check-updates

by microsoft

This skill checks for updates to the skills-for-fabric marketplace at the start of each session.

npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/skills-for-fabric --skill check-updates
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Check for Updates

This skill checks for updates to the skills-for-fabric marketplace at the start of each session.

When to Run

Run this check once per week when any skills-for-fabric skill is first invoked. Skip if already checked within the last 7 days.

Session State

The update check marker is stored in a persistent, user-level directory shared across all sessions and all plugins in the Fabric Skills marketplace:

~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json

This file contains a JSON object mapping plugin names to the UTC date (YYYY-MM-DD) of their last update check:

{
  "fabric-skills": "2026-02-17",
  "another-plugin": "2026-02-16"
}

Before checking, read ~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json:

  • If the file exists and the entry for the current plugin is within the last 7 days (compared to the current UTC date), skip the check.
  • If the file is missing, the plugin entry is absent, or the date is more than 7 days old (compared to the current UTC date), run the update check.

IMPORTANT — use UTC consistently: Always use the current UTC date when saving and comparing the last-update-check timestamp. Do not use the local system timezone, as it varies across environments and can cause the check to run too often or be skipped. In shell, use date -u +%Y-%m-%d (Linux/macOS) or (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") (PowerShell).

Note: Create the ~/.config/fabric-collection/ directory if it does not exist. On Windows, use $env:USERPROFILE\.config\fabric-collection\.

Update Check Procedure

Step 1: Get Local Version

Read the version field from the local plugin manifest. Two install layouts exist:

  • GitHub Copilot CLI plugin install (~/.copilot/installed-plugins/fabric-collection/fabric-skills/): the manifest is .github/plugin/plugin.json — there is no package.json here.
  • Manual git clone: the manifest is package.json at the repo root.

Read whichever is present. Both files contain a top-level "version": "<semver>" field.

Step 2: Determine Repository Owner and Name

Read the repository field from the same manifest you used in Step 1, and parse the URL to get owner and repo. The two layouts store the field differently:

  • Copilot CLI plugin install (.github/plugin/plugin.json) — plain URL string: 
    "repository": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>"
  • Manual git clone (package.json at the repo root) — object whose url ends with .git: 
    "repository": { "type": "git", "url": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>.git" }

There is no bare plugin.json at the repo root in either layout, and there is no top-level package.json in the Copilot CLI plugin install — always use the path that matches your actual layout.

CRITICAL: Use the owner string exactly as it appears in the URL. Do NOT alter, normalize, or "correct" the owner name — including underscores, mixed case, or any other punctuation. Whatever the manifest's repository URL says, that is the correct owner. (LLMs sometimes "auto-correct" underscores to hyphens — don't.)

Step 3: Fetch Latest Release

Use the available tools in your environment to get the latest version. Try methods in strict order — only fall back to the next method if the previous one fails or is unavailable.

IMPORTANT: Methods A and B work with both public and private repositories. Method C only works with public repos. Always attempt A or B first.

Method A — Git CLI (preferred for git-clone installs)

Only available if the skills-for-fabric directory is a Git working tree (i.e. it has a .git entry — either a directory in a normal clone, or a file in a worktree/submodule). The Copilot CLI plugin install at ~/.copilot/installed-plugins/fabric-collection/fabric-skills/ has no .git entry — for that install layout, skip to Method B. If you want a tool-agnostic check, run git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree and only proceed if it prints true.

If you do have a Git clone, fetch the remote package.json without pulling:

git fetch origin main --quiet
git show origin/main:package.json

Extract the version field from the JSON output. This method is the most reliable because it uses the already-configured remote URL and authentication, and avoids any owner/repo name parsing.

Method B — GitHub MCP tools (preferred for agentic environments)

If you have access to GitHub MCP server tools (e.g., get_file_contents), use them to read the remote package.json. Use the owner and repo extracted in Step 2 exactly as parsed (do not modify the strings):

get_file_contents(owner: "<owner>", repo: "<repo>", path: "package.json")

Extract the version field from the response. This method works with private repositories because MCP tools use authenticated GitHub access.

Method C — GitHub REST API (fallback only, public repos)

⚠️ Only use this method if Methods A and B both fail or are unavailable. This method does not work with private repositories.

If the repository is public, make a GET request using the owner/repo from Step 2:

GET https://api.github.com/repos/<owner>/<repo>/releases/latest

Extract the tag_name field (e.g., v0.2.0) and remove the v prefix.

Note: This method returns 404 for private repositories. If you receive a 404 error, do NOT assume the repository doesn't exist — retry with Method A or B.

Step 4: Compare Versions

Compare the local version with the remote version using semantic versioning:

  • If remote > local: Update available
  • If remote <= local: Up to date

Step 5: Display Results

If Up to Date

Show a brief confirmation and proceed:

✅ skills-for-fabric v0.1.0 is up to date.

If Update Available

Show detailed information:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  🔄 skills-for-fabric Update Available                                ║
║                                                                  ║
║  Current: v0.1.0  →  Latest: v0.2.0                             ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

## What's New in v0.2.0

[Display relevant CHANGELOG.md entries here]

## Update Commands

Choose the update method based on how you installed skills-for-fabric.

### GitHub Copilot CLI (recommended)
/plugin update fabric-skills@fabric-collection

If you originally installed the plugin under the legacy id, this also works:
  /plugin update skills-for-fabric@fabric-collection

The plugin was renamed in 0.3.0 (skills-for-fabric → fabric-skills),
but the legacy id is kept as a deprecated alias of fabric-skills, so
either /plugin update command pulls the canonical payload.

(Optional cleanup) To migrate your installed entry from the legacy id
to the canonical fabric-skills id:
  /plugin uninstall skills-for-fabric@fabric-collection
  /plugin install fabric-skills@fabric-collection

### Manual (Git clone)
cd /path/to/skills-for-fabric
git pull

(There are no installation scripts to re-run on 0.3.0+.)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Would you like to update now? (The current skill will still work)

Step 6: Set Update Marker

After completing the check (regardless of result), update ~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json with today's UTC date (YYYY-MM-DD) for the current plugin. Create the directory and file if they don't exist. Preserve entries for other plugins already in the file.

Must

  • Check for updates only once per week (based on UTC calendar date, not session lifetime or local timezone)
  • Always proceed with the requested skill after the check (non-blocking)
  • Handle network errors gracefully (show warning, continue with skill)
  • Display the CHANGELOG.md content for versions between current and latest

Prefer

  • Use Git CLI (Method A) or GitHub MCP tools (Method B) for version checking — these work with private repos
  • Fall back to the public GitHub REST API (Method C) only if Methods A and B both fail
  • Show a concise summary rather than overwhelming detail
  • Cache the check result in ~/.config/fabric-collection/last-update-check.json
  • Provide copy-pasteable update commands

Avoid

  • Blocking the user from using skills if update check fails
  • Checking on every skill invocation (once per week is sufficient)
  • Attempting Method C (public API) before trying Methods A or B
  • Relying solely on unauthenticated public API calls (will fail for private repos)
  • Auto-updating without user consent

Error Handling

If the update check fails (network error, API rate limit, etc.):

⚠️ Could not check for skills-for-fabric updates (network error).
   Continuing with current version (v0.1.0).
   Run '/skill check-updates' manually to retry.

Manual Invocation

Users can manually check for updates at any time:

  • GitHub Copilot CLI: /skill check-updates
  • Other tools: Invoke the check-updates skill directly

Reference

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