Upgrade

Upgrade Skill

Updates your vault's system files to the latest version while preserving all your personal content.

Usage

/upgrade          # Interactive upgrade with backup and diff review
/upgrade check    # Preview what's changed without making modifications

What Gets Updated (System Files)

• .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md — Skill definitions
• .claude/agents/*.md — Agent configurations
• .claude/hooks/*.sh — Automation scripts
• .claude/rules/*.md — Convention rules
• .claude/output-styles/*.md — Output style definitions
• .claude/settings.json — Permissions and hook config
• CLAUDE.md — Root context file (merged carefully)
• Templates/*.md — Note templates

What Never Gets Touched (Your Content)

• Daily Notes/** — Your daily journal entries
• Goals/** — Your goal files and reviews
• Projects/** — Your project folders and CLAUDE.md files
• Archives/** — Your archived content
• Inbox/** — Your captured items
• CLAUDE.local.md — Your personal overrides
• vault-config.json — Your preferences

Upgrade Process

Step 1: Check for Updates

Read the current version from CLAUDE.md (look for "System Version:" line).

Compare with the upstream repo. If using git:

git fetch origin
git log HEAD..origin/main --oneline

If not a git repo or no remote, inform user they need to download the latest vault-template/ manually.

Step 2: Create Backup

Before any changes, create a timestamped backup:

BACKUP_DIR=".backup/upgrade-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
cp -r .claude "$BACKUP_DIR/"
cp CLAUDE.md "$BACKUP_DIR/"
cp -r Templates "$BACKUP_DIR/" 2>/dev/null

Tell the user: "Backup created at $BACKUP_DIR"

Step 3: Diff Review

For each system file that differs from upstream:

1. Show a summary of what changed (additions, removals, modifications)
2. Ask user to confirm: "Apply this update? (yes/skip/stop)"
3. If yes: apply the change
4. If skip: leave this file unchanged
5. If stop: halt the upgrade (backup remains, partial changes preserved)

Step 4: Apply Changes

For each confirmed file:

• Copy the new version from upstream
• For CLAUDE.md: merge carefully — preserve user customizations (Personal Mission, Current Focus sections) while updating system sections (Skills table, version number)
• For settings.json: merge — add new permissions/hooks, preserve existing customizations

Step 5: Post-Upgrade

1. Make hook scripts executable: chmod +x .claude/hooks/*.sh
2. Show summary of changes applied
3. Update version in CLAUDE.md
4. Suggest running /onboard to reload context

Check Mode (/upgrade check)

When invoked with "check":

1. Compare system files against upstream
2. List files that would be updated with brief change description
3. Show version numbers (current → available)
4. Do NOT make any changes
5. Suggest running /upgrade to apply

Output Format

## Upgrade Check

**Current version:** 3.0 (The Cascade)
**Available version:** 3.1

### Files to Update
| File | Change Summary |
|------|---------------|
| `.claude/skills/daily/SKILL.md` | Added cascade context surfacing |
| `.claude/agents/goal-aligner.md` | Added memory: project |
| `.claude/hooks/session-init.sh` | Added priority surfacing |

### New Files
- `.claude/skills/review/SKILL.md` — Smart review router
- `.claude/hooks/skill-discovery.sh` — Auto-list skills

### No Changes Needed
- `.claude/rules/` — Already up to date

Run `/upgrade` to apply these updates (backup will be created first).

Safety Features

• Complete backup before any modification
• File-by-file confirmation
• Can be stopped at any point
• User content folders are never touched
• CLAUDE.local.md personal overrides preserved
• Backup includes restoration instructions

Error Handling

• If no git remote: guide user to download latest vault-template manually
• If backup fails: abort entire upgrade
• If a file copy fails: report error, continue with next file
• Always leave vault in a usable state

Integration

Works with:

• /onboard — Reload context after upgrade
• Session init hook — Will reflect updated priorities