emitter-package-update

name	emitter-package-update
description	Automate updating the emitter package dependencies in eng/emitter-package.json for the Azure SDK for Python repository, then open a PR. Use this skill when the user wants to update @azure-tools/typespec-python (or any other dependency in emitter-package.json) to the latest version, create a PR for an emitter-package version bump, or manage emitter-package.json updates.

Emitter Package Update

Update the dependencies in eng/emitter-package.json to their latest versions — including @azure-tools/typespec-python when a newer release exists — and, if anything changed, open a PR.

Background

The Python emitter ecosystem consists of two packages:

• Branded emitter (@azure-tools/typespec-python): Lives in Azure/typespec-azure. This is the emitter used for Azure SDK generation.
• Unbranded emitter (@typespec/http-client-python): Lives in microsoft/typespec. The branded emitter wraps this package.

When eng/emitter-package.json is updated on main, the TypeSpec Python Regenerate Tests workflow triggers automatically. It regenerates the test code, pushes it to a regen/typespec-python-main source branch, and (because GitHub Actions cannot open PRs in this repo) creates/updates a tracking issue with a pre-filled compare link that a maintainer clicks to open the PR against the typespec-python-generated-tests target branch.

Prerequisites

Before running this workflow, verify the following tools are installed:

# Check npm-check-updates
npx npm-check-updates --version

# Check tsp-client
tsp-client --version

# Check GitHub CLI
gh --version

If any tool is missing:

• npm-check-updates: Install via npm install -g npm-check-updates
• tsp-client: Install via npm install -g @azure-tools/typespec-client-generator-cli
• GitHub CLI: Install from https://cli.github.com/ or via winget install GitHub.cli

Workflow

1. Prepare Repository

Reset and sync the SDK repo to a clean state.

Warning: this discards all uncommitted changes and switches to main. Only run it on a clone/worktree dedicated to this task, never on a branch with work you want to keep.

git reset HEAD && git checkout . && git clean -fd && git checkout origin/main && git pull origin main

Record the current @azure-tools/typespec-python version from eng/emitter-package.json (checking both the dependencies and devDependencies sections) so you can tell later whether it was bumped.

2. Update Dependencies (still on main)

The goal is to update every package across both the dependencies and devDependencies sections of eng/emitter-package.json to its latest version — not just @azure-tools/typespec-python. Run npm-check-updates, which upgrades all entries in both sections by default:

npx npm-check-updates --packageFile eng/emitter-package.json -u

Restricted-network fallback (e.g. the coding-agent sandbox): npm-check-updates needs access to the npm registry, which may be firewalled. If it cannot reach the registry, determine the latest @azure-tools/typespec-python version from GitHub instead — the newest published tag in Azure/typespec-azure (cross-checked against packages/typespec-python/package.json on main) — and edit eng/emitter-package.json by hand to that version.

Align the packages listed in alignment-sources.json with the versions pinned in each configured source repo package file to ensure consistency between the emitter and its upstream sources. For each source, read packageJsonUrl, set every package listed in that source's packages array to the version currently pinned there, and do not assume specific version numbers. To add more libraries for alignment later, add their package names to the relevant packages array in alignment-sources.json.

If a specific version was requested, pin @azure-tools/typespec-python to that exact version in eng/emitter-package.json (overriding what npm-check-updates picked).

3. Check for Changes

Determine whether anything actually changed:

git diff --quiet -- eng/emitter-package.json

Decision rule: A PR must be created whenever there is any change to eng/emitter-package.json — this includes the case where @azure-tools/typespec-python itself is unchanged but one or more other dependencies (e.g. @typespec/*, @azure-tools/openai-typespec) were updated or aligned. Do not require a typespec-python version bump as a precondition for opening a PR.

• If there is a diff (exit code 1), proceed to step 4 and open a PR.
• Only if there is no diff at all (exit code 0) — meaning every dependency is already up to date — discard the working-tree changes and stop, as there is nothing to commit:

git checkout -- eng/emitter-package.json

4. Create Feature Branch

Read the (possibly updated) @azure-tools/typespec-python version and compare it with the value recorded in step 1 to choose names:

• If typespec-python was bumped to {version}:
  • branch: bump-typespec-python-{version}
  • commit / PR title: bump typespec-python {version}
  • PR body: Bump @azure-tools/typespec-python to version {version}
• Otherwise (only other dependencies changed):
  • branch: update-emitter-package-dependencies
  • commit / PR title: update emitter-package dependencies
  • PR body: Update emitter-package.json dependencies to their latest aligned versions.

Create the branch, carrying over the working-tree changes:

git checkout -b {branch_name}

If a branch with that name already exists locally from a previous run, delete it first (git branch -D {branch_name}) — or, if it holds work you want to keep, choose a different name — before re-creating it.

5. Regenerate Lock File

tsp-client generate-lock-file

This regenerates eng/emitter-package-lock.json.

Restricted-network note: tsp-client generate-lock-file also resolves packages from the npm registry. If the registry is unreachable, the lock file cannot be regenerated in the sandbox. In that case commit only the eng/emitter-package.json change (skip the lock file in step 6), and call out in the PR body that eng/emitter-package-lock.json still needs to be regenerated in an environment with npm-registry access before merge.

6. Commit Changes

Stage both files when the lock file was regenerated:

git add eng/emitter-package.json eng/emitter-package-lock.json
git commit -m "{commit_message}"

If the lock file was not regenerated (restricted-network case in step 5), stage only the package file instead:

git add eng/emitter-package.json
git commit -m "{commit_message}"

7. Create Pull Request

Push the branch and create the PR:

git push -u origin {branch_name}
gh pr create --title "{pr_title}" --body "{pr_body}"

8. After Merge

Once the PR merges to main, the TypeSpec Python Regenerate Tests workflow triggers automatically because eng/emitter-package.json was modified. It will:

1. Build http-client-python from microsoft/typespec@main and regenerate all test code
2. Commit the regenerated files to the regen/typespec-python-main source branch and force-push it
3. Create or update a tracking issue containing a pre-filled "compare" link (GitHub Actions cannot open PRs in this repo) so a maintainer can open the PR against the typespec-python-generated-tests target branch. Merging that PR does not auto-close the tracking issue — close it manually.
   • The tracking issue is assigned to whoever triggered a manual (workflow_dispatch) run, or to @iscai-msft and @msyyc for automatic push/schedule runs.
4. If the workflow fails, a separate failure-notification issue is created (or commented on) and assigned to @iscai-msft and @msyyc