Navigator Upgrade Skill

Automate Navigator plugin updates with version detection, conflict resolution, and post-update validation.

When to Invoke

Auto-invoke when user says:

• "Update Navigator"
• "Upgrade Navigator plugin"
• "Get latest Navigator version"
• "Update to Navigator v3.3.0"
• "Install new Navigator features"
• "Check for Navigator updates"

What This Does

6-Step Workflow:

1. Version Detection: Check current Navigator version vs latest
2. Plugin Update: Execute /plugin update navigator
3. Verification: Confirm update succeeded
4. CLAUDE.md Update: Update project configuration (via nav-sync-claude)
5. Hooks Setup: Install/update token monitoring hooks in project
6. Feature Discovery: Show new features available

Time Savings: Manual update (10-15 min) → Automated (2 min)

Prerequisites

• Navigator plugin installed
• Project initialized with Navigator
• Internet connection for plugin update

Workflow Protocol

Step 1: Version Detection

Execute: version_detector.py

Check both stable and pre-release versions:

# Current installed version
grep '"version"' .claude-plugin/plugin.json

# Get all releases (including pre-releases)
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/alekspetrov/navigator/releases

# Parse:
# - Latest stable (prerelease: false)
# - Latest pre-release (prerelease: true)
# - Compare with current version

Output scenarios:

Scenario 1: Stable update available

{
  "current_version": "4.0.0",
  "latest_stable": "4.2.0",
  "latest_prerelease": null,
  "recommendation": "update_to_stable"
}

Scenario 2: Pre-release available (user on stable)

{
  "current_version": "4.0.0",
  "latest_stable": "4.0.0",
  "latest_prerelease": "4.3.0",
  "recommendation": "offer_prerelease_option"
}

Present choice:

✅ You're on the latest stable version (v4.0.0)

⚡ Experimental version available: v4.3.0

New in v4.3.0 (Experimental):
• Multi-Claude agentic workflows
• 30% success rate (use for simple features)
• PM integration with ticket closing

Options:
[1] Stay on stable v4.0.0 (recommended)
[2] Try experimental v4.3.0 (early adopter)

Your choice [1-2]:

Scenario 3: Already on latest (stable or pre-release)

✅ You're on v4.3.0 (latest experimental)

Latest stable: v4.0.0
Status: You're ahead of stable (testing experimental features)

New features in your version:
- Multi-Claude workflows
- Task agents in sub-Claude phases

Skip to Step 5 (Feature Discovery).

Scenario 4: On pre-release, newer stable available

⚠️  You're on v4.3.0 (experimental)
Latest stable: v4.6.0

Recommendation: Update to stable v4.6.0
Experimental features from v4.3.0 are now stable.

Step 2: Plugin Update

Scenario-based update strategy:

Scenario 2: Pre-release Available (User on Stable)

When pre-release detected, present choice using AskUserQuestion tool:

✅ You're on latest stable version (v4.0.0)

⚡ Experimental version available: v4.3.0

New in v4.3.0 (Experimental):
• Multi-Claude agentic workflows
• 30% success rate (use for simple features)
• PM integration with ticket closing

**Question**: Which version would you like?

**Options**:
[1] **Stay on stable v4.0.0** (recommended)
    - Production-ready
    - No experimental features
    - Most reliable

[2] **Try experimental v4.3.0** (early adopter)
    - Multi-Claude workflows
    - Latest features
    - 30% completion rate
    - Help test new functionality

Your choice?

If user chooses [1] (Stay stable):

✓ Staying on v4.0.0 (latest stable)

No action needed. Run nav-upgrade again when you're ready to try experimental features.

If user chooses [2] (Try experimental):

# Uninstall current version
/plugin uninstall navigator

# Add marketplace (if not already added)
/plugin marketplace add alekspetrov/navigator

# Install specific pre-release version
# Note: /plugin update only fetches stable, must install specific version
git clone https://github.com/alekspetrov/navigator.git /tmp/navigator-v4.3.0
cd /tmp/navigator-v4.3.0
git checkout v4.3.0

# Install from local checkout
/plugin install /tmp/navigator-v4.3.0

Then verify installation:

/plugin list | grep navigator
# Should show: navigator (v4.3.0)

Scenario 1: Stable Update Available

Execute: /plugin update navigator

Monitor output:

Updating navigator...
✅ Navigator updated to v4.2.0

If update fails:

❌ Update failed: [error message]

Troubleshooting:
1. Restart Claude Code
2. Try: /plugin uninstall navigator && /plugin install navigator
3. Check internet connection
4. Report issue: https://github.com/alekspetrov/navigator/issues

Automatic retry (once): If update fails, try uninstall/reinstall automatically:

/plugin uninstall navigator
/plugin marketplace add alekspetrov/navigator
/plugin install navigator

Step 3: Verification

Execute: plugin_verifier.py

Verify:

1. Plugin version matches latest
2. New skills registered in plugin.json
3. Skills are invokable

Test new skills (v3.3.0 example):

# Test that visual-regression skill exists
ls ~/.config/claude/plugins/navigator/skills/visual-regression/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null || echo "Skill not found"

Output:

✅ Update Verification

Version: v3.3.0 ✅
New Skills Registered: visual-regression ✅
Skills Invokable: ✅

Update successful!

If verification fails:

⚠️ Update completed but verification failed

Issue: visual-regression skill not found
Fix: Restart Claude Code to reload skills

After restarting, verify:
"Set up visual regression for Button"

Prompt user to restart Claude Code.

IMPORTANT - Restart Required After All Updates:

Claude Code caches skill paths at session start. Even successful updates require a restart to load new skills:

⚠️  RESTART REQUIRED

Plugin updated successfully to vX.Y.Z.
Claude Code caches skill paths at session start.

To use new/updated skills:
1. Close Claude Code
2. Reopen Claude Code
3. Run "nav start" to verify new version

Without restart:
- Old skill versions continue running
- New skills won't be available
- May see "skill not found" errors

This is a Claude Code behavior, not a Navigator issue. The plugin files update correctly, but the active session continues using cached skill paths from the old version.

Step 4: Update Project CLAUDE.md (Automatic)

After plugin update, automatically invoke: nav-sync-claude skill

🔄 Syncing project CLAUDE.md with updated plugin...

✓ Using template from GitHub (v4.3.0)
✓ Extracted customizations
✓ Generated updated CLAUDE.md

What happens automatically:

1. Detects new plugin version (e.g., v4.3.0)
2. Fetches matching template from GitHub
3. Preserves project customizations
4. Updates CLAUDE.md in current project
5. Shows diff for review

Template sync benefits:

• ✅ CLAUDE.md always matches installed plugin version
• ✅ No template drift (v4.0 templates with v4.3 plugin)
• ✅ Pre-release templates accessible
• ✅ Offline fallback to bundled templates

User action required:

Review changes and commit:

git add CLAUDE.md
git commit -m "chore: update CLAUDE.md to Navigator v4.3.0"

See: nav-sync-claude skill for details.

Step 5: Migrate Legacy Hooks Out of .claude/settings.json

v6.13.0+: Navigator's lifecycle hooks now ship with the plugin manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin.json's top-level hooks field). Claude Code only substitutes ${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT} for hooks declared in a plugin manifest, so the prior approach (merging hooks into the project's .claude/settings.json) produced broken commands like /hooks/X.py (empty expansion). Hooks ship with the plugin from v6.13.0 onwards.

For existing installs, the old hook entries are duplicated in .claude/settings.json and must be removed to prevent double-firing:

PLUGIN_DIR="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/navigator-marketplace/navigator}"
if [ ! -d "$PLUGIN_DIR" ]; then
  PLUGIN_DIR="$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/navigator-marketplace"
fi

python3 "$PLUGIN_DIR/skills/nav-upgrade/functions/migrate_hooks_out_of_settings.py" \
    .claude/settings.json

# Output:
#   ✓ Backup written → .claude/settings.json.pre-migrate.<timestamp>
#   ✓ Removed N Navigator hook entries (commands path matched)
#   ✓ Preserved K unrelated user hooks

Behavior:

• Conservative match: command string must contain BOTH hooks/ AND one of

the known Navigator hook names (navsessionstart, navprecompact, navpostcompact, navworkflowstate, navreadguard, navtaskgraphsync, navprofilesync, navcommitreminder, navbrief, tokenmonitor, workflowenforcer).

• Writes a .pre-migrate.<timestamp> backup before any change.
• Logs every removed entry to stderr.
• Idempotent: re-running on an already-migrated file is a no-op.
• Never touches entries with unrelated commands.

Fresh installs do not need this step — they never had hooks in .claude/settings.json to begin with.

v7.0.0 migration note: the nine per-hook scripts were replaced by a single dispatcher (hooks/navdispatch.py) routing to hooks/ops/* — the old files no longer exist in the plugin. Any consumer settings.json entry still referencing an old hook path (e.g. hooks/navsessionstart.py, hooks/workflowenforcer.py, hooks/navbrief.py) is stale and now fails with "No such file or directory" on every event. Run the same migratehooksoutof_settings.py step above — its basename list covers all nine v6 hooks — then restart Claude Code. Per-hook state files are archived automatically by the SessionStart op to .agent/.nav-v6-state.bak/ (replaced by .agent/.nav-runtime-state.json, schema 2).

⚠️  RESTART REQUIRED to activate hooks from the plugin manifest.
   Claude Code caches plugin hook definitions at session start.

Step 6: Post-Upgrade Setup Check

Check if new features require setup:

# Check for skills with setup requirements
if [ -f "$NAVIGATOR_PATH/skills/product-design/setup.sh" ]; then
  # Check if venv exists
  if [ ! -d "$NAVIGATOR_PATH/skills/product-design/venv" ]; then
    echo "⚠️  product-design skill requires setup"
    NEEDS_SETUP=true
  fi
fi

If setup needed, show instructions:

⚠️  New Feature Requires Setup

The product-design skill (v3.4.0+) requires Python dependencies:

**One-time setup** (30 seconds):

cd ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/navigator-marketplace/skills/product-design ./setup.sh

**What this installs**:
- Python MCP SDK for direct Figma connection
- 95% orchestration reduction
- 92% token savings

**After setup, use**:
"Review this Figma design: [URL]"

Record setup needed in TodoWrite for tracking.

Step 7: Feature Discovery

Show new features available in updated version.

For v3.3.0 update: ````markdown 🎉 Navigator v3.3.0 Update Complete!

New Features Available

visual-regression Skill (NEW)

Set up Storybook + Chromatic in 5 minutes instead of 2-3 hours.

Usage:

"Set up visual regression for ProfileCard"
"Add Chromatic to Button component"
"Configure visual tests for Input, Card, Modal"

What it does: ✅ Generates Storybook stories with all variants ✅ Configures Chromatic/Percy/BackstopJS ✅ Creates CI workflows (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) ✅ Adds accessibility tests

Complete Design Pipeline (v3.2 + v3.3):

1. "Review this design from Figma" (v3.2)
2. Implement components
3. "Set up visual regression" (v3.3 NEW)
4. Automated visual testing in CI

Updated Skills Count

• 17 total skills (was 16)
• 10 core Navigator skills
• 7 development skills

Integration

visual-regression integrates with product-design skill for complete design→code→testing workflow.

Try It Now

If you have Storybook in this project:

"Set up visual regression for [ComponentName]"

If you don't have Storybook:

npx storybook init

Then:

"Set up visual regression for [ComponentName]"

Documentation

• Release Notes: https://github.com/alekspetrov/navigator/releases/tag/v3.3.0
• Skill Docs: skills/visual-regression/SKILL.md
• Examples: skills/visual-regression/examples/
• SOP: .agent/sops/testing/visual-regression-setup.md (created in your project)

````

Predefined Functions

functions/version_detector.py

Purpose: Detect current and latest Navigator versions

Usage:

python3 functions/version_detector.py

Output:

{
  "current_version": "3.2.0",
  "latest_version": "3.3.0",
  "update_available": true,
  "release_url": "https://github.com/alekspetrov/navigator/releases/tag/v3.3.0",
  "changes": {
    "new_skills": ["visual-regression"],
    "updated_skills": ["product-design"],
    "new_features": ["Multi-tool VR support", "CI workflows"],
    "breaking_changes": []
  }
}

functions/plugin_updater.py

Purpose: Execute plugin update with retry logic

Usage:

python3 functions/plugin_updater.py --target-version 3.3.0

Actions:

1. Execute /plugin update navigator
2. If fails, retry with uninstall/reinstall
3. Verify update succeeded
4. Return status

functions/plugin_verifier.py

Purpose: Verify update completed successfully

Usage:

python3 functions/plugin_verifier.py --expected-version 3.3.0

Checks:

• Plugin version matches expected
• New skills exist in filesystem
• Skills registered in plugin.json
• Skills are invokable (test invocation)

Error Handling

Update Failed: Network Error

❌ Update failed: Could not connect to plugin marketplace

Fix:
1. Check internet connection
2. Try again in a few minutes
3. Manual update: /plugin uninstall navigator && /plugin install navigator

Update Failed: Permission Denied

❌ Update failed: Permission denied

Fix:
1. Close Claude Code
2. Check ~/.config/claude/plugins/ permissions
3. Restart Claude Code
4. Try update again

Verification Failed: Skills Not Found

⚠️ Update completed but new skills not found

Fix:
1. Restart Claude Code (required for skill reload)
2. Verify: /plugin list
3. Test: "Set up visual regression for Button"

Automatically prompt user to restart.

CLAUDE.md Update Conflicts

⚠️ CLAUDE.md update has conflicts with your customizations

Options:
[1] Keep my customizations (merge new features)
[2] Use new template (lose customizations)
[3] Show me the diff first

Reply with choice

Let user decide how to handle conflicts.

Upgrade Paths

From v3.0.x to v3.3.0

Changes:

• +2 skills (nav-markers in v3.1, visual-regression in v3.3)
• OpenTelemetry integration (v3.1)
• Product design skill (v3.2)
• Visual regression skill (v3.3)

Breaking changes: None (fully backward compatible)

From v3.1.x to v3.3.0

Changes:

• Product design skill (v3.2)
• Visual regression skill (v3.3)
• Updated skills count (17 total)

Breaking changes: None

From v3.2.x to v3.3.0

Changes:

• Visual regression skill
• Integration with product-design workflow
• Updated skills count (17 total)

Breaking changes: None

Post-Update Checklist

After upgrade, verify:

• ✅ /plugin list shows new version
• ✅ CLAUDE.md updated with new patterns
• ✅ New skills auto-invoke on natural language
• ✅ Existing skills still work
• ✅ No conflicts in project configuration

If all checked: Update successful!

Rollback

If update causes issues:

"Rollback Navigator to v3.2.0"

This will:

1. Uninstall current version
2. Install specific version from marketplace
3. Update CLAUDE.md to match
4. Verify rollback succeeded

Integration Points

With nav-sync-claude

After plugin update, automatically invokes nav-sync-claude to sync project configuration.

With nav-start

After update, nav-start shows new features available in session statistics.

With nav-init

If upgrading before project initialization, suggests running nav-init with latest features.

Examples

Example 1: Simple Update

User: "Update Navigator"

→ Detects: v3.2.0 → v3.3.0 available
→ Updates plugin
→ Updates CLAUDE.md
→ Shows: "visual-regression skill now available"
→ Suggests: "Set up visual regression for [Component]"

Example 2: Already on Latest

User: "Update Navigator"

→ Detects: Already on v3.3.0
→ Shows new features available
→ Suggests trying visual-regression if not used yet

Example 3: Update with Restart Required

User: "Update Navigator"

→ Updates plugin
→ Verification: Skills not found (needs restart)
→ Prompts: "Please restart Claude Code to complete update"
→ After restart: Verification succeeds

Best Practices

1. Update regularly: Check for updates monthly
2. Read release notes: Understand new features before using
3. Test new skills: Try new features in test project first
4. Report issues: File GitHub issues for update problems
5. Backup CLAUDE.md: Keep backup before update (auto-created)

Version History

• v1.0.0: Initial nav-upgrade skill (Navigator v3.3.1)

Future Enhancements

• Auto-update check on nav-start (opt-in)
• Changelog display in CLI
• Update notifications for major versions
• Automated migration scripts for breaking changes

Last Updated: 2025-10-21 Skill Type: Core Navigator Auto-Invocation: Yes