Check for Updates

This skill checks for updates to the skills-for-fabric marketplace at the start of each session.

When to Run

Run this check once per week when any skills-for-fabric skill is first invoked. Skip if already checked within the last 7 days.

Session State

The update check marker is stored in a persistent, user-level directory shared across all sessions and all plugins in the Fabric Skills marketplace:

~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json

This file contains a JSON object mapping plugin names to the UTC date (YYYY-MM-DD) of their last update check:

{
  "skills-for-fabric": "2026-02-17",
  "another-plugin": "2026-02-16"
}

Before checking, read

~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json

:

• If the file exists and the entry for the current plugin is within the last 7 days (compared to the current UTC date), skip the check.
• If the file is missing, the plugin entry is absent, or the date is more than 7 days old (compared to the current UTC date), run the update check.

IMPORTANT — use UTC consistently: Always use the current UTC date when saving and comparing the last-update-check timestamp. Do not use the local system timezone, as it varies across environments and can cause the check to run too often or be skipped. In shell, use

date -u +%Y-%m-%d

(Linux/macOS) or

(Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")

(PowerShell).

Note: Create the

~/.config/fabric-collection/

directory if it does not exist. On Windows, use

$env:USERPROFILE\.config\fabric-collection\

.

Update Check Procedure

Step 1: Get Local Version

Read the

version

field from the local

package.json

file in the skills-for-fabric installation directory.

Step 2: Determine Repository Owner and Name

Read the

repository

field from the local

plugin.json

(or

package.json

) to extract the GitHub owner and repo name. Parse the URL to get

owner

and

repo

:

plugin.json → "repository": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>"
package.json → "repository.url": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>.git"

CRITICAL: Use the owner string exactly as it appears in the URL. Do NOT alter, normalize, or "correct" the owner name (e.g., do NOT replace underscores with hyphens). The owner

bocrivat_microsoft

uses an underscore — this is intentional and correct.

Step 3: Fetch Latest Release

Use the available tools in your environment to get the latest version. Try methods in strict order — only fall back to the next method if the previous one fails or is unavailable.

IMPORTANT: Methods A and B work with both public and private repositories. Method C only works with public repos. Always attempt A or B first.

Method A — Git CLI (preferred)

If the skills-for-fabric directory is a Git clone, fetch the remote

package.json

without pulling:

git fetch origin main --quiet
git show origin/main:package.json

Extract the

version

field from the JSON output. This method is the most reliable because it uses the already-configured remote URL and authentication, and avoids any owner/repo name parsing.

Method B — GitHub MCP tools (preferred for agentic environments)

If you have access to GitHub MCP server tools (e.g.,

get_file_contents

), use them to read the remote

package.json

. Use the owner and repo extracted in Step 2 exactly as parsed (do not modify the strings):

get_file_contents(owner: "<owner>", repo: "<repo>", path: "package.json")

For this repository, the correct call is:

get_file_contents(owner: "bocrivat_microsoft", repo: "skills-for-fabric", path: "package.json")

Extract the

version

field from the response. This method works with private repositories because MCP tools use authenticated GitHub access.

Method C — GitHub REST API (fallback only, public repos)

⚠️ Only use this method if Methods A and B both fail or are unavailable. This method does not work with private repositories.

If the repository is public, make a GET request using the owner/repo from Step 2:

GET https://api.github.com/repos/<owner>/<repo>/releases/latest

Extract the

tag_name

field (e.g.,

v0.2.0

) and remove the

v

prefix.

Note: This method returns 404 for private repositories. If you receive a 404 error, do NOT assume the repository doesn't exist — retry with Method A or B.

Step 4: Compare Versions

Compare the local version with the remote version using semantic versioning:

• If remote > local: Update available
• If remote <= local: Up to date

Step 5: Display Results

If Up to Date

Show a brief confirmation and proceed:

✅ skills-for-fabric v0.1.0 is up to date.

If Update Available

Show detailed information:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  🔄 skills-for-fabric Update Available                                ║
║                                                                  ║
║  Current: v0.1.0  →  Latest: v0.2.0                             ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

## What's New in v0.2.0

[Display relevant CHANGELOG.md entries here]

## Update Commands

Choose the update method based on how you installed skills-for-fabric:

### GitHub Copilot CLI
/plugin update skills-for-fabric@fabric-collection

### Manual (Git clone)
cd /path/to/skills-for-fabric
git pull
./install.ps1   # Windows
./install.sh    # macOS/Linux

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Would you like to update now? (The current skill will still work)

Step 6: Set Update Marker

After completing the check (regardless of result), update

~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json

with today's UTC date (YYYY-MM-DD) for the current plugin. Create the directory and file if they don't exist. Preserve entries for other plugins already in the file.

Must

• Check for updates only once per week (based on UTC calendar date, not session lifetime or local timezone)
• Always proceed with the requested skill after the check (non-blocking)
• Handle network errors gracefully (show warning, continue with skill)
• Display the CHANGELOG.md content for versions between current and latest

Prefer

• Use Git CLI (Method A) or GitHub MCP tools (Method B) for version checking — these work with private repos
• Fall back to the public GitHub REST API (Method C) only if Methods A and B both fail
• Show a concise summary rather than overwhelming detail
• Cache the check result in

  ~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json

• Provide copy-pasteable update commands

Avoid

• Blocking the user from using skills if update check fails
• Checking on every skill invocation (once per week is sufficient)
• Attempting Method C (public API) before trying Methods A or B
• Relying solely on unauthenticated public API calls (will fail for private repos)
• Auto-updating without user consent

Error Handling

If the update check fails (network error, API rate limit, etc.):

⚠️ Could not check for skills-for-fabric updates (network error).
   Continuing with current version (v0.1.0).
   Run '/skill check-updates' manually to retry.

Manual Invocation

Users can manually check for updates at any time:

• GitHub Copilot CLI:

  /skill check-updates

• Other tools: Invoke the check-updates skill directly

Reference

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/skills-for-fabric
• Releases: https://github.com/microsoft/skills-for-fabric/releases
• CHANGELOG: See

  CHANGELOG.md

  in repository root