--- name: utility-update-pm-skills description: >- Checks for newer pm-skills releases, compares local vs. latest version, previews what would change, and updates local files after user confirmation. Generates a structured update report documenting changed files, new capabilities, and the value delta between versions. Use when you want to bring a local pm-skills installation up to date. classification: utility version: "1.0.0" updated: 2026-04-09 license: Apache-2.0 metadata: category: coordination frameworks: [triple-diamond] author: product-on-purpose --- # PM Skills Updater This skill updates a local pm-skills installation to the latest public release. It validates connectivity, compares versions, previews changes, and produces a structured report documenting what was updated and what new capabilities are available. ## When to Use - When you want to update local pm-skills to the latest release - When you want to check if a newer version is available - After a new pm-skills release is announced - When onboarding and you want to confirm you have the latest version ## When NOT to Use - To create or edit individual skills -> use `/pm-skill-builder` or `/pm-skill-iterate` - To validate skills against conventions -> use `/pm-skill-validate` - If you are a maintainer working directly on the pm-skills repo (use git) - To pin a specific older version (this skill always targets the latest release) ## Flags | Flag | Behavior | |------|----------| | *(none)* | Full update flow: pre-flight → preview → confirm → update → report | | `--report-only` | Pre-flight → preview → report (no files written) | | `--status` | Lightweight version check — prints current and latest version, then stops | ### --status behavior When `--status` is provided, run only the pre-flight checks and display: ``` pm-skills v{local} (installed, from {source}) pm-skills v{latest} (latest, released {date}) {Status: up to date | update available ({type})} Run /update-pm-skills for details, or /update-pm-skills --report-only for a preview. ``` No report file is generated. No files are written. ## Instructions When asked to update pm-skills (without `--status`), follow these steps: ### Step 1: Pre-Flight Run three checks before proceeding: 1. **Network access**: Reach the GitHub API or repository URL (`https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills`). Use any available method: `curl`, `wget`, GitHub CLI (`gh`), or MCP tools. 2. **Latest version**: Query the latest release via: - GitHub API: `GET /repos/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/releases/latest` - GitHub CLI: `gh release list --repo product-on-purpose/pm-skills --limit 1` - Git: `git ls-remote --tags https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git` Record: version string, release date, release notes URL, release notes body. 3. **Local version**: Read from the first available source: - `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` → `version` field - `marketplace.json` → `plugins[0].version` field - `CHANGELOG.md` → most recent version header - Git tags → most recent `v*` tag If no source is found, warn the user and treat as `0.0.0`. **If network access fails** (degraded mode): - Report the failure with error details. - Provide manual update instructions: > Visit https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/releases to > download the latest release. Extract the archive and copy the > `skills/`, `commands/`, `_workflows/`, and other content directories > to your local pm-skills installation. - Stop execution. ### Step 2: Version Comparison Compare the local version against the latest release using semver. **If local version >= latest version:** - Report: "Your pm-skills installation is up to date (v{local})." - Offer to generate a report-only anyway. - Stop execution. **If local version < latest version:** - Show the version delta: ``` Local version: v{local} Latest version: v{latest} Update type: {major | minor | patch} ``` - **Major version warning**: If the update is a major bump (e.g., v2.x to v3.x), show a prominent warning: > This is a major version update. It may include breaking changes to > skill contracts. Review the release notes before proceeding. - Continue to Step 3. ### Step 3: Preview Show the user what the update includes: 1. **Version delta**: local version, latest version, update type. 2. **Value summary**: Derive from CHANGELOG entries between the two versions, GitHub release notes, and directory diffs (new skills/, new _workflows/ files): - New skills and what they enable - Updated skills and what improved - New workflows and what they connect - Other notable changes 3. **File manifest**: List of files and folders that will be written, grouped by directory with counts: ``` Files to be written: skills/ 31 files (2 new, 29 updated) commands/ 38 files (2 new, 36 updated) _workflows/ 9 files (1 new, 8 updated) other 7 files Total: 85 files ``` **If `--report-only`:** Generate the report using `references/TEMPLATE.md` with the banner "Report only -- update was not applied." Save to `_pm-skills/updates/update-report_v{latest}_report-only_{date}.md`. Stop execution. ### Step 4: Confirmation Prompt the user for two decisions: 1. **Update confirmation**: "These files will be overwritten. Proceed? [yes / no]" - If major version bump: require typing "yes" explicitly. - If the user declines: save a report-only and stop. 2. **Backup offer**: "Create a backup of current files before updating? [yes (recommended) / no]" - If yes: copy all in-scope files to `_pm-skills/backups/v{current}_{date}/` - Create the `_pm-skills/` directory if it doesn't exist. ### Step 5: Update Execute the update atomically: 1. **Download**: Fetch the release archive (`.tar.gz` or `.zip`) to a temporary directory. 2. **Validate**: Confirm the archive contains `skills/`, `commands/`, `AGENTS.md`, and `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`. If validation fails, report the error and stop without writing any files. 3. **Copy**: Overwrite in-scope files from the extracted archive to the install root. Show progress per directory: ``` Updating pm-skills v2.9.0 -> v2.10.0... skills/ 31/31 ████████████████████ done commands/ 38/38 ████████████████████ done _workflows/ 9/9 ████████████████████ done other files 7/7 ████████████████████ done ``` 4. **Clean up**: Remove the temporary directory. ### Step 6: Post-Update 1. **Smoke test**: - Version consistency: `plugin.json`, `marketplace.json`, and `CHANGELOG.md` all reflect the new version. - File integrity: `AGENTS.md`, `skills/`, `commands/`, `_workflows/` all exist. - Skill count delta: count skills before and after, report the change. - If any check fails: warn the user with specific details. Do NOT auto-rollback. Provide recovery guidance: - **Version mismatch**: "Run the update again, or manually edit {file} to set the version to {expected}." - **Missing files**: "Re-run `/update-pm-skills` to re-download, or restore from backup: `cp -r _pm-skills/backups/{dir}/* .`" - **If backup exists**: Always remind the user of the backup location and restore command. 2. **Summary line**: Show a single scannable confirmation: ``` Updated v{old} -> v{new} | +{n} skills, +{n} workflows | Report: _pm-skills/updates/{file} ``` 3. **Completion report**: Generate using `references/TEMPLATE.md` and save to `_pm-skills/updates/update-report_v{from}-to-v{to}_{date}.md` 4. **MCP advisory**: If `../pm-skills-mcp/` exists, read `pm-skills-source.json` and show: ``` pm-skills-mcp detected at ../pm-skills-mcp/ Embedded skills version: v{embedded} Updated pm-skills version: v{new} To update the MCP server's embedded skills: cd ../pm-skills-mcp && npm run embed-skills && npm run build ``` 5. **Next steps**: ``` Next Steps: - Review the update report at _pm-skills/updates/{report-file} - Run /pm-skill-validate --all to verify skill integrity - Run local CI: bash scripts/lint-skills-frontmatter.sh - Check release notes: {release-url} ``` ## File Scope Only these paths are overwritten during an update: | Path | Updated | Rationale | |------|---------|-----------| | `skills/` | Yes | Core skill files | | `commands/` | Yes | Slash command definitions | | `_workflows/` | Yes | Workflow chains | | `library/` | Yes | Skill library metadata | | `AGENTS.md` | Yes | Skill discovery for IDEs | | `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` | Yes | Version + plugin metadata | | `marketplace.json` | Yes | Marketplace metadata | | `CHANGELOG.md` | Yes | Release history | | `README.md` | Yes | Public docs | | `docs/` (public only) | Yes | User-facing guides | | `scripts/` | Yes | CI/validation scripts | | `mkdocs.yml` | Yes | Docs site config | These paths are NEVER overwritten: | Path | Rationale | |------|-----------| | `docs/internal/` | User's internal planning, efforts, release plans | | `_NOTES/` | Local-only working material (gitignored) | | `_pm-skills/` | Local state: reports, backups | ## Output Contract The skill MUST: - Validate network access before any remote operations - Show a preview before writing any files - Require explicit user confirmation before overwriting - Offer a backup before overwriting - Use atomic updates (download to temp, validate, then copy) - Generate a report in both modes (report-only and completion) - Run the post-update smoke test - Show MCP advisory if sibling repo is detected The skill MUST NOT: - Write files without user confirmation - Proceed without network access confirmation - Modify files outside the pm-skills directory - Modify `docs/internal/`, `_NOTES/`, or `_pm-skills/` with upstream content - Auto-rollback on smoke test failure (inform the user instead) - Delete local files that don't exist in the upstream release ## Quality Checklist Before marking the update complete, verify: - [ ] Pre-flight passed: network, versions detected - [ ] User was shown preview before any files were written - [ ] User explicitly confirmed before update proceeded - [ ] Backup was offered (and created if accepted) - [ ] Archive was downloaded to temp and validated before copying - [ ] All in-scope files were written successfully - [ ] Version consistency: plugin.json, marketplace.json, CHANGELOG match - [ ] File integrity: AGENTS.md, skills/, commands/, _workflows/ exist - [ ] Skill count delta is reported (before -> after) - [ ] Report was generated and saved to `_pm-skills/updates/` - [ ] MCP advisory was shown if sibling repo detected - [ ] Next steps were presented - [ ] Summary line displayed ## FAQ **I'm a contributor who cloned the repo. Should I use this skill?** No. Use `git pull` or `git fetch && git merge` instead. This skill is for end users who installed pm-skills as a plugin or downloaded a release. **Can I update to a specific version instead of the latest?** Not in v1. This skill always targets the latest release. To install a specific version, download it manually from the releases page. **What happens to my local notes and planning docs?** They are never touched. The skill explicitly excludes `docs/internal/`, `_NOTES/`, and `_pm-skills/` from updates. See the File Scope table. **What happens to files I added that aren't in the upstream release?** They are left untouched. The skill only overwrites files that exist in the new release — it never deletes local files. **How do I undo an update?** If you created a backup (the default offer), restore it: `cp -r _pm-skills/backups/v{version}_{date}/* .` If you didn't create a backup but have git, use `git checkout .` to restore tracked files to their last committed state. **The update failed partway through. What do I do?** The skill uses atomic updates (download to temp, validate, then copy), so partial failures are rare. If it does happen: restore from backup if available, or re-run `/update-pm-skills` to retry. ## Further Reading For a visual walkthrough and additional context, see the [Updating PM Skills Guide](../../docs/guides/updating-pm-skills.md).