plastic-update

name	plastic-update
description	Use when updating Plastic. Runs the `update` verb, which reads the installed VERSION, derives its channel, queries npm dist-tags, and advances to the next version on that channel (or switches channel with a flag).
user-invocable	true

Update Plastic

When to Use

• User says "update plastic", "sync plastic", or "upgrade plastic"
• Statusline shows "Plastic update available"
• After a version-bump notification

What it does

update is a single deterministic command. It reads ~/.plastic/VERSION, derives the channel from the version string (-alpha/-beta/none -> stable), queries npm dist-tags, and advances to the next version on the current channel. "Already up to date" is a clean no-op. You do not compute the target yourself, the script does.

Channel rule

If Plastic is installed, derive <channel> from ~/.plastic/VERSION: a version containing -alpha means @alpha, -beta means @beta, otherwise @latest. If not installed (first install), default to @latest. The user can always override with --alpha / --beta / --latest.

Flags

Flag	Behaviour
(none)	Advance to the next version on the current channel
--latest	Switch to / advance the stable channel (toward stability, frictionless)
--beta	Switch to / advance the beta channel
--alpha	Switch to / advance the alpha channel (bleeding edge, confirmed if moving down in stability)

Switching toward a more stable channel is frictionless; switching toward bleeding edge is confirmed. To roll back to a previously-installed version, use plastic-rollback.

Prerequisites

Plastic must be installed (~/.plastic/VERSION present). If not, run plastic-install first (or npx -y @zalom/plastic@latest install --claude directly).

Procedure

Step 1: Run the update

npx -y @zalom/plastic@<channel> update
# channel switch: append --beta / --latest / --alpha
# to target a specific harness instead of every installed one: --claude / --codex / --hermes / --all

bunx -y @zalom/plastic@<channel> update works as a fallback if npx is unavailable.

With no harness flag, update targets every currently-installed harness (read from each agent's own <agent-dir>/plastic/VERSION), never Claude alone. Pass an explicit flag only to target one harness specifically.

If the core is already on the target version but a targeted harness's own record is stale or missing (for example a harness added after the last sync), update still re-syncs that harness at the same version instead of reporting a clean no-op (same-version repair).

The command prints the transition (vX -> vY) or "already up to date", a per-agent transaction summary when more than one harness synced, runs a post-update doctor summary per synced harness, and records one versions.json ledger row per synced harness (each row's harness field names which one).

Step 2: Relay any pending config question(s) the update printed

If update's own output (Step 1) printed a "Config question(s) introduced by this update" block, relay each question to the user exactly as printed (question, options, and the write-config command for each option). Do not invent or hardcode a specific question here: it comes from the CLI's fresh output (config_asks.yml, read by code that just synced from the new version), never from this skill file, which is always one release behind and cannot know what a future release will ask.

Once the user picks an option, run the printed write-config command for that option, for example:

ruby ~/.plastic/scripts/write-config advisor.claude.default plastic-faux-advisor

If they say "not now" / want to keep the default, run the printed dismissal command instead, for example:

ruby ~/.plastic/scripts/write-config config_asks_dismissed --push advisor-default

If update printed nothing under that heading, skip this step silently - there is nothing pending. A question already answered or dismissed is never re-asked (both the CLI print and the doctor check verify this before showing anything), and a pending question missed here still shows up as a config_asks warn on the next /plastic-doctor run, so nothing is silently lost.

Step 3: Relay the result, announce convention changes

Relay what update printed, do not recompute the version transition or the doctor summary:

Plastic update (<channel>)
Command:  npx -y @zalom/plastic@<channel> update <flags>
Version:  <before> -> <after>
Doctor:   <relayed summary, or "all clear">

Then read ~/.plastic/PLASTIC.md and announce convention changes that affect the current session, and recommend /clear for a clean session with all new conventions loaded.

Step 4: Health check only on a relayed failure

If the relayed doctor summary shows a failure, invoke plastic-doctor for the full report and offer to fix. If it already reads clean, do not re-run doctor.

Step 5: Commit + clear update cache

cd ~/.plastic && git add PLASTIC.md scripts/ AGENTS.md VERSION versions.json deprecations.yml config_asks.yml 2>/dev/null && git commit -m "chore: update Plastic to $(cat ~/.plastic/VERSION)" --allow-empty
rm -f ~/.plastic/.cache/update-check.json