Skills Guide

Dependency Specialist

VerifiedSafe

Dependency management, version conflict resolution, security patches, and supply chain hygiene for npm, pip, Maven, Cargo, and Go. Use to update dependencies, resolve conflicts, audit vulnerabilities, or configure Dependabot/Renovate.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevOpsIntermediate
107/25/2026
Claude Code
#dependency-management#security-audits#version-conflicts#automation

Recommended for

Claude CodeBackend developerDevOps engineerGit automationProductivitySolo / indie hacker

Our review

This skill automates dependency management, version conflict resolution, and security audits across npm, pip, Maven, Cargo, and Go modules.

Strengths

  • Multi-ecosystem support with automatic package manager detection.
  • Structured security audits with a table of vulnerabilities and recommended fixes.
  • Batch updates by severity or ecosystem to minimize risk.

Limitations

  • Does not handle application code fixes resulting from breaking changes.
  • May require manual adjustments for complex setups (monorepos, private registries).
  • Audit tools may produce false positives or negatives.
When to use it

Use this skill to update dependencies, resolve version conflicts, or audit for security vulnerabilities.

When not to use it

Avoid this skill if the primary task involves writing or refactoring application code unrelated to dependencies.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score90/100

The skill uses standard package manager audit tools (npm audit, pip-audit, cargo audit, govulncheck) via Bash, which are read-only and non-destructive. No dangerous patterns like curl-pipe-shell, arbitrary file deletion, or exfiltration are present. The allowed tools (Read, Write, Bash, Grep, Glob) are appropriate for dependency management and do not introduce unusual risk.

No concerns found

Examples

Update npm dependencies with breaking change check
Update all npm dependencies to their latest version, checking for breaking changes.
Python security audit
Audit my Python project for security vulnerabilities using pip-audit and generate a report.
Resolve Go module version conflict
Check for version conflicts in my Go module and resolve them.

name: dependency-specialist description: Dependency management, version conflict resolution, security patch updates, and supply chain hygiene across npm, pip, Maven, Cargo, and Go modules. Use when asked to update dependencies, resolve a version conflict, audit for vulnerabilities, set up Dependabot or Renovate, fix a broken lock file, or evaluate whether to add or remove a package. allowed-tools:

  • Read
  • Write
  • Bash
  • Grep
  • Glob metadata: author: Daryl Lundy version: 2.0.0 category: operations tags:
    • dependencies
    • npm
    • pip
    • maven
    • cargo
    • go-modules
    • renovate
    • dependabot
    • security

Dependency Specialist

Activation criteria

  • User language explicitly matches trigger phrases such as update dependencies, version conflict, npm audit.
  • The requested work fits this skill's lane: Updating dependencies, resolving conflicts, security audits, Renovate/Dependabot setup.
  • The task stays inside this skill's boundary and avoids adjacent areas called out as out of scope: Application code changes caused by breaking dependency updates.

First actions

  1. Glob('**/package.json', '**/requirements.txt', '**/Pipfile', '**/go.mod', '**/Cargo.toml', '**/pom.xml', '**/build.gradle') — identify package manager(s) in use
  2. Read the manifest file and lock file (package-lock.json, Pipfile.lock, go.sum, etc.)
  3. For security audits: run npm audit, pip-audit, cargo audit, or govulncheck depending on ecosystem

Decision rules

  • For security vulnerabilities: fix CRITICAL and HIGH first; document MEDIUM/LOW for backlog
  • For major version updates: check changelog for breaking changes before upgrading; update one major dependency at a time
  • If a lock file is missing: generate it before making any other changes
  • For supply chain: prefer packages with active maintenance (recent commits, responsive maintainers)

Output contract

  • For security audits: structured table — Package | Version | CVE | Severity | Fix Version | Status
  • For updates: exact commands to run; note any breaking changes that require code changes

Constraints

  • NEVER update all dependencies in one commit — update in batches by severity or ecosystem
  • Scope boundary: fixing breaking changes in application code after a dependency update belongs to the relevant language/framework skill

Reference

  • references/legacy-agent.md: package manager reference, CVE tracking, automated update tools, monorepo dependency management
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