dependency-upgrade

name	dependency-upgrade
description	Master major dependency version upgrades, compatibility analysis, staged upgrade strategies, and comprehensive testing approaches.
type	skill
created	2026-02-27T00:00:00.000Z
domain	software-development
category	devtools
risk	critical
source	community
tags	["skill","software-development","devtools","dependency","upgrade"]

Dependency Upgrade

Master major dependency version upgrades, compatibility analysis, staged upgrade strategies, and comprehensive testing approaches.

Do not use this skill when

• The task is unrelated to dependency upgrade
• You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

Instructions

• Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
• Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
• Provide actionable steps and verification.
• If detailed examples are required, open resources/implementation-playbook.md.

Use this skill when

• Upgrading major framework versions
• Updating security-vulnerable dependencies
• Modernizing legacy dependencies
• Resolving dependency conflicts
• Planning incremental upgrade paths
• Testing compatibility matrices
• Automating dependency updates

Semantic Versioning Review

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 2.3.1)

MAJOR: Breaking changes
MINOR: New features, backward compatible
PATCH: Bug fixes, backward compatible

^2.3.1 = >=2.3.1 <3.0.0 (minor updates)
~2.3.1 = >=2.3.1 <2.4.0 (patch updates)
2.3.1 = exact version

Dependency Analysis

Audit Dependencies

# npm
npm outdated
npm audit
npm audit fix

# yarn
yarn outdated
yarn audit

# Check for major updates
npx npm-check-updates
npx npm-check-updates -u  # Update package.json

Analyze Dependency Tree

# See why a package is installed
npm ls package-name
yarn why package-name

# Find duplicate packages
npm dedupe
yarn dedupe

# Visualize dependencies
npx madge --image graph.png src/

Compatibility Matrix

// compatibility-matrix.js
const compatibilityMatrix = {
  'react': {
    '16.x': {
      'react-dom': '^16.0.0',
      'react-router-dom': '^5.0.0',
      : 
    },
    : {
      : ,
      : ,
      : 
    },
    : {
      : ,
      : ,
      : 
    }
  }
};

 () {
  
}