- name
- deps-mgmt
- description
- Deep dependency management workflow—inventory, upgrade policy, security patches, licensing, lockfiles, and supply-chain hygiene. Use when upgrading frameworks, resolving CVEs, or standardizing how teams pin dependencies.
Dependencies
Dependencies are supply-chain surface area: versions affect security, reproducibility, and upgrade cost.
When to Offer This Workflow
Trigger conditions:
- Dependabot noise; major version upgrades
- CVE response or license audit
- “Works on my machine” due to unpinned dependencies
Initial offer:
Use six stages: (1) inventory & risk, (2) policy & cadence, (3) lockfiles & reproducibility, (4) upgrades & testing, (5) security & licensing, (6) governance & tooling). Confirm ecosystem (npm, pip, Maven, Go modules, etc.).
Stage 1: Inventory & Risk
Goal: Direct vs transitive dependencies; flag critical packages (crypto, auth, parsing, serialization).
Exit condition: SBOM or export for top applications; list of critical deps.
Stage 2: Policy & Cadence
Goal: When to upgrade (time-based vs on-demand); SemVer rules for libraries vs applications.
Stage 3: Lockfiles & Reproducibility
Goal: Committed lockfiles for deployable apps; libraries test against a compatibility matrix instead of one frozen lock.
Stage 4: Upgrades & Testing
Goal: Prefer one major bump per PR when feasible; CI matrix on supported language/runtime versions.
Stage 5: Security & Licensing
Goal: SCA scanning; patch SLA by severity; license allowlist for compliance.
Stage 6: Governance & Tooling
Goal: Renovate/Bot policies; pin internal packages; document exceptions and overrides.
Final Review Checklist
- [ ] Inventory and risk hotspots known
- [ ] Upgrade cadence and semver policy documented
- [ ] Lockfiles or matrix strategy per repo type
- [ ] CI validates upgrades
- [ ] SCA and license policy enforced
Tips for Effective Guidance
- Transitive CVEs may need overrides—trace the dependency graph.
- Pin CI images and toolchains, not only application dependencies.
Handling Deviations
- Monorepos: shared versions with Nx/Bazel/etc.—coordinate breaking upgrades.