Capacitor Plugin Upgrade (router)

Plan and run a plugin upgrade one major at a time, using the version-specific skill for each hop.

When to Use

TRIGGER when:

• Plugin maintainer wants support for a newer Capacitor major and the hop count is unclear
• peerDependencies["@capacitor/core"] lags the app's Capacitor version
• Users of the plugin report it breaks on Capacitor 8.5 scene-based apps or on Capacitor 9

Do not use:

• App projects -> capacitor-app-upgrades
• Adding SPM to a plugin -> capacitor-plugin-spm-support
• Cordova plugin to Capacitor plugin conversion -> cordova-to-capacitor

Live Project Snapshot

Plugin and Capacitor package snapshot: !node -e "const fs=require('fs');if(!fs.existsSync('package.json'))process.exit(0);const pkg=JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('package.json','utf8'));const out=['package.name='+(pkg.name||''),'package.version='+(pkg.version||'')];for(const section of ['peerDependencies','dependencies','devDependencies']){for(const [name,version] of Object.entries(pkg[section]||{})){if(name.startsWith('@capacitor/'))out.push(section+'.'+name+'='+version)}}console.log(out.join('\n'))"

Example and native project paths: !find . -maxdepth 3 \( -path './example-app' -o -path './ios' -o -path './android' -o -name 'capacitor.config.json' -o -name 'capacitor.config.ts' -o -name 'capacitor.config.js' \)

Version Map (October 2026)

Capacitor 9 is a prerelease (next tag, 9.0.0-alpha.x). Use next / >=9.0.0-alpha.6 ranges until GA; consider publishing the plugin's v9 release under the npm next tag too. Ask the user before dropping support for the current stable major.

Procedure

1. Detect the supported range (peer dependency, Package.swift capacitor-swift-pm requirement, podspec Capacitor dependency, android/build.gradle defaults). Confirm the target major with the user.
2. Plan hops, one major at a time. When crossing 8 -> 9, run the UIScene plugin audit as part of the hop. Example: 7 -> 9 = 7->8, UIScene audit, 8->9.
3. Per hop: clean git tree, load the hop skill, run its official migrator first (npx @capacitor/plugin-migration-v<from>-to-v<to>@latest where the skill names one), review the diff, finish the manual checklist, then verify (step 5) before the next hop.
4. Surface area to re-check every hop: TypeScript definitions and exported names, native method signatures and payloads, Android namespace and Java/Kotlin toolchain, iOS deployment target in podspec and Package.swift (keep both), README install and compatibility table.
5. Verify in the plugin root and in the example app.

Verification

If npm run verify exists, run it. Otherwise:

npm run build
npm test --if-present
cd android && ./gradlew clean build && cd ..
xcodebuild -scheme <PluginScheme> -destination 'generic/platform=iOS Simulator' build   # find it with xcodebuild -list
cd example-app && npm install && npx cap sync && npx cap run ios && npx cap run android

Run npx cap sync and native runs from the example/test app, not the plugin root. Exercise each public method on every shipped platform.

Error Handling

• Migrator for the hop fails or misses files -> finish manually from the hop skill before the next major.
• Example app breaks -> fix plugin API or native wiring before publishing.
• Consumers on CocoaPods and SPM both report issues -> check podspec and Package.swift declare the same platform and Capacitor range.
• Plugin breaks only in scene-based apps -> AppDelegate-method or tmpWindow assumptions; see capacitor-uiscene-migration.