Open Skills Logo
Open Skills

dependency-upgrade

Manage major dependency version upgrades with compatibility analysis, staged rollout, and comprehensive testing. Use when upgrading framework versions, updating major dependencies, or managing breaking changes in libraries.

Author

@sickn33

Category

Development Tools

Install

Hot:0

Download and extract to your skills directory

Copy command and send to OpenClaw for auto-install:

Download and install this skill https://openskills.cc/api/download?slug=sickn33-skills-dependency-upgrade&locale=en&source=copy

Dependency Upgrade Skill Details

Skill Overview

Dependency Upgrade is an intelligent assistant dedicated to managing major dependency version upgrades. It provides compatibility analysis, phased release strategies, and comprehensive testing plans to help developers safely upgrade framework versions, update dependencies with security vulnerabilities, and handle breaking changes in libraries.

Applicable Scenarios

1. Major Framework Upgrades

When you need to upgrade the major version of frontend frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular, Dependency Upgrade can help analyze breaking changes, plan upgrade paths, and ensure compatibility with related dependencies. The skill includes an example compatibility matrix for React 16→17→18 and best practices for phased upgrades.

2. Security-Vulnerable Dependency Updates

When npm audit detects security vulnerabilities, the skill can guide you on how to safely update the affected packages. It not only provides how to use npm audit fix, but also contains a complete dependency audit workflow to help you fix vulnerabilities without introducing new issues.

3. Legacy Project Modernization

For projects using old dependency versions, Dependency Upgrade offers a progressive upgrade strategy. Through incremental updates, compatibility matrix validation, and comprehensive testing plans, you can gradually migrate the project to modern dependency versions without taking on all the risk at once.

Core Features

1. Dependency Analysis and Compatibility Matrix

The skill provides a complete dependency analysis toolchain, including:

  • Using npm outdated and npm audit to check for outdated and vulnerable packages

  • Analyzing the dependency tree with npm ls and yarn why

  • Building a compatibility matrix to validate relationships between different versions

  • Visualizing dependency graphs with tools like madge

    • The compatibility matrix feature helps you predict how upgrading a package version will affect other dependencies and avoid version conflicts.

    2. Phased Upgrade Strategy

    Dependency Upgrade emphasizes the principle "don't upgrade all dependencies at once" and provides a three-phase upgrade method:

    First phase: Planning

  • Identify current versions and check for breaking changes

  • Read CHANGELOG.md and MIGRATION.md

  • Create an upgrade plan document

    • Second phase: Incremental Updates

  • Upgrade only one major version at a time

  • Run tests and builds after each upgrade

  • Proceed to the next upgrade only after stability is ensured

    • Third phase: Verification

  • Run the full regression test suite

  • Perform performance testing

  • Deploy to a pre-production environment for monitoring

    • 3. Handling Breaking Changes and Automation

    The skill provides various tools and methods for handling breaking changes:

  • Use codemods to automate code migrations (e.g., react-codemod)

  • Custom migration scripts to handle API changes

  • Guide to interpreting Semantic Versioning

  • Configuration for automated dependency update tools (Renovate, Dependabot)

    • It also includes a complete testing strategy (unit tests, integration tests, E2E tests) and rollback plans to ensure each step of the upgrade process is secured.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is Semantic Versioning?

    Semantic Versioning uses the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format (e.g., 2.3.1) to denote version numbers:

  • MAJOR: contains breaking changes, e.g., 2.x → 3.x

  • MINOR: adds features but remains backward-compatible, e.g., 2.3 → 2.4

  • PATCH: bug fixes and backward-compatible, e.g., 2.3.1 → 2.3.2

    • In package.json, version prefixes have different meanings:

  • ^2.3.1 = accepts >=2.3.1 <3.0.0 (accepts minor version updates)

  • ~2.3.1 = accepts >=2.3.1 <2.4.0 (accepts only patch updates)

  • 2.3.1 = exact version

    • How to Safely Upgrade Major Version Dependencies?

    The key to safely upgrading major version dependencies is to perform it in phases:

  • Preparation: read the target version's CHANGELOG and MIGRATION documents

  • Create a branch: make a dedicated Git branch for the upgrade

  • Incremental upgrades: if crossing multiple major versions (e.g., React 16→18), upgrade to 17 first, and after tests pass, upgrade to 18

  • Use codemods: leverage official codemod tools to automate code migrations

  • Test verification: run the full test suite after each upgrade

  • Maintain rollback capability: use Git stash or create tags for quick rollback

    • How to Handle Security Vulnerabilities Detected by npm audit?

    Steps to handle security vulnerabilities:

  • Run the audit: npm audit to see detailed vulnerability information

  • Try automatic fixes: npm audit fix to automatically apply compatible updates

  • Manual fixes: for vulnerabilities that cannot be auto-fixed, check npm audit info for specific impacts

  • Check for updates: use npx npm-check-updates to find available updates

  • Phased updates: for updates involving major versions, follow the phased upgrade strategy

  • Verify fixes: rerun npm audit after updates to confirm vulnerabilities are resolved

    • Note: Some security updates may involve breaking changes; in that case, follow the major version upgrade process instead of simply running npm audit fix.