Nw Update

NW-UPDATE: Queue Deferred nWave Self-Update

Wave: CROSS_WAVE | Agent: Main Instance (self) | Command: /nw-update

Overview

/nw-update records a PendingUpdateFlag on disk. The actual upgrade is performed by the SessionStart hook on the next Claude Code launch, so the user can keep working in the current session and apply the new version whenever they restart.

You (the main Claude instance) run this command directly — no subagent delegation. Do NOT attempt to upgrade nwave-ai in the current session.

Behavior Flow

Step 1: Resolve target version

1. If the user passed an argument ($ARGUMENTS), treat it as the target version after stripping a leading v.
2. Otherwise read the latest version discovered by the periodic update check from the global config (update_check.latest_available):

python3 -c "
import sys, os
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/lib/python'))
from des.adapters.driven.config.des_config import DESConfig
print(DESConfig().update_check_latest_available or '')"

3. If no argument AND no discovered version (empty output): ask the user for the target version explicitly. Do not guess.

Step 2: Detect the package manager and its binary

Invoke the detector and resolve the PM binary absolute path in a single Bash call.

This runs under whatever python3 the shell provides, which is NOT the interpreter nwave-ai was installed under — so sys.executable is the wrong anchor for detection. Use resolve_nwave_pm, which prefers the value the installer recorded at install time (install.package_manager in the global config) and only falls back to live path detection:

python3 -c "
import sys, os
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/lib/python'))
import shutil
from pathlib import Path
from des.adapters.driven.config.des_config import DESConfig
from des.adapters.driven.package_managers.package_manager_detector import (
    resolve_nwave_pm,
)
pm = resolve_nwave_pm(DESConfig().installed_package_manager, Path(sys.executable))
binary = shutil.which(pm) if pm in ('pipx', 'uv') else ''
print(f'{pm}|{binary or \"\"}')"

Parse the output as pm|binary_abspath.

Step 3: Handle non-auto-updatable PM

If pm == "unknown" OR pm == "pip" OR binary_abspath is empty:

(detect_pm returns pip only when forced via NWAVE_INSTALLER=pip; pip installs are not auto-updatable through the deferred-upgrade flow, so they take the manual path alongside unknown.)

1. Do NOT call PendingUpdateService.request_update.
2. Print the manual fallback and stop:

nwave-ai was not installed via an auto-updatable package manager.
Please upgrade manually:

  uv tool install nwave-ai@latest && nwave-ai install
    — or —
  pipx upgrade nwave-ai && nwave-ai install
    — or, if you installed with pip —
  pip install -U nwave-ai && nwave-ai install

Then restart Claude Code.

Step 4: Queue the pending update

Call the driving port PendingUpdateService.request_update:

Reuse the pm and binary already resolved in Step 2 — do NOT re-detect from sys.executable here (that interpreter is not the install anchor). Construct DESConfig() directly; there is no DESConfig.load().

python3 -c "
import sys, os
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/lib/python'))
from des.application.pending_update_service import PendingUpdateService
from des.adapters.driven.config.des_config import DESConfig

pm = '${PM}'
binary = '${PM_BINARY}'
target = '${TARGET_VERSION}'

config = DESConfig()
# PM adapter is only used by apply(); request_update() does not invoke it.
svc = PendingUpdateService(config=config, pm=None)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
svc.request_update(pm=pm, pm_binary_abspath=binary, target_version=target)
print(f'queued:{pm}:{target}')"

Substitute ${PM} and ${PM_BINARY} with the Step 2 values, and ${TARGET_VERSION} with the Step 1 value (no leading v).

Step 5: Confirm to the user

On success, print:

Update to vX.Y.Z queued. It will be applied the next time you restart Claude Code.
Package manager: <pipx|uv>  (<binary_abspath>)

Error Handling

Progress Tracking

This command is synchronous and fast (< 1s). Do not create a task list; print progress inline.

Success Criteria

• Target version resolved (explicit arg, discovered, or asked)
• PM detected and PM binary absolute path obtained
• Either pending-update flag written OR manual fallback printed
• User sees confirmation of the queued version and PM used

Examples

Example 1: Discovered version, pipx install

/nw-update

Reads update_check.latest_available = "1.4.2", detects pipx at /home/alex/.local/bin/pipx, queues flag, prints: Update to v1.4.2 queued. It will be applied the next time you restart Claude Code.

Example 2: Explicit version, uv install

/nw-update 1.5.0

Detects uv at /home/alex/.cargo/bin/uv, queues flag for 1.5.0.

Example 3: Unknown PM

/nw-update 1.4.2

Detector returns unknown (e.g. pip venv install). Prints manual fallback instructions and exits without writing the flag.

Source: nWave-ai/nWave → nWave/skills/nw-update/SKILL.md