Dependency Update Skill

Overview

Safely update dependencies with risk analysis and rollback planning.

Usage

/dependency-update

Documentation Reference

• Use Ref tools to confirm migration guides and breaking changes.

Identity

Role: Dependency Manager Objective: Keep dependencies up-to-date while minimizing risk of breaking changes and security vulnerabilities.

Update Strategy

Version Classification

Semantic Versioning (SemVer):

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

• PATCH (1.2.3 → 1.2.4): Bug fixes, safe to auto-update
• MINOR (1.2.3 → 1.3.0): New features, backward compatible
• MAJOR (1.2.3 → 2.0.0): Breaking changes, requires review

Update Tiers

Tier	Risk	Automation	Review
Security patches	Critical	Auto-merge	Post-merge
Patch updates	Low	Auto-merge with tests	Weekly batch
Minor updates	Medium	PR with tests	Per-PR review
Major updates	High	Draft PR	Dedicated review

Workflow

Step 1: Audit Current State

# Check for outdated packages
npm outdated

# Check for vulnerabilities
npm audit

# Get detailed dependency tree
npm ls --all

Output Analysis:

Package          Current  Wanted  Latest  Location
react            18.2.0   18.2.0  19.0.0  myapp
lodash           4.17.20  4.17.21 4.17.21 myapp
@types/node      20.8.0   20.11.5 20.11.5 myapp

Step 2: Categorize Updates

Security Updates (do first):

# Find packages with vulnerabilities
npm audit --json | jq '.vulnerabilities | keys[]'

# Auto-fix what's safe
npm audit fix

# Force fix (may have breaking changes)
npm audit fix --force  # Review changes carefully!

Patch Updates (safe):

# Update all to latest patch
npm update

Minor Updates:

# Check changelogs before updating
npm view <package> versions
npm view <package> repository

# Update specific package
npm install <package>@latest

Major Updates:

# Read migration guide first!
npm view <package> readme

# Install specific major version
npm install <package>@^2.0.0

Step 3: Test Updates

Before committing:

# Clean install to verify lock file
rm -rf node_modules
npm ci

# Run all tests
npm test

# Type check
npm run typecheck

# Build
npm run build

# Run E2E tests if available
npm run test:e2e

Smoke Test Checklist:

• App starts without errors
• Core functionality works
• No console errors/warnings
• Performance not degraded

Step 4: Document Changes

Commit Message:

chore(deps): update dependencies

Security fixes:
- lodash 4.17.20 → 4.17.21 (CVE-2021-23337)

Minor updates:
- react-query 3.34.0 → 3.39.0
- typescript 5.0.0 → 5.3.0

Major updates:
- None

Full test suite passing.

CHANGELOG Entry:

## [Unreleased]

### Security
- Updated lodash to fix prototype pollution (CVE-2021-23337)

### Changed
- Updated TypeScript to 5.3 for improved type inference

Breaking Change Handling

Detection

Check for breaking changes:

1. Read CHANGELOG/release notes
2. Check GitHub releases page
3. Search for migration guides
4. Look for deprecation warnings

Common Breaking Changes

React:

• Component lifecycle changes
• Hook behavior changes
• Prop type changes

TypeScript:

• Stricter type checking
• Removed deprecated features
• New required flags

Node.js:

• API changes
• V8 engine updates
• Module system changes

Migration Process

1. Create migration branch

   git checkout -b chore/upgrade-react-19
   

2. Update package

   npm install react@19 react-dom@19
   

3. Run migration codemod (if available)

   npx @react-codemod/react-19 .
   

4. Fix compilation errors

   • Address TypeScript errors
   • Update deprecated APIs

5. Fix test failures

   • Update test utilities
   • Fix changed behavior

6. Manual testing

   • Critical user paths
   • Edge cases
   • Performance comparison

7. Create detailed PR

   • List all changes
   • Document breaking change handling
   • Include before/after metrics

Automation Setup

Dependabot Configuration

# .github/dependabot.yml
version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: npm
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: weekly
      day: monday
    open-pull-requests-limit: 10
    groups:
      dev-dependencies:
        patterns:
          - "@types/*"
          - "eslint*"
          - "prettier"
      production:
        patterns:
          - "react*"
          - "next"

  - package-ecosystem: docker
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: weekly

Renovate Configuration

{
  "$schema": "https://docs.renovatebot.com/renovate-schema.json",
  "extends": [
    "config:base",
    ":automergeMinor",
    ":automergePatch",
    "security:openssf-scorecard"
  ],
  "packageRules": [
    {
      "matchUpdateTypes": ["patch", "minor"],
      "matchCurrentVersion": "!/^0/",
      "automerge": true
    },
    {
      "matchPackagePatterns": ["^@types/"],
      "automerge": true
    },
    {
      "matchUpdateTypes": ["major"],
      "labels": ["major-update", "needs-review"]
    }
  ],
  "vulnerabilityAlerts": {
    "enabled": true,
    "labels": ["security"]
  }
}

CI Validation

# .github/workflows/dependency-check.yml
name: Dependency Check

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - 'package.json'
      - 'package-lock.json'

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Clean install
        run: npm ci

      - name: Audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high

      - name: Test
        run: npm test

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

Rollback Plan

If update causes issues in production:

1. Immediate: Revert the commit

   git revert <commit-hash>
   

2. Lock versions: Pin problematic packages

   {
     "overrides": {
       "problematic-package": "1.2.3"
     }
   }
   

3. Document: Create issue tracking the problem

4. Investigate: Find root cause before retry

Output Format

{
  "scan_date": "2026-01-23",
  "outdated_count": 12,
  "vulnerable_count": 2,
  "updates_applied": [
    {
      "package": "lodash",
      "from": "4.17.20",
      "to": "4.17.21",
      "type": "patch",
      "reason": "security"
    }
  ],
  "major_updates_pending": [
    {
      "package": "react",
      "from": "18.2.0",
      "to": "19.0.0",
      "migration_guide": "https://react.dev/blog/react-19-upgrade-guide"
    }
  ],
  "automation_configured": {
    "dependabot": true,
    "renovate": false
  },
  "test_results": "all_passing"
}

Anti-Patterns

DO NOT:

• Update all packages blindly (

  npm update --save

  )
• Ignore deprecation warnings
• Skip testing after updates
• Mix feature work with dependency updates
• Force update past security warnings
• Forget to update lock file
• Update in Friday afternoon deploys

Outputs

• Dependency update report with risk assessment and test status.

Related Skills

• /security-scan

  - Scan for dependency vulnerabilities