umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade

name	umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade
description	Safely analyze and apply NuGet package upgrades in multi-targeted .NET repositories using exclusions, framework-aware version selection, restore checks, and transitive dependency graph validation.

NuGet Safe Upgrade

Purpose

This skill safely analyzes and applies NuGet package upgrades while respecting exclusions, framework-coupling rules, and transitive dependency graph constraints.

Assets

• scripts\Invoke-NuGetSafeUpgrade.ps1
• scripts\NuGetSafeUpgrade.Common.ps1
• nuget-upgrade-exclusions.schema.json

Inputs

• optional package IDs to limit scope
• optional project paths to limit scope
• repository root or current working directory
• root-level nuget-upgrade-exclusions.json

Workflow

1. Read nuget-upgrade-exclusions.json.
2. Run the wrapper script in {{skill_dir}}\umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade\scripts\.
3. Start in Analyze mode unless the user explicitly requested direct application.
4. Filter scope by package IDs or project paths if provided.
5. Let the shared implementation select the highest safe candidate version for each package.
6. Keep only changes that pass restore and transitive graph checks.
7. Return successful, skipped, and blocked packages with override guidance.
8. After each Apply pass, check the blocked list for lockstep family packages and run a second Apply pass if any are present.
9. After the final Apply pass, run dotnet build <solutionPath> and verify the solution builds cleanly. Report any build failures before declaring the upgrade complete.

Legacy TFM version pinning

Packages listed in frameworkCoupledFamilies (in nuget-upgrade-exclusions.json) are capped at the target framework's major version for net5+ TFMs. For legacy TFMs (netstandard*, net4*), the cap is the package's current major version — preventing inadvertent upgrades that pull in transitive dependencies from a newer runtime generation.

System.Text.Json and System.Net.Http.Json are included in frameworkCoupledFamilies for this reason: on netstandard2.0/net462 they must stay at their current 6.x baseline and must not be upgraded to 10.x.

Microsoft.Maui. packages follow the same contract and must also appear in frameworkCoupledFamilies. More generally, any SDK family whose major version must match the target framework's major (MAUI, ASP.NET Core, EF Core, etc.) belongs in this list. If you encounter an already-conditional reference that was upgraded to a version whose major exceeds the condition TFM's major, that family is missing from frameworkCoupledFamilies — add it to nuget-upgrade-exclusions.json before re-running.

Framework-split upgrades

When a package upgrade is blocked on some TFMs but would be safe on others, the script automatically splits the single unconditional <PackageReference> into per-framework conditional <ItemGroup> blocks:

• Blocked TFMs keep the current version (e.g., netstandard2.0/net8.0/net9.0 when the new version pulls v10 transitive deps or bumps the package major).
• Allowed TFMs receive the upgraded version (e.g., net10.0).

Split candidates appear in the successful list with action Analyzed (split candidate) or Applied (split by framework) and include upgradeFrameworks/keepFrameworks fields.

Split only applies to unconditional PackageReference items directly in .csproj files. PackageVersion entries in Directory.Packages.props and already-conditional references are not split.

TFM ordering: Condition strings and <ItemGroup> blocks are written in ascending semantic order: netstandard* (lowest) → net4* → net5+ (ascending by major version). Lower TFMs always appear first in the file, matching conventional .csproj reading order.

Legacy-TFM major-version guard: For netstandard* and net4* TFMs any candidate that bumps the package's major version is automatically added to the blocked set — the same as a transitive-graph violation on net5+ TFMs. This prevents a major upgrade from silently pulling in runtime dependencies that only ship on newer .NET targets. Use -OverrideBlockedPackageId to bypass after manual verification.

Lockstep package families

Some packages must be upgraded together — for example System.Composition.AttributedModel, System.Composition.Runtime, and System.Composition.TypedParts all share the same version number and each member pulls the others transitively.

The script processes packages independently, so when it tests a family member in isolation the siblings have already been reverted (Analyze) or not yet written (Apply). This produces a NU1605 blocked result:

Candidate X.Y.Z failed restore: Detected package downgrade: <SiblingPackage> from X.Y.Z to <OldVersion>

How to identify: a blocked package's NU1605 error references sibling packages that appear in the successful list of the same report, upgraded to the same candidate version.

How to resolve: in Apply mode no action is needed — siblings are written to disk before each subsequent package is tested, so the family resolves in a single Apply pass. In Analyze mode the blocked entry is expected; proceed directly to Apply.

Command examples

Analyze:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File {{skill_dir}}\umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade\scripts\Invoke-NuGetSafeUpgrade.ps1 -Mode Analyze

Apply:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File {{skill_dir}}\umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade\scripts\Invoke-NuGetSafeUpgrade.ps1 -Mode Apply

Override a blocked package after review:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File {{skill_dir}}\umbrella-nuget-safe-upgrade\scripts\Invoke-NuGetSafeUpgrade.ps1 -Mode Apply -PackageId Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions -OverrideBlockedPackageId Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions

Output expectations

• successful: packages safely upgraded or safe upgrade candidates in Analyze mode
• skipped: packages excluded or with no newer safe version
• blocked: packages that failed compatibility or graph checks
• options: safe follow-up commands for blocked items

Safety rules

• Never ignore nuget-upgrade-exclusions.json.
• Never flatten framework-specific versions into a single package version.
• Never keep a candidate that fails restore.
• Never keep a candidate that resolves framework-coupled package families beyond the target framework major unless explicitly overridden.
• Always verify that already-conditional package references are upgraded to a version compatible with their condition's TFM. If a package family is TFM-version-coupled but absent from frameworkCoupledFamilies, add it before applying upgrades.
• Never declare an Apply pass complete without running dotnet build to confirm the solution compiles cleanly.
• Keep reusable logic in .ai-shared\ and keep this folder as a thin wrapper.