found: check the package's repository for issues and discussions, note as "migration research incomplete — proceed with caution."