| name | renovate-review |
| description | Review Renovate dependency upgrade PRs to assess safety and effort. Use when reviewing PRs from Renovate bot that update NPM dependencies. |
| disable-model-invocation | false |
| argument-hint | [pr-number] [--comment] |
| allowed-tools | Bash, Grep, Glob, Read, WebFetch |
| scope | ["dependencies","review"] |
Renovate Dependency Upgrade Review
Review a Renovate PR to assess the safety and effort required to merge a dependency upgrade.
Arguments
pr-number (required): The PR number to review--comment (optional): Post the assessment as a PR comment. If omitted, only output the review locally.
Process
1. Gather PR Information
gh pr view $ARGUMENTS --json title,body,files
Extract the following information:
- Package name being upgraded
- Previous version and new version
- Determine upgrade type: patch, minor, or major
2. Analyze Upgrade Type
Semantic Versioning
We assume packages follow Semantic Versioning. Fix and minor should contain no breaking changes per semver
In all cases you must:
- Focus on verifying the upgrade doesn't introduce regressions
- Check if CI passes
Major Upgrades
-
Research breaking changes by:
- Fetching the GitHub releases page:
https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases
- Looking for a CHANGELOG.md in the repository
- Checking the package's migration guide if available
-
Identify which breaking changes may affect this codebase
3. Analyze Codebase Impact
Search for usage of the upgraded package:
- Find imports/requires of the package
- Identify which files and features depend on it
- For major upgrades: check if any deprecated/removed APIs are used
4. Generate Safety Assessment
Create a markdown comment with the following structure:
## Dependency Upgrade Review: `<package-name>`
<!-- For High risk only, add at the top: -->
> [!CAUTION]
> Breaking changes affect this codebase. Code changes required before merge.
<!-- For Medium risk only, add at the top: -->
> [!WARNING]
> Major upgrade with breaking changes. Review recommended.
`<old>` → `<new>` (**patch** / **minor** / **major**)
**Risk:** Low / Medium / High
**Impact:** <count> files
**Recommendation:** Safe to merge / Review recommended / Changes required
<one-line explanation>
<details>
<summary>Affected files</summary>
- `path/to/file.ts`
- ...
</details>
<!-- For major upgrades only: -->
<details>
<summary>Breaking changes</summary>
- <breaking change 1>
- <breaking change 2>
</details>
<details>
<summary>Required code changes</summary>
- <change 1>
- <change 2>
<!-- Or "None" if no changes needed -->
</details>
5. Post the Comment (if --comment flag provided)
Only post the comment to the PR if the --comment flag was included in the arguments.
If --comment is provided:
gh pr comment <pr-number> --body "<assessment>"
If --comment is NOT provided, skip this step and only display the assessment locally.
Rating Guidelines
Risk:
- Low: Patch/minor upgrade, or major with no relevant breaking changes
- Medium: Major upgrade with breaking changes that don't affect current usage
- High: Major upgrade with breaking changes that affect current usage
Impact:
- Low: < 5 files, simple usage patterns
- Medium: 5-20 files, moderate complexity
- High: > 20 files, or critical infrastructure dependency
Recommendation:
- Safe to merge: CI passes, no breaking changes affect us
- Review recommended: Minor concerns, human review advised
- Changes required: Code modifications needed before merge
