Node Dependency Bumper

Use Taze to build one structured update plan, apply compatible ranged updates, and make major-version decisions as a batch.

Adding Dependencies

For a new package or CLI, use the repository's package manager and existing range convention instead of Taze. Installing package@latest and retaining the package manager's resulting ^x.y.z range is allowed. Do not replace a caret range with an exact version merely because it can admit future releases.

When an effective package-manager minimum-release-age policy exists, it provides the freshness boundary for candidate versions. In that case, read references/conditional-workflows.md. The committed lockfile and frozen deployment install provide reproducibility. Exact-pin only when the user or repository requires it, a known compatibility constraint justifies it, or the package will run without a committed lockfile and frozen install.

Multiple Repositories

When the user names two or more repositories or asks to sync or align dependencies across repositories, read references/multi-repo-alignment.md. It runs the Workflow below per repository and adds shared-target selection, one cross-repository major batch, and per-repository commits.

Workflow

1. Resolve the skill directory and save the helper plan from the target repository:

   bash <skill-dir>/scripts/run-taze.sh --plan [--include package-a,package-b] > <taze-plan.json>

   The JSON plan classifies every discovered update as apply, review-major, review, or skip-fixed. The helper detects monorepos, includes locked versions during scans, and mirrors Bun minimum-release-age settings. If the repository uses package-manager age gates or Bun catalogs, read references/conditional-workflows.md for that active branch only.

2. If --dry-run was requested, present the plan and counts, then stop without changing manifests or lockfiles.
3. Select every ranged minor/patch update marked apply. Reuse explicit approval of package/version transitions. Never auto-approve a major merely from its package name. Present unresolved review-major and unknown updates in one decision batch with current version, target version, package role, and relevant migration/release notes. Apply only authorized majors.

4. If nothing is selected, report the no-op and stop. If the root manifest uses Bun catalogs, preview the exact selected catalog transitions from the accepted plan. Select catalogs used for installed dependencies with repeatable --catalog arguments. Use default for the unnamed catalog. Preserve catalogs used for public peer ranges. Pass only selected packages present in those catalogs. When that subset is empty, skip the helper:

   uv run <skill-dir>/scripts/update-bun-catalogs.py \
     --root <repo> --plan <taze-plan.json> --include package-a,package-b \
     --catalog default --catalog dev

   The preview is read-only. Unknown catalogs, missing entries, ambiguous targets, or stale current values fail before writes. The helper matches each selected occurrence against the plan and preserves fixed holds. It does not select upgrades.

5. Before the first manifest or lockfile write, select and run a baseline that can detect regressions from the chosen updates. Honor repository-required checks. Otherwise, select dependency-resolution, build, test, typecheck, lint, formatting, codegen, or invariant checks from the updated packages' actual consumers and risk. Use an aggregate suite for shared toolchain or runtime changes, not merely because it exists. Use frozen or non-writing modes where available, and record the exact commands and coverage for the post-bump rerun.

   Attribute every failure before deciding whether it blocks. Proceed when an unrelated pre-existing failure is reproducible, can be compared after the bump, and does not prevent dependency resolution or the checks needed to detect regressions. Do not fix that failure as part of the bump. Dependency or peer-resolution conflicts, actionable unsafe behavior, or a baseline that cannot provide trustworthy before/after signal block the bump. In that case, stop with ### ⛔ Dependency bump blocked — baseline unusable and report the exact prerequisite and diagnostics without asking for redundant authorization. Informational notices such as unavoidable deprecations do not block.

6. For Bun catalogs, apply the previewed transitions first: rerun update-bun-catalogs.py with the same plan and catalog and package selections plus --write. It atomically updates only selected catalog occurrences and preserves their prefixes. Then use --direct-only for the Taze write to protect all Bun catalogs and ordinary peer declarations. This mode requires Taze >=21.3.0 <22 and rejects unsupported project or ancestor configuration before writes.

   For repositories without Bun catalogs, omit --direct-only:

   bash <skill-dir>/scripts/run-taze.sh --write --direct-only --include package-a,package-b

7. Run ni so the repository's package manager updates its lockfile.
8. Inspect the manifest and lockfile diff. Rerun the exact baseline commands, plus the narrowest checks that exercise the updated dependencies and any required migrations. Treat every newly introduced error, type issue, check failure (including tests, builds, lint, formatting, codegen, and repository invariants), dependency or peer-resolution conflict, and actionable compatibility or safety warning as caused by the bump unless evidence shows otherwise.

9. Fix every issue caused by the bump, including required source or configuration migrations, while preserving intended behavior. Do not suppress diagnostics, weaken validation, or change expected behavior merely to make checks pass. After each fix, rerun checks whose inputs or behavior changed. At completion, require valid results for the entire recorded suite against the final state, with no new failures against the accepted baseline. Reuse passing results whose inputs remain unchanged. Only unrelated pre-existing failures meeting step 5's comparison requirements may remain.

   If no clear safe fix exists within the task's authority, stop with ### ⚠️ Dependency regression decision required. Present all such issues in one table with the evidence, affected locations, fix and revert options, and likely effects. Do not report completion until the user chooses, the fix is applied or the offending update is reverted, the lockfile is regenerated, and the complete suite meets that same baseline-comparison requirement.

User-Facing Output

Present plans as ### 📦 Dependency plan with counts and a compact table:

Use the plan's exact apply, review-major, review, and skip-fixed values alongside plain-language decisions. Assign stable IDs to rows needing a choice so the user can answer once. Use ### 🔎 Dry run — no files written for a preview and ### ✅ No selected updates for a no-op.

Finish applied work with ### 🏁 Dependencies updated, a tree of changed manifests/lockfiles, and ### 🧪 Verification. Use ### ⚠️ Remaining review only for non-blocking informational matters, never for an unresolved issue caused by the bump. Keep helper JSON, package/version strings, commands, and diagnostics exact and undecorated.

Invariants

• Fixed versions and non-semver protocols remain unchanged unless the user explicitly asks otherwise.
• Caret ranges are valid for new dependencies and CLIs. Do not describe them as unreproducible when a committed lockfile and frozen install control resolution.
• Package arguments constrain both scan and write phases.
• The same maturity-period policy applies to scan and write.
• Bun catalog preview and write use the same accepted plan, catalog selection, and package set. Stale plans never write.
• Peer declarations describe supported consumer versions. They are not installed versions. Preserve public peer ranges unless the user authorizes a contract change.
• Do not infer compatibility from SemVer alone when repository evidence, peer ranges, or release notes indicate otherwise.

Completion requires an attributed, comparison-safe pre-write baseline, a reviewed plan, the retained selected updates, a regenerated lockfile, no new failure in the recorded suite or dependency-specific checks, and no unresolved issue caused by the bump. Dry-run completion requires the structured plan and zero writes.