René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"feat: `allagents skill update` for per-skill refresh (separate from workspace sync)","articleBody":"\u003e **Priority:** medium · Depends on content-hash tracking issue for \\`--dry-run\\` to be meaningful.\n\n## Problem\n\nThe verb \\`allagents update\\` is the *workspace sync* command (\\`syncCmd\\` in \\`src/cli/commands/workspace.ts\\`). There is no per-skill update verb. To refresh a single skill today the user re-runs the global workspace sync, which is heavier than needed and provides no dry-run / drift report.\n\n\\`gh skill update [skill...]\\` covers exactly this gap: refresh installed skills by comparing recorded tree SHAs against the remote, with \\`--all\\`, \\`--force\\`, \\`--dry-run\\`, and \\`--unpin\\` flags. Reference: \\`cli/cli\\` \\`pkg/cmd/skills/update/update.go\\`.\n\n## Current behavior\n\n\\`\\`\\`bash\n$ allagents skill update   # or \\\"skills update\\\"\nerror: found 1 error\n  skill update\n  ^ Unknown arguments\n\n# Only workspace sync, which re-evaluates everything:\n$ allagents update\nSyncing plugins...\n\\`\\`\\`\n\n## Expected behavior\n\n\\`\\`\\`bash\n# Refresh all installed skills (TTY: prompts per drift; non-TTY: skips drift-with-no-pin)\n$ allagents skill update\nChecking 3 skills...\n✓ brainstorming  up to date\n↑ git-commit     v0.1.0 → v0.2.0 (updated)\n- code-review    pinned to v1.0.0, skipping\n\n# Refresh one named skill\n$ allagents skill update brainstorming\n\n# Apply all without prompting\n$ allagents skill update --all\n\n# Report drift only (read-only; no file writes)\n$ allagents skill update --dry-run\nChecking 3 skills...\n- brainstorming  up to date\n* git-commit     v0.1.0 → v0.2.0 (would update)\n- code-review    pinned to v1.0.0, skipping\n2 up to date, 1 update available, 0 pinned\n\n# Force re-download even when hashes match\n$ allagents skill update --force --all\n\n# Clear pin and move to latest\n$ allagents skill update git-commit --unpin\n\\`\\`\\`\n\nJSON mode emits the standard envelope with per-skill state:\n\n\\`\\`\\`bash\n$ allagents --json skill update --dry-run\n{\n  \\\"success\\\": true,\n  \\\"command\\\": \\\"skill update\\\",\n  \\\"data\\\": {\n    \\\"checked\\\": 3,\n    \\\"updates\\\": [\n      { \\\"skill\\\": \\\"git-commit\\\", \\\"source\\\": \\\"owner/repo\\\",\n        \\\"from\\\": \\\"v0.1.0\\\", \\\"to\\\": \\\"v0.2.0\\\", \\\"status\\\": \\\"available\\\" }\n    ],\n    \\\"upToDate\\\": [\\\"brainstorming\\\"],\n    \\\"pinned\\\": [\\\"code-review\\\"]\n  }\n}\n\\`\\`\\`\n\n## Verification gate (must pass before closing)\n\n\\`\\`\\`bash\nset -euo pipefail\nbun run build\nWS=\\$(mktemp -d)\ncd \\\"\\$WS\\\"\nallagents workspace init --client claude\n\n# Install one skill at a known older version\nallagents skills add brainstorming --from anthropics/superpowers --pin v0.1.0\n\n# (1) Dry-run does not mutate anything\nSNAPSHOT_BEFORE=\\$(find .claude .agents .allagents -type f -exec sha256sum {} + 2\u003e/dev/null | sort | sha256sum)\nallagents skill update --dry-run \u003e/dev/null\nSNAPSHOT_AFTER=\\$(find .claude .agents .allagents -type f -exec sha256sum {} + 2\u003e/dev/null | sort | sha256sum)\n[ \\\"\\$SNAPSHOT_BEFORE\\\" = \\\"\\$SNAPSHOT_AFTER\\\" ]\n\n# (2) JSON envelope shape is correct in dry-run mode\nallagents --json skill update --dry-run | jq -e '.command == \\\"skill update\\\"'\nallagents --json skill update --dry-run | jq -e '.data | has(\\\"upToDate\\\") and has(\\\"updates\\\") and has(\\\"pinned\\\")'\n\n# (3) --all applies without prompting (no TTY; depends on default behavior in non-interactive mode)\nallagents skill update --all \u003e/dev/null\n\n# (4) Pinned skill is skipped unless --unpin\nallagents --json skill update --all | jq -e '.data.pinned | length \u003e= 1 or .data.updates | length \u003e= 0'   # pinned listed\nallagents skill update brainstorming --unpin --all\njq -e '.sources[\\\"anthropics/superpowers\\\"].pinnedRef == null or (.sources[\\\"anthropics/superpowers\\\"] | has(\\\"pinnedRef\\\") | not)' .allagents/sync-state.json\n\n# (5) --force re-downloads even when hashes match — verify the file mtime changes\nHASH_BEFORE=\\$(jq -r '.sources[\\\"anthropics/superpowers\\\"].skills.brainstorming.contentHash' .allagents/sync-state.json)\nallagents skill update --force --all\nHASH_AFTER=\\$(jq -r '.sources[\\\"anthropics/superpowers\\\"].skills.brainstorming.contentHash' .allagents/sync-state.json)\n[ \\\"\\$HASH_BEFORE\\\" = \\\"\\$HASH_AFTER\\\" ]   # content same, but updatedAt should have moved\njq -e '.sources[\\\"anthropics/superpowers\\\"].skills.brainstorming.updatedAt' .allagents/sync-state.json\n\n# (6) Non-interactive without --all: skill update behaves predictably (does not block on a prompt)\ntimeout 10 allagents skill update \u003c/dev/null\n\ncd / \u0026\u0026 rm -rf \\\"\\$WS\\\"\n\\`\\`\\`\n\nAll six checks must pass.\n\n## Implementation notes\n\n- Add \\`updateCmd\\` to \\`src/cli/commands/plugin-skills.ts::skillsCmd\\` with flags \\`--all\\`, \\`--force\\`, \\`--dry-run\\`, \\`--unpin\\`, and an optional positional skill name (\\`cmd-ts\\` \\`positional({ type: optional(string) })\\`).\n- Drift detection requires the \\`sources\\` block from the companion content-hashes issue. Without it, \\`--dry-run\\` collapses into a no-op.\n- Non-TTY default behavior: skip skills that would prompt (mirrors current \\`isJsonMode()\\` gating). Document this in the meta's \\`whenToUse\\`.\n- Walk every known agent-host directory at both scopes to find installed skills (don't require a single workspace.yaml — the skill might have been added at user scope). \\`gh skill\\`'s reference impl does the same in \\`pkg/cmd/skills/update/update.go::scanInstalledSkills\\`.\n- For \\`--unpin\\`: clear \\`pinnedRef\\` in sync-state before resolving, then resolve to latest. Equivalent to running install with no \\`--pin\\`.\n- Add a corresponding meta in \\`src/cli/metadata/plugin-skills.ts\\` and add it to \\`allCommands\\` in \\`src/cli/agent-help.ts\\` (this is also covered by the agent-help bug issue — coordinate).\n\n## Refs\n\n- Reference impl: \\`cli/cli\\` \\`pkg/cmd/skills/update/update.go\\`.\n- Companion wiki page: \\`concepts/allagents-vs-gh-skill.md\\` § \\\"Update semantics\\\".\n- Depends on: content-hash tracking issue.\n- Related: version pinning issue (defines \\`pinnedRef\\`).","author":{"url":"https://github.com/christso","@type":"Person","name":"christso"},"datePublished":"2026-05-12T10:57:49.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":0},"url":"https://github.com/375/allagents/issues/375"}