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Upgrade Packages

Upgrade all project 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• --check-only — List outdated packages without upgrading.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 language and package manager

Inspect the repo root and subdirectories for manifest files. Identify ALL that apply:

Manifest file	Language	Package manager
package.json	Node.js / TypeScript	npm (lockfile is package-lock.json)
pubspec.yaml	Dart	pub

This repo has multiple package.json files — one in too-many-cooks/ (MCP server monorepo with packages/core + packages/too-many-cooks), one in too_many_cooks_vscode_extension/ (VS Code extension), and one in website/ (Eleventy site) — plus codegen/pubspec.yaml (Dart toolkit). Process each manifest independently. Note the monorepo under too-many-cooks/ uses npm workspaces, so run npm commands from too-many-cooks/.

If you cannot detect any manifest file, stop and tell the user.

Step 2 — List outdated packages

Run the appropriate command to list what's outdated BEFORE upgrading anything. Show the user what will change.

Node.js (npm)

cd too-many-cooks && npm outdated
cd too_many_cooks_vscode_extension && npm outdated
cd website && npm outdated

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

Dart

cd codegen && dart pub outdated

Read the docs: https://dart.dev/tools/pub/cmd/pub-outdated

If --check-only was passed, stop here and report the outdated list.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 listed above for the detected package manager. 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.

Node.js (npm)

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

Dart

dart pub upgrade                      # semver-compatible
# --major flag:
dart pub upgrade --major-versions     # bump to latest majors

Step 5 — Verify the upgrade

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

make ci

If make ci is not available, run whatever build/test commands the project uses (check the Makefile, CI workflow, or CLAUDE.md).

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 tests 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 lockfiles manually (package-lock.json, pubspec.lock) — let the package manager regenerate them
• 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)
• Build passes
• Tests pass
• User has a clear summary of what changed