Dependency Upgrade

Dependency Upgrade

Manage dependency upgrades with supply chain security, compatibility analysis, staged rollout, and comprehensive testing across all major package managers.

When to Use This Skill

• Upgrading major framework or library versions
• Configuring supply chain attack prevention (cooldown, script blocking, lockfile hardening)
• Setting up secure package manager configuration
• Resolving dependency conflicts or peer dependency issues
• Planning incremental upgrade paths with testing
• Automating dependency updates with Renovate, Dependabot, or Snyk
• Auditing dependencies for vulnerabilities
• Setting up CI/CD dependency security workflows

Two Modes of Operation

Interactive — Walk through setup questions to generate tailored config. Use for fresh setup.

Default — Apply recommended defaults immediately: 7-day cooldown, block all scripts, frozen-lockfile, lockfile-lint, Dependabot with cooldown. Customization optional.

Interactive Setup Flow

When the user wants tailored configuration, walk through these decisions. Skip this section entirely if using default mode.

Tier 1: Required Decisions

Always ask these 3 questions before generating any config:

1. Package Manager

"Which package manager does this project use?"

2. Cooldown Period

"How many days should newly published packages age before install? This prevents supply chain attacks where malicious packages are discovered and unpublished within days."

3. Post-Install Script Policy

"How should lifecycle scripts (postinstall, preinstall) be handled? These are the #1 attack vector for supply chain attacks."

Tier 2: Security Tooling (Offer as Batch)

"Which of these security features would you like to configure? Select any that apply."

4. CI/CD Automation Tool

5. Automerge Policy

6. Update Schedule

7. Install-Time Security Tooling

"Which security tools should protect dependency installation?"

Load references/socket-cli-guide.md for full Socket CLI setup including authentication and free vs authenticated features.

8. Lockfile Validation

Tier 3: Advanced Options (Only If User Opts In)

"Would you like to configure any advanced options?"

9. Dev Containers — Generate hardened .devcontainer/devcontainer.json (Yes/No)

10. Secrets Manager — 1Password CLI / Infisical / None

11. pnpm Trust Policy — Enable trustPolicy: no-downgrade (pnpm 10.21+ only, Yes/No)

12. Cooldown Exclusions — Package names that bypass cooldown (e.g., @types/react, typescript, esbuild)

Security-First Upgrade Principles

1. Cooldown before installing — Wait 7 days for new package versions to be vetted by the community
2. Block post-install scripts — Prevent arbitrary code execution during npm install
3. Freeze lockfiles in CI — Use deterministic installs (npm ci, --frozen-lockfile)
4. Validate lockfile integrity — Use lockfile-lint to detect injection
5. Audit before trusting — Use npq or Socket CLI to check packages before installing
6. Upgrade incrementally — One major version at a time with testing between each
7. Never blindly upgrade — Avoid npm update or npm-check-updates -u without review
8. Scan before and after — Use socket scan to detect supply chain issues beyond CVEs

Cooldown Period: Prevent Supply Chain Attacks

Newly published packages may contain malicious code discovered within hours. Configure a cooldown period to delay installation.

Quick Setup

npm (.npmrc):

min-release-age=7

Bun (bunfig.toml):

[install]
minimumReleaseAge = 604800  # 7 days in seconds
minimumReleaseAgeExcludes = ["@types/bun", "typescript"]

pnpm (pnpm-workspace.yaml):

minimumReleaseAge: 10080  # 7 days in minutes
minimumReleaseAgeExclude:
  - '@types/react'
  - typescript

Yarn (.yarnrc.yml):

npmMinimalAgeGate: "7d"
npmPreapprovedPackages:
  - "@types/react"
  - "typescript"

Load references/cooldown-config-guide.md for detailed per-PM configuration, CI tool integration, and exclusion patterns.

Use templates/<pm>-security.tmpl for copy-paste ready config files.

Disable Post-Install Scripts

Post-install scripts are the most common supply chain attack vector (Shai-Hulud, Nx, event-stream incidents).

Quick Setup

npm:

npm config set ignore-scripts true
npm config set allow-git none

Bun: Disabled by default. Allow specific packages in package.json:

{ "trustedDependencies": ["esbuild", "sharp"] }

pnpm (10.0+): Disabled by default. Allow specific packages in pnpm-workspace.yaml:

allowBuilds:
  esbuild: true
strictDepBuilds: true  # Hard error on unreviewed scripts

Load references/package-manager-security.md for full per-PM hardening including pnpm trustPolicy, blockExoticSubdeps, and @lavamoat/allow-scripts.

Deterministic & Frozen Installs

Always use frozen install commands in CI to ensure reproducible builds:

Commit all lockfiles to version control: package-lock.json, bun.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, deno.lock.

Lockfile Validation

Install and configure lockfile-lint to detect lockfile injection attacks:

npm install --save-dev lockfile-lint

{
  "scripts": {
    "lint:lockfile": "lockfile-lint --path package-lock.json --type npm --allowed-hosts npm --validate-https",
    "preinstall": "npm run lint:lockfile"
  }
}

Note: lockfile-lint does not currently support Bun's bun.lock / bun.lockb formats.

Pre-Install Security Auditing

npq — Pre-Install Auditor

npm install -g npq