GarphenGate Upgrade Checklist
Free gateway skill from the Dependency Warden bundle by GarphenGate.
Every painful major bump skipped one of the same eight steps. This is the checklist that keeps them unskipped, reusable for any dependency in any stack.
Procedure
- Copy the checklist below into the upgrade's ticket or notes; it is the artifact, and each step gets checked with a one-line note, not just a tick.
- Work it strictly in order. The order is load-bearing: reading notes before scanning usage wastes the scan; upgrading before branching removes the escape hatch.
- Stop at any failed step. A failed step means the bump is not ready, and the note on that step becomes the blocker to resolve; proceeding past a failure converts a chore into an incident.
- Keep the completed checklist with its notes; a stack of them becomes the project's upgrade playbook and the estimate source for next time.
MAJOR BUMP CHECKLIST: <dep> <current> -> <target>
[ ] 1. Release notes read across the FULL version range - notes: ...
[ ] 2. Usage scanned: call sites counted and located - notes: ...
[ ] 3. Breaking changes mapped to our call sites - notes: ...
[ ] 4. Escape hatch ready: branch + rollback step written down - notes: ...
[ ] 5. Bump applied in isolation (no other changes in the same commit) - notes: ...
[ ] 6. Full test suite green + deprecation warnings reviewed - notes: ...
[ ] 7. Behavioral spot-checks on changed-semantics areas - notes: ...
[ ] 8. Staged rollout or canary where the stack allows - notes: ...
Done: <date> - actual effort: <time> (feed this into the next estimate)
Rules
- Never combine the bump commit with feature work or refactors; step 5 exists so a revert stays a one-liner.
- Never skip step 1 because the target 'is only one major ahead'; the whole range gets read, mid-range minors hide breaks.
- Never call the upgrade done while deprecation warnings are silenced instead of reviewed; silenced warnings are step 1 of the next disaster.
Degradation
For stacks without a test suite (step 6 impossible as written), substitute a written manual smoke script covering the scanned call sites, and record that substitution in the checklist notes as accepted risk.
Like this? This is the free gateway skill for Dependency Warden by Moltline Studio. The paid listing: https://www.agensi.io/skills/dependency-warden-bundle