#601

Global Rank · of 601 Skills

dependency-updater AI Agent Skill

View Source: cachemoney/agent-toolkit

Medium

Installation

npx skills add cachemoney/agent-toolkit --skill dependency-updater

6

Installs

Dependency Updater

Smart dependency management for any language with automatic detection and safe updates.

Quick Start

update my dependencies

The skill auto-detects your project type and handles the rest.

Triggers

Trigger Example
Update dependencies "update dependencies", "update deps"
Check outdated "check for outdated packages"
Fix dependency issues "fix my dependency problems"
Security audit "audit dependencies for vulnerabilities"
Diagnose deps "diagnose dependency issues"

Supported Languages

Language Package File Update Tool Audit Tool
Node.js package.json taze npm audit
Python requirements.txt, pyproject.toml pip-review safety, pip-audit
Go go.mod go get -u govulncheck
Rust Cargo.toml cargo update cargo audit
Ruby Gemfile bundle update bundle audit
Java pom.xml, build.gradle mvn versions:* mvn dependency:*
.NET *.csproj dotnet outdated dotnet list package --vulnerable

Quick Reference

Update Type Version Change Action
Fixed No ^ or ~ Skip (intentionally pinned)
PATCH x.y.z → x.y.Z Auto-apply
MINOR x.y.z → x.Y.0 Auto-apply
MAJOR x.y.z → X.0.0 Prompt user individually

Workflow

User Request
    │
    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Step 1: DETECT PROJECT TYPE                         │
│ • Scan for package files (package.json, go.mod...) │
│ • Identify package manager                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 2: CHECK PREREQUISITES                         │
│ • Verify required tools are installed               │
│ • Suggest installation if missing                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 3: SCAN FOR UPDATES                            │
│ • Run language-specific outdated check              │
│ • Categorize: MAJOR / MINOR / PATCH / Fixed         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 4: AUTO-APPLY SAFE UPDATES                     │
│ • Apply MINOR and PATCH automatically               │
│ • Report what was updated                           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 5: PROMPT FOR MAJOR UPDATES                    │
│ • AskUserQuestion for each MAJOR update             │
│ • Show current → new version                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 6: APPLY APPROVED MAJORS                       │
│ • Update only approved packages                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 7: FINALIZE                                    │
│ • Run install command                               │
│ • Run security audit                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Commands by Language

Node.js (npm/yarn/pnpm)

# Check prerequisites
scripts/check-tool.sh taze "npm install -g taze"

# Scan for updates
taze

# Apply minor/patch
taze minor --write

# Apply specific majors
taze major --write --include pkg1,pkg2

# Monorepo support
taze -r  # recursive

# Security
npm audit
npm audit fix

Python

# Check outdated
pip list --outdated

# Update all (careful!)
pip-review --auto

# Update specific
pip install --upgrade package-name

# Security
pip-audit
safety check

Go

# Check outdated
go list -m -u all

# Update all
go get -u ./...

# Tidy up
go mod tidy

# Security
govulncheck ./...

Rust

# Check outdated
cargo outdated

# Update within semver
cargo update

# Security
cargo audit

Ruby

# Check outdated
bundle outdated

# Update all
bundle update

# Update specific
bundle update --conservative gem-name

# Security
bundle audit

Java (Maven)

# Check outdated
mvn versions:display-dependency-updates

# Update to latest
mvn versions:use-latest-releases

# Security
mvn dependency:tree
mvn dependency-check:check

.NET

# Check outdated
dotnet list package --outdated

# Update specific
dotnet add package PackageName

# Security
dotnet list package --vulnerable

Diagnosis Mode

When dependencies are broken, run diagnosis:

Common Issues & Fixes

Issue Symptoms Fix
Version Conflict "Cannot resolve dependency tree" Clean install, use overrides/resolutions
Peer Dependency "Peer dependency not satisfied" Install required peer version
Security Vuln npm audit shows issues npm audit fix or manual update
Unused Deps Bloated bundle Run depcheck (Node) or equivalent
Duplicate Deps Multiple versions installed Run npm dedupe or equivalent

Emergency Fixes

# Node.js - Nuclear reset
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm cache clean --force
npm install

# Python - Clean virtualenv
rm -rf venv
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Go - Reset modules
rm go.sum
go mod tidy

Security Audit

Run security checks for any project:

# Node.js
npm audit
npm audit --json | jq '.metadata.vulnerabilities'

# Python
pip-audit
safety check

# Go
govulncheck ./...

# Rust
cargo audit

# Ruby
bundle audit

# .NET
dotnet list package --vulnerable

Severity Response

Severity Action
Critical Fix immediately
High Fix within 24h
Moderate Fix within 1 week
Low Fix in next release

Anti-Patterns

Avoid Why Instead
Update fixed versions Intentionally pinned Skip them
Auto-apply MAJOR Breaking changes Prompt user
Batch MAJOR prompts Loses context Prompt individually
Skip lock file Irreproducible builds Always commit lock files
Ignore security alerts Vulnerabilities Address by severity

Verification Checklist

After updates:

  • Updates scanned without errors
  • MINOR/PATCH auto-applied
  • MAJOR updates prompted individually
  • Fixed versions untouched
  • Lock file updated
  • Install command ran
  • Security audit passed (or issues noted)
Deep Dive: Project Detection

The skill auto-detects project type by scanning for package files:

File Found Language Package Manager
package.json Node.js npm/yarn/pnpm
requirements.txt Python pip
pyproject.toml Python pip/poetry
Pipfile Python pipenv
go.mod Go go modules
Cargo.toml Rust cargo
Gemfile Ruby bundler
pom.xml Java Maven
build.gradle Java/Kotlin Gradle
*.csproj .NET dotnet

Detection order matters for monorepos:

  1. Check current directory first
  2. Then check for workspace/monorepo patterns
  3. Offer to run recursively if applicable
Deep Dive: Node.js with taze

Prerequisites

# Install taze globally (recommended)
npm install -g taze

# Or use npx
npx taze

Smart Update Flow

# 1. Scan all updates
taze

# 2. Apply safe updates (minor + patch)
taze minor --write

# 3. For each major, prompt user:
#    "Update @types/node from ^20.0.0 to ^22.0.0?"
#    If yes, add to approved list

# 4. Apply approved majors
taze major --write --include approved-pkg1,approved-pkg2

# 5. Install
npm install  # or pnpm install / yarn

Auto-Approve List

Some packages have frequent major bumps but are backward-compatible:

Package Reason
lucide-react Icon library, majors are additive
@types/* Type definitions, usually safe
Deep Dive: Version Strategies

Semantic Versioning

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 2.3.1)

MAJOR: Breaking changes - requires code changes
MINOR: New features - backward compatible
PATCH: Bug fixes - backward compatible

Range Specifiers

Specifier Meaning Example
^1.2.3 Minor + Patch OK >=1.2.3 <2.0.0
~1.2.3 Patch only >=1.2.3 <1.3.0
1.2.3 Exact (fixed) Only 1.2.3
>=1.2.3 At least Any >=1.2.3
* Any Latest (dangerous)

Recommended Strategy

{
  "dependencies": {
    "critical-lib": "1.2.3",      // Exact for critical
    "stable-lib": "~1.2.3",       // Patch only for stable
    "modern-lib": "^1.2.3"        // Minor OK for active
  }
}
Deep Dive: Conflict Resolution

Node.js Conflicts

Diagnosis:

npm ls package-name      # See dependency tree
npm explain package-name # Why installed
yarn why package-name    # Yarn equivalent

Resolution with overrides:

// package.json
{
  "overrides": {
    "lodash": "^4.18.0"
  }
}

Resolution with resolutions (Yarn):

{
  "resolutions": {
    "lodash": "^4.18.0"
  }
}

Python Conflicts

Diagnosis:

pip check
pipdeptree -p package-name

Resolution:

# Use virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Or use constraints
pip install -c constraints.txt -r requirements.txt

Script Reference

Script Purpose
scripts/check-tool.sh Verify tool is installed
scripts/run-taze.sh Run taze with proper flags

Related Tools

Tool Language Purpose
taze Node.js Smart dependency updates
npm-check-updates Node.js Alternative to taze
pip-review Python Interactive pip updates
cargo-edit Rust Cargo dependency management
bundler-audit Ruby Security auditing

Installs

Installs 6
Global Rank #601 of 601

Security Audit

ath Safe
socket Safe
Alerts: 0 Score: 90
snyk Medium

How to use this skill

1

Install dependency-updater by running npx skills add cachemoney/agent-toolkit --skill dependency-updater in your project directory. Run the install command above in your project directory. The skill file will be downloaded from GitHub and placed in your project.

2

No configuration needed. Your AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.) automatically detects installed skills and uses them as context when generating code.

3

The skill enhances your agent's understanding of dependency-updater, helping it follow established patterns, avoid common mistakes, and produce production-ready output.

What you get

Skills are plain-text instruction files — not executable code. They encode expert knowledge about frameworks, languages, or tools that your AI agent reads to improve its output. This means zero runtime overhead, no dependency conflicts, and full transparency: you can read and review every instruction before installing.

Compatibility

This skill works with any AI coding agent that supports the skills.sh format, including Claude Code (Anthropic), Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Aider, and other tools that read project-level context files. Skills are framework-agnostic at the transport level — the content inside determines which language or framework it applies to.

Data sourced from the skills.sh registry and GitHub. Install counts and security audits are updated regularly.

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