deps-audit

name	deps-audit
description	Use when auditing, updating, or securing project dependencies. Covers multi-language dependency detection, security vulnerability scanning, outdated package identification, unused dependency detection, and update strategies for npm, pip, cargo, and go.

Dependency Audit and Management

Quick Reference

Task	Approach
Security scan	Run language-specific audit command
Find outdated	Check against latest versions
Find unused	Analyze imports vs declared dependencies
Update safely	Minor/patch first, test, then major
Lock files	Always commit lock files

Package Manager Detection

File	Package Manager	Audit Command
pnpm-lock.yaml	pnpm	pnpm audit
package-lock.json	npm	npm audit
yarn.lock	yarn	yarn audit
bun.lockb	bun	bun audit (if available)
requirements.txt	pip	pip-audit
pyproject.toml (with uv)	uv	uv pip audit
poetry.lock	poetry	poetry audit (via plugin)
Cargo.lock	cargo	cargo audit
go.sum	go	govulncheck ./...

Security Vulnerability Scanning

Node.js

# Check for known vulnerabilities
pnpm audit
# or
npm audit

# Auto-fix compatible updates
pnpm audit --fix
# or
npm audit fix

# See what would change without applying
npm audit fix --dry-run

# Force fixes (may include breaking changes)
npm audit fix --force  # Use with caution

Python

# Install pip-audit if not present
pip install pip-audit

# Scan requirements.txt
pip-audit -r requirements.txt

# Scan installed packages
pip-audit

# Output as JSON for processing
pip-audit --format json

# Fix vulnerabilities
pip-audit --fix -r requirements.txt

Rust

# Install cargo-audit
cargo install cargo-audit

# Scan for vulnerabilities
cargo audit

# Auto-fix compatible updates
cargo audit fix

Go

# Install govulncheck
go install golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck@latest

# Scan for vulnerabilities
govulncheck ./...

Outdated Package Detection

Node.js

# List outdated packages
pnpm outdated
# or
npm outdated

# Interactive update (pnpm)
pnpm update --interactive --latest

Python

# List outdated packages
pip list --outdated

# With pip-tools
pip-compile --upgrade requirements.in

Rust

# Install cargo-outdated
cargo install cargo-outdated

# List outdated
cargo outdated

Go

# List available updates
go list -m -u all

# Update all dependencies
go get -u ./...
go mod tidy

Unused Dependency Detection

Node.js

# Install depcheck
npx depcheck

# Common false positives to ignore:
# - Babel plugins (loaded by config)
# - ESLint plugins (loaded by config)
# - TypeScript type packages (@types/*)
# - PostCSS plugins

Python

Manually check: search codebase for each package name in imports.

# Check if a specific package is imported anywhere
grep -r "import package_name" src/
grep -r "from package_name" src/

Update Strategy

Safe Update Order

1. Patch updates first (1.2.3 -> 1.2.4): Bug fixes, safe to batch
2. Minor updates (1.2.3 -> 1.3.0): New features, backward-compatible
3. Major updates (1.2.3 -> 2.0.0): Breaking changes, update one at a time

For Each Major Update

1. Read the changelog/migration guide
2. Update the single package
3. Run the full test suite
4. Fix any breaking changes
5. Commit before moving to the next

Automated Updates

Use Renovate or Dependabot for automated PRs:

Renovate (recommended):

{
  "$schema": "https://docs.renovatebot.com/renovate-schema.json",
  "extends": ["config:recommended"],
  "schedule": ["on the first day of the month"],
  "groupName": "all dependencies",
  "groupSlug": "all"
}

Dependabot:

# .github/dependabot.yml
version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: npm
    directory: /
    schedule:
      interval: monthly
    groups:
      all-dependencies:
        patterns: ["*"]

Lock File Management

Lock File	Must Commit?	Why
package-lock.json	Yes	Ensures reproducible builds
pnpm-lock.yaml	Yes	Same
yarn.lock	Yes	Same
Cargo.lock (binary)	Yes	Reproducible builds for binaries
Cargo.lock (library)	Debatable	Libraries usually don't commit
go.sum	Yes	Integrity verification
poetry.lock	Yes	Reproducible environments
requirements.txt (pinned)	Yes	Acts as lock file

Common Issues

Problem	Solution
Conflicting peer dependencies	Check compatibility matrix, may need --legacy-peer-deps
"ERESOLVE unable to resolve"	Peer dependency conflict - check versions
Vulnerability in transitive dep	Use overrides (npm) or resolutions (yarn) to force version
Lock file conflicts after merge	Delete lock file, reinstall, commit new lock
pip-audit finds no fix available	Pin to latest patched version or find alternative package
Cargo feature conflicts	Check feature flags in Cargo.toml

Transitive Dependency Overrides

When a vulnerability exists in a transitive (indirect) dependency:

npm/pnpm (package.json)

{
  "overrides": {
    "vulnerable-package": ">=2.0.1"
  }
}

Yarn (package.json)

{
  "resolutions": {
    "vulnerable-package": ">=2.0.1"
  }
}

Anti-Patterns

Don't	Do Instead
Ignore audit warnings	Triage and fix or document exceptions
Use * or latest for versions	Pin to specific semver ranges
Skip lock files in commits	Always commit lock files
Update everything at once	Update in safe order (patch -> minor -> major)
Suppress audit exit codes in CI	Fix vulnerabilities or add documented exceptions
Install from master branch	Use published releases with version numbers