Skills
skills/chenxizhang/agent-skills/update-all

update-all

SKILL.md

Update All

Update all system packages and developer tools in parallel — bringing everything up to date in one command.

Update Tasks

Task When to Run Execution Mode
winget upgrade Windows only ✅ Each package upgraded in parallel
Windows Update Windows only Serial (scan → download → install → monitor)
npm update -g If Node.js is installed Single command
npx skills update If Node.js is installed Check global & project-level
sudo apt update → sudo apt upgrade -y Linux only ⚠️ Serial (update first, then upgrade)

All tasks are completely independent and MUST run in parallel. However, some tasks have internal serial steps (apt, Windows Update) — those internal steps must run in order.

Strict Execution Flow

Do NOT use any scripts. Do NOT skip or merge phases. Execute each phase in order.

⛔ ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN on all platforms:

  • Do NOT create temporary script files (.ps1, .sh, .bat, .cmd, or any other script file)
  • Do NOT use Out-File, Set-Content, >, or any file-writing mechanism to create scripts
  • ALL commands must be run directly via the agent's tool calls (powershell, write_powershell, bash, etc.)
  • If you find yourself wanting to create a script, STOP — run the commands directly instead

Agent Capability Reference

Different agents have different shell models. You MUST use the correct strategy for your agent.

Agent Shell Persistent Session? Tools Available
GitHub Copilot CLI PowerShell (native) ✅ Yes — powershell tool with mode: "async", write_powershell, read_powershell, stop_powershell Full interactive session support
Claude Code Bash (even on Windows via Git Bash/WSL) ❌ No — each Bash tool call is a one-shot command One-shot commands only, no interactive sessions
Cursor / Other Varies Check agent docs Adapt accordingly

Calling PowerShell from Bash (Claude Code on Windows)

When the agent's shell is bash (e.g., Claude Code), use these patterns to call PowerShell commands:

Simple command — use single quotes to avoid bash interpolation:

pwsh -NoProfile -Command 'Get-Command winget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue'

Command with PowerShell variables — use single quotes (bash won't expand $):

pwsh -NoProfile -Command '$m = Get-Module -ListAvailable PSWindowsUpdate; if ($m) { "v$($m.Version)" } else { "not installed" }'

Multi-line complex command — use quoted heredoc:

pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$(cat <<'PWSH'
$packages = @("pkg1", "pkg2", "pkg3")
$jobs = $packages | ForEach-Object {
    Start-Job -ScriptBlock { param($id); winget upgrade --id $id --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements 2>&1 } -ArgumentList $_
}
$jobs | Wait-Job | Receive-Job
$jobs | Remove-Job
PWSH
)"

⚠️ Key rule: Always use single quotes around PowerShell code in bash, or use a heredoc with <<'PWSH' (quoted delimiter prevents bash expansion). NEVER use double quotes with $ — bash will try to expand PowerShell variables and break the command.

Recommended Timeouts

Command Timeout
Environment detection (Phase 1) 30s
winget upgrade (list packages) 60s
Single winget upgrade --id <pkg> 120s
npm update -g 120s
npx skills update -g -y (global) 120s
npx skills update -y (project) 120s
Windows Update scan (Get-WindowsUpdate) 120s
Windows Update install (Install-WindowsUpdate) 600s (10 min)
sudo apt update 60s
sudo apt upgrade 300s (5 min)

For GitHub Copilot CLI: use initial_wait parameter on powershell tool calls. For Claude Code: use timeout parameter on Bash tool calls (in milliseconds: multiply seconds × 1000).

Phase 1: Environment Detection (MANDATORY — must display results before proceeding)

Detect and explicitly display the following before doing anything else.

Prefer bash-native commands where possible — only invoke pwsh when genuinely needed (e.g., PSWindowsUpdate check). This reduces escaping issues and errors.

Detection Bash / Shell-native Only if pwsh needed
OS version uname -s / cat /etc/os-release pwsh -NoProfile -Command '[System.Environment]::OSVersion' (for detailed Windows version)
Shell echo $SHELL or $PSVersionTable —
winget which winget or winget --version —
node/npm node --version / npm --version —
apt which apt —
sudo which sudo / sudo config —
PSWindowsUpdate — pwsh -NoProfile -Command 'Get-Module -ListAvailable PSWindowsUpdate'
  1. Operating System: uname -s (all platforms), or winget --version to confirm Windows
  2. Shell environment: Note which shell you are running in (PowerShell, bash, zsh)
  3. Agent identity: Identify which agent is running (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Cursor, etc.)
  4. Available tools — use simple commands:
    • winget: winget --version 2>/dev/null or which winget
    • node/npm: node --version 2>/dev/null / npm --version 2>/dev/null
    • apt: which apt 2>/dev/null
    • PSWindowsUpdate module (Windows only): pwsh -NoProfile -Command 'Get-Module -ListAvailable PSWindowsUpdate'
  5. sudo status (Windows only, required for winget and Windows Update):
    • Check if sudo exists: which sudo or sudo --version 2>/dev/null
    • Check sudo mode: sudo config
    • If sudo is not installed or not in Inline/normal mode: Auto-fix IMMEDIATELY — do NOT stop and ask the user:
      1. Run sudo sudo config --enable normal — this may trigger a one-time UAC confirmation
      2. Re-check: sudo config — verify mode is now Inline or normal
      3. If auto-fix succeeded, proceed normally — do NOT re-prompt the user
      4. If auto-fix failed (e.g., user declined UAC, or command not found), THEN display a warning and skip elevated tasks (winget, Windows Update). Other tasks (npm, skills) can still proceed.
    • ⛔ Do NOT stop execution to ask the user whether to fix sudo. Just fix it. Only skip if the fix itself fails.
  6. sudo status (Linux only, required for apt):
    • Check if sudo credentials are already cached (no password needed): sudo -n true 2>/dev/null
    • If exit code 0 → credentials cached, proceed normally
    • If exit code non-zero → password will be required. The agent should:
      1. Inform the user that sudo will prompt for their password
      2. Run sudo -v as the first sudo command — this prompts for the password and caches credentials (typically 15 minutes)
      3. After sudo -v succeeds, all subsequent sudo commands will reuse the cached credentials without re-prompting
      4. If sudo -v fails (wrong password, user cancelled), skip apt tasks and report the failure

Display the detection results clearly, for example:

Environment Detection:
  OS:      Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22631)
  Shell:   PowerShell 7.4
  Agent:   GitHub Copilot CLI
  winget:  ✅ available
  node:    ✅ v22.0.0
  npm:     ✅ v10.8.0
  apt:     ❌ not available (Windows)
  sudo:    ✅ v1.0.1, Inline mode
  PSWindowsUpdate: ✅ v2.2.1.5 installed

Applicable update tasks:
  1. winget upgrade (parallel per package)
  2. Windows Update (scan → install → monitor)
  3. npm update -g
  4. npx skills update (global + project)

Another example (Linux):

Environment Detection:
  OS:      Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
  Shell:   bash 5.2
  Agent:   Claude Code
  winget:  ❌ not available (Linux)
  node:    ✅ v22.0.0
  npm:     ✅ v10.8.0
  apt:     ✅ available
  sudo:    ✅ available (credentials cached / password will be needed)

Applicable update tasks:
  1. sudo apt update → sudo apt upgrade -y (serial)
  2. npm update -g
  3. npx skills update (global + project)

CRITICAL: If on Windows and sudo is missing or not in Inline/normal mode, auto-fix with sudo sudo config --enable normal immediately — do NOT ask the user. Only if auto-fix fails should you skip winget and Windows Update tasks. Other tasks (npm, skills) can always proceed.

Phase 2: Plan (generate environment-specific parallel execution plan)

Based on Phase 1 results, build the task list and parallel strategy.

Task Definitions

Task A: winget upgrade (Windows only, requires elevation)

  1. Run winget upgrade --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity (no elevation) to list all upgradable packages
    • The --disable-interactivity flag suppresses spinner characters (- \ |) that make output hard to parse
  2. Parse the output to extract package IDs — look for the table header with Name, Id, Version, Available columns, then extract the Id value from each row
  3. If no packages to upgrade, skip
  4. Upgrade each package individually in parallel (see Parallel Strategy for agent-specific approach)
  5. Collect results per package

⚠️ CRITICAL — per-package parallel upgrade rules:

  • DO: sudo winget upgrade --id <specific-package-id> --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity for EACH package, run in parallel
  • DO NOT: winget upgrade --all or sudo winget upgrade --all — this runs serially and defeats the purpose of parallelism
  • Each package upgrade is independent — run them ALL in parallel, never sequentially
  • Exception: If only 1 package needs upgrading, you may use sudo winget upgrade --id <pkg> ... directly (no need for parallel infrastructure)

Task B: npm update -g (if Node.js installed)

Single command:

  • Windows PowerShell: npm update -g 2>&1
  • bash/zsh: npm update -g 2>&1

Task C: npx skills update (if Node.js installed)

Run both global and project-level updates:

  1. Check if global skills exist: npx skills list -g 2>&1
    • If global skills found: npx skills update -g -y 2>&1
    • If no global skills: skip global update, report "No global skills installed"
  2. Check if project-level skills exist (look for skills-lock.json in the current directory or common project dirs):
    • If found: npx skills update -y 2>&1 (without -g)
    • If not found: skip project update

Task D: sudo apt update → sudo apt upgrade (Linux only, MUST be serial)

⚠️ These two commands MUST run serially, NOT combined with && in a single shell call. Run them as two separate sequential commands so the agent can observe and report each step independently.

  1. Pre-cache sudo credentials (if not already cached from Phase 1): Run sudo -v first — this prompts for the password once and caches credentials for subsequent sudo calls (typically 15 minutes). This ensures apt update and apt upgrade won't each prompt for the password separately.
  2. Run sudo apt update -y 2>&1 — refresh package index
    • Wait for completion, capture and display output
    • If this fails, STOP — do not proceed to upgrade
  3. Run sudo apt upgrade -y 2>&1 — upgrade all packages
    • Wait for completion, capture and display output
    • Report number of upgraded, newly installed, held back packages

This serial approach allows the agent to:

  • Detect and report failures at each step
  • Show the user what's being updated before upgrading
  • Avoid running upgrade with a stale or broken package index

Task E: Windows Update (Windows only, requires elevation)

Uses PSWindowsUpdate to scan, install, and monitor Windows Update. Runs serially (scan → install → reboot check). See Parallel Strategy for how elevation is handled per agent.

WU Steps (run inside an elevated context):

  1. Ensure PSWindowsUpdate module: 
    if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable PSWindowsUpdate)) { Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force }; Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
  2. Scan: Get-WindowsUpdate — if no updates, report "up to date" and skip
  3. Install: Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false -Verbose — never auto-reboot
  4. Check reboot: Get-WURebootStatus — inform user if reboot needed

⚠️ Windows Update can take a long time (minutes to hours) — use generous timeouts and poll for progress.

Parallel Strategy

Windows sudo caches credentials per console session. This determines how many UAC prompts the user sees:

Agent Shell Model sudo Behavior
GitHub Copilot CLI Persistent shell session ✅ Cached — one UAC prompt for all sudo calls
Claude Code New process per command ❌ Not cached — one UAC prompt per sudo call
Other agents Varies Test with two sudo calls to determine behavior

Strategy for GitHub Copilot CLI: parallel tool calls (one UAC prompt total)

sudo credential caching means all sudo calls share one UAC prompt. Use the agent's native parallel tool calls:

parallel:
  Task A: multiple parallel `sudo winget upgrade --id <pkg> ...` tool calls
  Task B: npm update -g
  Task C: npx skills update (global + project)
  Task E: sequential sudo calls for WU (scan → install → reboot check)

All tasks run in parallel. Each sudo reuses the cached credential. One UAC prompt for everything.

Strategy for Claude Code: ONE elevated command combining all elevated tasks (one UAC prompt total)

Since Claude Code spawns a new process per Bash tool call and has NO persistent shell sessions (no write_powershell, read_powershell, or stop_powershell — those are Copilot CLI only), you MUST combine all elevated work into a single sudo pwsh -Command call.

Use the heredoc pattern to build a single PowerShell command that:

  1. Runs winget upgrades in parallel via Start-Job
  2. Runs Windows Update serially (scan → install → reboot check)
parallel (launch all at once):
  Track 1: sudo pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$(cat <<'PWSH'
    # --- winget parallel upgrades ---
    $packages = @("<pkg1>", "<pkg2>", "<pkg3>")
    $jobs = $packages | ForEach-Object {
        Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
            param($id)
            winget upgrade --id $id --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity 2>&1
        } -ArgumentList $_
    }
    $jobs | Wait-Job | Receive-Job
    $jobs | Remove-Job

    # --- Windows Update (serial) ---
    if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable PSWindowsUpdate)) {
        Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force
    }
    Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
    $updates = Get-WindowsUpdate
    if (-not $updates) { Write-Output "No Windows Updates available"; return }
    Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false -Verbose
    Get-WURebootStatus
  PWSH
  )"
  Track 2: npm update -g 2>&1
  Track 3: npx skills update -g -y 2>&1 && npx skills update -y 2>&1

Key points:

  • ONE sudo pwsh call = ONE UAC prompt for both winget and Windows Update
  • winget packages run in parallel via Start-Job inside that single command
  • Windows Update runs serially after winget completes (same elevated process)
  • npm and skills updates run in parallel OUTSIDE the elevated command (they don't need elevation)
  • Use a generous timeout (600s / 600000ms) for Track 1 since Windows Update can be slow
  • Do NOT use write_powershell or read_powershell — Claude Code does not have these tools

Display the plan before executing, e.g. (GitHub Copilot CLI):

Plan: 4 parallel update tasks (one UAC prompt via sudo caching)
  Task A: winget upgrade — 5 packages (parallel sudo calls)
  Task B: npm update -g
  Task C: npx skills update (global + project)
  Task E: Windows Update — scan → install → monitor

Or (Claude Code):

Plan: 3 parallel tracks (one UAC prompt via shared elevated session)
  Elevated session: winget (5 packages via Jobs) + Windows Update (serial)
  Task B: npm update -g (parallel, no elevation)
  Task C: npx skills update — global + project (parallel, no elevation)

Phase 3: Execute (all tasks in parallel)

Launch ALL applicable tasks simultaneously. NEVER run them sequentially.

GitHub Copilot CLI execution:

For Task A (winget):

  1. Run winget upgrade --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity to discover packages
  2. Parse package IDs from the table output (the ID column)
  3. For each package, launch a separate parallel tool call: sudo winget upgrade --id <pkg> --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity
  4. ⚠️ Do NOT use winget upgrade --all — it runs serially. Each package MUST be a separate parallel call.
  5. Collect all results

For Task E (Windows Update):

  1. sudo pwsh -NoProfile -Command "Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate; Get-WindowsUpdate" — scan
  2. If updates exist: sudo pwsh -NoProfile -Command "Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate; Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false -Verbose"
  3. sudo pwsh -NoProfile -Command "Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate; Get-WURebootStatus" — check reboot
  4. All sudo calls reuse cached credential — no additional UAC prompts
  5. ⚠️ Do NOT combine scan + install into one command. Run them as separate steps so the agent can observe each result.

For Tasks B, C: run the single command and capture output.

Claude Code execution:

  1. First, build the winget package list: winget upgrade --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity (no sudo needed for listing)
  2. Parse package IDs from the output
  3. Launch ALL tracks in parallel:
    • Track 1 (elevated, one UAC prompt): Build and run a single sudo pwsh -NoProfile -Command "$(cat <<'PWSH' ... PWSH)" that contains:
      • winget Start-Job blocks for each package (parallel)
      • Wait-Job | Receive-Job to collect winget results
      • PSWindowsUpdate import, scan, install, reboot check (serial)
    • Track 2: npm update -g 2>&1 (no elevation)
    • Track 3: npx skills update -g -y 2>&1 then npx skills update -y 2>&1 (no elevation)
  4. Set timeout for Track 1 to at least 600s (600000ms) — Windows Update can be very slow
  5. Collect and display results from all tracks

⚠️ Do NOT use write_powershell, read_powershell, or stop_powershell — these are GitHub Copilot CLI tools and do NOT exist in Claude Code. Use bash one-shot commands only.

Linux execution (all agents):

For Task D (apt):

  1. Run sudo apt update -y 2>&1 and wait for completion
  2. Check exit code — if non-zero, report failure and STOP (do not run upgrade)
  3. Run sudo apt upgrade -y 2>&1 and wait for completion
  4. Parse output for summary (X upgraded, Y newly installed, Z held back)

For Tasks B, C: run in parallel alongside Task D.

Phase 4: Report & Recommendations

Summary Report

================================================================================
                           UPDATE ALL — SUMMARY
================================================================================
Timestamp: <time>
System:    <OS>
Agent:     <agent>

── winget upgrade ──────────────────────────────────
  [✓] Git.Git (2.52.0 → 2.53.0)
  [✓] Microsoft.VisualStudioCode (1.95 → 1.96)
  [✗] SomeApp.Failed — installer error (exit code 1)
  Succeeded: 2 / Failed: 1

── Windows Update ──────────────────────────────────
  [✓] KB5034441 — Security Update (45 MB)
  [✓] KB5034123 — .NET Runtime Update (12 MB)
  [⚠] Reboot required to complete installation
  Succeeded: 2 / Failed: 0

── npm update -g ───────────────────────────────────
  [✓] Updated 3 packages

── npx skills update ───────────────────────────────
  [✓] All skills up to date

── apt update ──────────────────────────────────────
  [✓] Package index refreshed (42 packages can be upgraded)

── apt upgrade ─────────────────────────────────────
  [✓] 42 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 held back

================================================================================
Total tasks: 5 | Succeeded: 4 | Partial: 1 (winget had 1 failure)
⚠️ Reboot required for Windows Update
================================================================================

Environment-Specific Recommendations

Provide recommendations ONLY for the detected environment:

Windows:

  • If winget packages failed, suggest retrying individually: sudo winget upgrade --id <pkg> --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity
  • If a package failed due to "in use", suggest closing the application first
  • If npm update -g reports EPERM errors on .exe files (e.g., workiq.exe, azmcp.exe), this means those packages are currently running. Inform the user: "npm update succeeded but could not replace some executables that are in use. Close the related applications and retry, or ignore — the update itself was applied."
  • If sudo was not in Inline mode, remind: sudo sudo config --enable normal
  • If Windows Update requires reboot, inform: "Please restart your computer to complete the update installation. You can do this when convenient."
  • If Windows Update failed to install some updates, suggest: "Try running Windows Update again after a reboot, or check Windows Update settings in Settings → Windows Update"
  • If PSWindowsUpdate module installation failed, suggest: "Run PowerShell as Administrator and try: Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force"
  • Never suggest chmod, apt, or other Linux/macOS commands

Linux:

  • If apt update failed, suggest checking network connectivity and sources list: cat /etc/apt/sources.list
  • If apt upgrade failed, suggest sudo apt --fix-broken install
  • If packages were held back, inform the user and suggest sudo apt full-upgrade if they want to force them
  • If npm update failed with permission errors, suggest checking npm prefix: npm config get prefix
  • Never suggest winget, sudo config, or other Windows commands

macOS:

  • Note that this skill does not include Homebrew updates (yet) — user can run brew update && brew upgrade separately
  • Never suggest winget, apt, or other Windows/Linux commands

Notes

  • NEVER create script files (.ps1, .sh, .bat, .cmd) — run all commands directly via agent tool calls
  • NEVER use winget upgrade --all — always upgrade each package individually by --id for parallelism
  • NEVER combine Windows Update steps (scan + install + reboot check) into a single command — run each step separately so the agent can observe and react
  • The sudo requirement on Windows is specifically for winget and Windows Update — npm and skills updates typically don't need elevation
  • If sudo is missing or wrong mode on Windows, try sudo sudo config --enable normal before giving up
  • If only some tasks are applicable (e.g., no Node.js installed), run only the applicable ones
  • The user may request to run only specific tasks (e.g., "just update winget") — honor that and skip others
  • winget's table output format may vary by locale — the agent should parse it adaptively (look for the Id column header and the separator line of dashes). Always use --disable-interactivity to suppress spinner characters that interfere with parsing.
  • Windows Update can take a very long time — always use generous timeouts (300+ seconds) and poll for completion
  • Windows Update will NEVER trigger an automatic reboot — the agent must inform the user and let them decide
  • On Linux, apt update and apt upgrade are intentionally separate commands (not combined with &&) for better observability and error handling
  • If PSWindowsUpdate module is not available and cannot be installed, skip Windows Update and inform the user
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