upgrade-packages

name	upgrade-packages
description	Upgrade all dependencies/packages to their latest versions. Diffr is TypeScript/Node — use when the user says "upgrade packages", "update dependencies", "bump versions", "update packages", or "upgrade deps".
argument-hint	[--check-only] [--major] [package-name]

Upgrade Packages

Upgrade Diffr's npm dependencies to their latest compatible (or latest major, if --major) versions.

Arguments

• --check-only — List outdated packages without upgrading. Stop after Step 2.
• --major — Include major version bumps (breaking changes). Without this flag, stay within semver-compatible ranges.
• Any other argument is treated as a specific package name to upgrade (instead of all packages).

Step 1 — Detect package manager

Diffr uses npm (package manifest: package.json, lockfile: package-lock.json). If for some reason the repo has migrated to yarn or pnpm, adapt accordingly (yarn outdated/yarn up or pnpm outdated/pnpm update).

If package.json is missing, stop and tell the user.

Step 2 — List outdated packages

Run BEFORE upgrading anything. Show the user what will change.

npm outdated

Read the docs: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/commands/npm-update

If --check-only was passed, stop here and report the outdated list.

Step 3 — Read the official upgrade docs

Before running any upgrade command, you MUST fetch and read the official documentation URL above. Use WebFetch to retrieve the page. This ensures you use the correct flags and understand the behavior. Do not guess at flags or options from memory.

Step 4 — Upgrade packages

Run the upgrade. If a specific package name was given as an argument, upgrade only that package.

npm update                            # semver-compatible (within package.json ranges)
# --major flag:
npx npm-check-updates -u && npm install   # bump package.json to latest majors

Diffr-specific cautions

• @types/vscode and @types/node must remain compatible with the engines.vscode minimum declared in package.json. A major bump that requires a newer VSCode runtime is a breaking change to consumers.
• @vscode/test-electron, mocha, c8, and vsce (@vscode/vsce) are tightly coupled to the extension test/release pipeline — review their changelogs before bumping.
• typescript, eslint, typescript-eslint, prettier — major bumps frequently change rule defaults; rerun make lint and make fmt CHECK=1 after the upgrade.

Step 5 — Verify the upgrade

After upgrading, run the project's build and test suite to confirm nothing broke:

make ci

If tests fail:

1. Read the failure output carefully
2. Check the changelog / migration guide for the upgraded packages (fetch the release notes URL if available)
3. Fix breaking changes in the code
4. Re-run tests
5. If stuck after 3 attempts on the same failure, report it to the user with the error details and the package that caused it

Step 6 — Report

Provide a summary:

• Packages upgraded (old version -> new version)
• Packages skipped (and why, e.g., major version bump without --major flag)
• Build/test result after upgrade
• Any breaking changes that were fixed
• Any packages that could not be upgraded (with error details)

Rules

• Always list outdated packages first before upgrading anything
• Always read the official docs for the package manager before running upgrade commands
• Always run make ci after upgrading to catch breakage immediately
• Never remove packages unless they were explicitly deprecated and replaced
• Never downgrade packages unless rolling back a broken upgrade
• Never modify package-lock.json manually — let npm regenerate it
• Commit nothing — leave changes in the working tree for the user to review

Success criteria

• All outdated packages upgraded to latest compatible (or latest major if --major)
• make ci passes
• User has a clear summary of what changed