Dependency Upgrade
Master major dependency version upgrades, compatibility analysis, staged upgrade strategies, and comprehensive testing approaches.
When to Use This Skill Upgrading major framework versions Updating security-vulnerable dependencies Modernizing legacy dependencies Resolving dependency conflicts Planning incremental upgrade paths Testing compatibility matrices Automating dependency updates Semantic Versioning Review MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 2.3.1)
MAJOR: Breaking changes MINOR: New features, backward compatible PATCH: Bug fixes, backward compatible
^2.3.1 = >=2.3.1 <3.0.0 (minor updates) ~2.3.1 = >=2.3.1 <2.4.0 (patch updates) 2.3.1 = exact version
Dependency Analysis Audit Dependencies
npm
npm outdated npm audit npm audit fix
yarn
yarn outdated yarn audit
Check for major updates
npx npm-check-updates npx npm-check-updates -u # Update package.json
Analyze Dependency Tree
See why a package is installed
npm ls package-name yarn why package-name
Find duplicate packages
npm dedupe yarn dedupe
Visualize dependencies
npx madge --image graph.png src/
Compatibility Matrix // compatibility-matrix.js const compatibilityMatrix = { react: { "16.x": { "react-dom": "^16.0.0", "react-router-dom": "^5.0.0", "@testing-library/react": "^11.0.0", }, "17.x": { "react-dom": "^17.0.0", "react-router-dom": "^5.0.0 || ^6.0.0", "@testing-library/react": "^12.0.0", }, "18.x": { "react-dom": "^18.0.0", "react-router-dom": "^6.0.0", "@testing-library/react": "^13.0.0", }, }, };
function checkCompatibility(packages) { // Validate package versions against matrix }
Staged Upgrade Strategy Phase 1: Planning
1. Identify current versions
npm list --depth=0
2. Check for breaking changes
Read CHANGELOG.md and MIGRATION.md
3. Create upgrade plan
echo "Upgrade order: 1. TypeScript 2. React 3. React Router 4. Testing libraries 5. Build tools" > UPGRADE_PLAN.md
Phase 2: Incremental Updates
Don't upgrade everything at once!
Step 1: Update TypeScript
npm install typescript@latest
Test
npm run test npm run build
Step 2: Update React (one major version at a time)
npm install react@17 react-dom@17
Test again
npm run test
Step 3: Continue with other packages
npm install react-router-dom@6
And so on...
Phase 3: Validation // tests/compatibility.test.js describe("Dependency Compatibility", () => { it("should have compatible React versions", () => { const reactVersion = require("react/package.json").version; const reactDomVersion = require("react-dom/package.json").version;
expect(reactVersion).toBe(reactDomVersion);
});
it("should not have peer dependency warnings", () => { // Run npm ls and check for warnings }); });
Breaking Change Handling Identifying Breaking Changes
Use changelog parsers
npx changelog-parser react 16.0.0 17.0.0
Or manually check
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/facebook/react/main/CHANGELOG.md
Codemod for Automated Fixes
React upgrade codemods
npx react-codeshift
Example: Update lifecycle methods
npx react-codeshift \ --parser tsx \ --transform react-codeshift/transforms/rename-unsafe-lifecycles.js \ src/
Custom Migration Script // migration-script.js const fs = require("fs"); const glob = require("glob");
glob("src/*/.tsx", (err, files) => { files.forEach((file) => { let content = fs.readFileSync(file, "utf8");
// Replace old API with new API
content = content.replace(
/componentWillMount/g,
"UNSAFE_componentWillMount",
);
// Update imports
content = content.replace(
/import { Component } from 'react'/g,
"import React, { Component } from 'react'",
);
fs.writeFileSync(file, content);
}); });
Testing Strategy Unit Tests // Ensure tests pass before and after upgrade npm run test
// Update test utilities if needed npm install @testing-library/react@latest
Integration Tests
// tests/integration/app.test.js
describe("App Integration", () => {
it("should render without crashing", () => {
render(
it("should handle navigation", () => {
const { getByText } = render(
Visual Regression Tests
// visual-regression.test.js
describe("Visual Regression", () => {
it("should match snapshot", () => {
const { container } = render(
E2E Tests // cypress/e2e/app.cy.js describe("E2E Tests", () => { it("should complete user flow", () => { cy.visit("/"); cy.get('[data-testid="login"]').click(); cy.get('input[name="email"]').type("user@example.com"); cy.get('button[type="submit"]').click(); cy.url().should("include", "/dashboard"); }); });
Automated Dependency Updates Renovate Configuration // renovate.json { "extends": ["config:base"], "packageRules": [ { "matchUpdateTypes": ["minor", "patch"], "automerge": true }, { "matchUpdateTypes": ["major"], "automerge": false, "labels": ["major-update"] } ], "schedule": ["before 3am on Monday"], "timezone": "America/New_York" }
Dependabot Configuration
.github/dependabot.yml
version: 2 updates: - package-ecosystem: "npm" directory: "/" schedule: interval: "weekly" open-pull-requests-limit: 5 reviewers: - "team-leads" commit-message: prefix: "chore" include: "scope"
Rollback Plan // rollback.sh
!/bin/bash
Save current state
git stash git checkout -b upgrade-branch
Attempt upgrade
npm install package@latest
Run tests
if npm run test; then echo "Upgrade successful" git add package.json package-lock.json git commit -m "chore: upgrade package" else echo "Upgrade failed, rolling back" git checkout main git branch -D upgrade-branch npm install # Restore from package-lock.json fi
Common Upgrade Patterns Lock File Management
npm
npm install --package-lock-only # Update lock file only npm ci # Clean install from lock file
yarn
yarn install --frozen-lockfile # CI mode yarn upgrade-interactive # Interactive upgrades
Peer Dependency Resolution
npm 7+: strict peer dependencies
npm install --legacy-peer-deps # Ignore peer deps
npm 8+: override peer dependencies
npm install --force
Workspace Upgrades
Update all workspace packages
npm install --workspaces
Update specific workspace
npm install package@latest --workspace=packages/app
Resources references/semver.md: Semantic versioning guide references/compatibility-matrix.md: Common compatibility issues references/staged-upgrades.md: Incremental upgrade strategies references/testing-strategy.md: Comprehensive testing approaches assets/upgrade-checklist.md: Step-by-step checklist assets/compatibility-matrix.csv: Version compatibility table scripts/audit-dependencies.sh: Dependency audit script Best Practices Read Changelogs: Understand what changed Upgrade Incrementally: One major version at a time Test Thoroughly: Unit, integration, E2E tests Check Peer Dependencies: Resolve conflicts early Use Lock Files: Ensure reproducible installs Automate Updates: Use Renovate or Dependabot Monitor: Watch for runtime errors post-upgrade Document: Keep upgrade notes Upgrade Checklist Pre-Upgrade:
- [ ] Review current dependency versions
- [ ] Read changelogs for breaking changes
- [ ] Create feature branch
- [ ] Backup current state (git tag)
- [ ] Run full test suite (baseline)
During Upgrade:
- [ ] Upgrade one dependency at a time
- [ ] Update peer dependencies
- [ ] Fix TypeScript errors
- [ ] Update tests if needed
- [ ] Run test suite after each upgrade
- [ ] Check bundle size impact
Post-Upgrade:
- [ ] Full regression testing
- [ ] Performance testing
- [ ] Update documentation
- [ ] Deploy to staging
- [ ] Monitor for errors
- [ ] Deploy to production
Common Pitfalls Upgrading all dependencies at once Not testing after each upgrade Ignoring peer dependency warnings Forgetting to update lock file Not reading breaking change notes Skipping major versions Not having rollback plan