update-self

name	update-self
description	Pull updates from the upstream template repo. Use when upstream has new skills, script fixes, or config improvements you want to incorporate. For pushing local improvements back upstream, use the `submit-upstream-changes` skill instead.

Pulling updates from the upstream template

This repo was created from a template repo. The two share git history and stay connected via a git remote. The template URL and branch are defined in parent.toml:

url = "https://github.com/imbue-ai/forever-claude-template.git"
branch = "main"

What this means

The template contains shared infrastructure: skills, scripts, CLAUDE.md scaffolding, Dockerfile, supervisord.conf, etc. When the template is updated, you can pull those changes in here.

Setup

Ensure the upstream remote exists:

git remote get-url upstream 2>/dev/null || git remote add upstream "$(python3 -c "
import tomllib
with open('parent.toml', 'rb') as f:
    print(tomllib.load(f)['url'])
")"

Pulling updates

Always pull with --no-ff and the recognizable commit subject below, so the merge that brings in template (built-in) code is identifiable in git log afterwards. Tools that classify code as built-in vs. user-created (e.g. the assist skill) rely on this update-self: subject convention to find which commits came from upstream:

BRANCH=$(python3 -c "
import tomllib
with open('parent.toml', 'rb') as f:
    print(tomllib.load(f)['branch'])
")
git pull --no-ff --no-edit upstream "$BRANCH" -m "update-self: merge upstream template ($BRANCH)"

--no-ff forces a real merge commit even when the pull could fast-forward, so the subject is always recorded. Do not amend or reword that subject -- the update-self: prefix is the marker.

Resolve any merge conflicts if needed. For conflicts in files customized per-agent (PURPOSE.md, agent-specific CLAUDE.md sections), prefer your local version.

When to pull

• When the user asks you to
• When you notice your skills or scripts are outdated
• Periodically, if you're running as a long-lived agent

Important

• Always commit your local changes before pulling
• Review what changed after pulling (git log --oneline -10)
• To push local improvements back upstream, use the submit-upstream-changes skill