How do I install the Self Update skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add shivae372/self-update in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Self Update safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Self Update?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Self Update free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Self Update?

shivae372 (@shivae372) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Self Update by shivae372 — Agent Skill

Name: Self Update
Author: shivae372

Self Update

Checks whether the project's claude-bootstrap setup is current and applies updates safely. Compares the installed version against the source repo, shows what changed, and updates only what the user approves. Triggered by /update.

shivae372 b4977c3 1.8 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Purpose

Keep a project's bootstrap config current without clobbering the user's customizations.

When To Use This

The user runs /update or asks "is my Claude setup outdated?"

Steps

1. Read the installed version

python3 -c 'import json,pathlib; p=pathlib.Path(".claude/.bootstrap.json"); \
print(json.loads(p.read_text()).get("bootstrap_version","unknown") if p.exists() else "unknown")'

2. Read the latest version from the source repo

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shivae372/claude-bootstrap/master/VERSION 2>/dev/null || echo unknown

3. Compare and report (plain language)

Up to date → say so and stop.
Outdated → summarize what changed using the repo's CHANGELOG.md (curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shivae372/claude-bootstrap/master/CHANGELOG.md).

4. Apply selectively (only what the user approves)

Offer: hooks, skills, commands, stack templates, or just-show-me. For each chosen item:

Back up first: cp <file> <file>.bak
Re-run the installer in merge mode to pull only new/updated component files: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shivae372/claude-bootstrap/master/install.sh | bash -s -- --merge
Update bootstrap_version in .claude/.bootstrap.json.

Safety Rules

NEVER overwrite USER_PROFILE.json.
NEVER overwrite a customized CLAUDE.md or SESSION_STATE.md without explicit confirmation.
ALWAYS show what will change before applying, and back up before replacing.

Frequently asked questions