googlarz/vibe-coder-kit/vibe-upgrade

vibe-upgrade

Overview

Upgrading packages is not glamorous. It's also one of those things that's easy to put off until it's a problem. The right way to do it is one package at a time — not everything at once.

Running npm update or pip install --upgrade on everything simultaneously is how you break your app in ways that take hours to untangle. We're not doing that.

Step 1: Detect the ecosystem

Don't ask. Look for:

• package.json → Node.js / npm
• requirements.txt or pyproject.toml → Python
• Gemfile → Ruby (note: use bundle outdated and bundle update [gem])
• go.mod → Go (note: use go get -u [package])

Step 2: Run the audit

Node.js:

npm audit
npm outdated

Python:

pip list --outdated

If pip-audit is available: pip-audit (gives vulnerability info like npm audit does).

Read the output and translate it. Don't dump raw output at the user. Say:

"You have [N] packages with known security issues and [M] that are out of date. Here's what actually matters."

Then give them a short, plain-English summary — not the full table. Focus on:

• Severity (critical and high vulnerabilities go first)
• Age (packages that are multiple major versions behind)
• Skip: packages where the only available upgrade is a major version bump that's likely to break things — flag those separately

Step 3: Pick one package to do first

Don't give a list. Pick one and explain why.

Priority order:

1. Any package with a critical or high severity vulnerability — name the vulnerability in plain English if npm audit describes it ("this one has a known security issue where someone could inject malicious code through the logger")
2. Packages far behind (e.g. 3+ minor versions, or a year+ since last update)
3. Dev tools (linters, test runners, TypeScript) — generally safe to upgrade
4. Skip for now: major version upgrades for core packages (React, Next.js, Django, Rails) — these often need careful migration and deserve their own session

Say:

"Let's start with [package name] — it [reason in one sentence: has a security issue / is two years out of date / is a small upgrade with low risk]. The others can wait."

Step 4: Checkpoint first

Before touching anything, I'll run:

git add -A && git commit -m "checkpoint before upgrading [package]"

Tell the user:

"Saved. If this breaks anything, I'll put it back — just tell me to undo the upgrade."

(I'll run git reset --hard HEAD~1 to move the code back one step, undoing the upgrade.)

Step 5: Upgrade the one package

I'll run the upgrade command — you don't need to type anything. Just use the app after and confirm it still works.

Node.js — minor/patch upgrade (same major version):

npm install [package]@latest

If the project uses yarn (yarn.lock present): yarn upgrade [package]@latest If the project uses pnpm (pnpm-lock.yaml present): pnpm update [package]

Node.js — major version upgrade:

npm install [package]@[specific-version]

Don't use @latest for major bumps — it can silently jump to a version that breaks your app. Install the specific version you've decided on. Use npm outdated to see current vs wanted vs latest before deciding which version to target.

Python:

pip install --upgrade [package]

Go:

go get [package]@latest
go mod tidy

go mod tidy updates go.sum to match — always run it after go get.

Ruby:

bundle update [gemname]

Don't run bundle update without a gem name — that updates everything at once, which is what we're avoiding. Bundler handles the lockfile (Gemfile.lock) automatically — no separate lockfile update step needed.

Step 6: Verify

Don't assume it worked. Ask the user to check:

"Can you start the app and check [the specific feature most likely to be affected by this package]?"

Wait for them to confirm. If the package is a utility (lodash, date-fns, a logger) and there's no obvious UI feature to test: "Can you start the app and make sure it loads without errors?"

Step 7: Commit or revert

If it works:

I'll commit the upgrade:

Node.js:

git add package*.json package-lock.json
git commit -m "upgrade [package] from [old version] to [new version]"

Python — update the lockfile before committing:

pip freeze > requirements.txt
git add requirements.txt
git commit -m "upgrade [package] from [old version] to [new version]"

pip install --upgrade does not automatically update requirements.txt — this step is required, not optional.

Go:

git add go.mod go.sum
git commit -m "upgrade [package] from [old version] to [new version]"

Ruby:

git add Gemfile.lock
git commit -m "upgrade [gemname] from [old version] to [new version]"

Then: "That worked. Ready to do the next one?"

Wait for their answer. Don't auto-continue.

If it breaks:

Don't try to fix the breakage now. Before reverting: confirm with the user — "This will remove the upgrade commit and go back to before the upgrade. Are you sure?" Run only if they confirm.

git reset --hard HEAD~1

Alternative if you prefer not to rewrite history: git revert HEAD creates a new commit that undoes the upgrade without removing anything from git history. Either approach works — reset is cleaner on a fresh upgrade branch, revert is safer if you've already pushed.

Tell the user:

"That upgrade breaks something, so I've put it back the way it was. I'll make a note of it and we'll skip it for now."

Write to .vibe/debt.md:

- [Date] [package] [High/Medium/Low] — upgrade to [version] breaks [feature/what errored]. Needs careful migration, not a drop-in upgrade.

Then: "Want to try the next one?"

How far to go

After each successful upgrade, ask: "Ready for the next one?"

Stop when:

• The user says stop
• All critical/high severity vulnerabilities are resolved
• You've done 3–5 upgrades in one session (more than that and it gets hard to track what broke what)

At natural stopping points, say:

"We've handled [N] packages today — the most important ones. The remaining [M] are lower priority and can wait for another session."

A word on major version upgrades

If the audit shows a package needs a major version bump (like React 17 → 18, or Next.js 13 → 14, or Django 3 → 4), don't do it as part of this session. Say:

"[Package] needs a major version upgrade — that's the kind of change that can break a lot of things and needs its own careful session. I'll note it but we'll skip it for now."

Write to .vibe/debt.md:

- [Date] [package] [Medium] — currently on v[old], should be on v[new]. Major version upgrade — needs dedicated session with migration guide.

Major upgrades deserve their own plan, not a quick npm install.

Verification checklist

• [ ] One package at a time — did not upgrade multiple packages in a single step
• [ ] Checkpoint commit exists before each upgrade
• [ ] Tests or manual verification ran after each upgrade
• [ ] Successful upgrades committed with a clear message
• [ ] Failed upgrades reverted with git reset --hard before moving on
• [ ] Failed upgrades written to .vibe/debt.md
• [ ] Python: requirements.txt updated with pip freeze > requirements.txt after upgrade
• [ ] Major version bumps deferred and written to .vibe/debt.md