Efficiently bring upstream NanoClaw updates into a customized install, with preview, selective cherry-pick, and low token usage.
Your NanoClaw fork drifts from upstream as you customize it. This skill pulls upstream changes into your install without losing your modifications.
Run /update-nanoclaw in Claude Code.
Preflight: checks for clean working tree (git status --porcelain). If upstream remote is missing, asks you for the URL (defaults to https://github.com/qwibitai/nanoclaw.git) and adds it. Detects the upstream branch name (main or master).
Backup: creates a timestamped backup branch and tag (backup/pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>, pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>) before touching anything. Safe to run multiple times.
Preview: runs git log and git diff against the merge base to show upstream changes since your last sync. Groups changed files into categories:
.claude/skills/): unlikely to conflict unless you edited an upstream skillsrc/): may conflict if you modified the same filespackage.json, tsconfig*.json, container/): review neededUpdate paths (you pick one):
merge (default): git merge upstream/<branch>. Resolves all conflicts in one pass.cherry-pick: git cherry-pick <hashes>. Pull in only the commits you want.rebase: git rebase upstream/<branch>. Linear history, but conflicts resolve per-commit.abort: just view the changelog, change nothing.Conflict preview: before merging, runs a dry-run (git merge --no-commit --no-ff) to show which files would conflict. You can still abort at this point.
Conflict resolution: opens only conflicted files, resolves the conflict markers, keeps your local customizations intact.
Validation: runs npm run build and npm test.
Breaking changes check: after validation, reads CHANGELOG.md for any [BREAKING] entries introduced by the update. If found, shows each breaking change and offers to run the recommended skill to migrate.
The backup tag is printed at the end of each run:
git reset --hard pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp>
Backup branch backup/pre-update-<hash>-<timestamp> also exists.
Only opens files with actual conflicts. Uses git log, git diff, and git status for everything else. Does not scan or refactor unrelated code.
Help a user with a customized NanoClaw install safely incorporate upstream changes without a fresh reinstall and without blowing tokens.
git status, git log, git diff, and open only conflicted files.Run:
git status --porcelain
If output is non-empty:Confirm remotes:
git remote -v
If upstream is missing:https://github.com/qwibitai/nanoclaw.git).git remote add upstream <user-provided-url>git fetch upstream --pruneDetermine the upstream branch name:
git branch -r | grep upstream/upstream/main exists, use main.upstream/master exists, use master.upstream/main should use upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH instead.Fetch:
git fetch upstream --pruneCapture current state:
HASH=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)Create backup branch and tag (using timestamp to avoid collisions on retry):
git branch backup/pre-update-$HASH-$TIMESTAMPgit tag pre-update-$HASH-$TIMESTAMPSave the tag name for later reference in the summary and rollback instructions.
Compute common base:
BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH)Show upstream commits since BASE:
git log --oneline $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCHShow local commits since BASE (custom drift):
git log --oneline $BASE..HEADShow file-level impact from upstream:
git diff --name-only $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCHBucket the upstream changed files:
.claude/skills/): unlikely to conflict unless the user edited an upstream skillsrc/): may conflict if user modified the same filespackage.json, package-lock.json, tsconfig*.json, container/, launchd/): review neededLarge drift check: If the upstream commit count and age suggest the user has a lot of catching up to do, mention that /migrate-nanoclaw might be a better fit — it extracts customizations and reapplies them on clean upstream instead of merging. Offer it as an option but don't push.
Present these buckets to the user and ask them to choose one path using AskUserQuestion:
If Abort: stop here.
If Full update or Rebase:
git merge --no-commit --no-ff upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH; git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U; git merge --abort
Run:
git merge upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH --no-editIf conflicts occur:
git status and identify conflicted files.git add <file>git commit --no-editIf user chose Selective:
BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH)git log --oneline $BASE..upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCHgit cherry-pick <hash1> <hash2> ...If conflicts during cherry-pick:
git add <file>git cherry-pick --continue
If user wants to stop:git cherry-pick --abortRun:
git rebase upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCHIf conflicts:
git add <file>git rebase --continue
If it gets messy (more than 3 rounds of conflicts):git rebase --abortRun:
npm run buildnpm test (do not fail the flow if tests are not configured)If build fails:
After validation succeeds, check if the update introduced any breaking changes.
Determine which CHANGELOG entries are new by diffing against the backup tag:
git diff <backup-tag-from-step-1>..HEAD -- CHANGELOG.mdParse the diff output for lines that contain [BREAKING] anywhere in the line. Each such line is one breaking change entry. The format is:
[BREAKING] <description>. Run `/<skill-name>` to <action>.
If no [BREAKING] lines are found:
If one or more [BREAKING] lines are found:
/<skill-name> part).multiSelect: true so the user can pick multiple skills if there are several breaking changes.After the summary, check if skills are distributed as branches in this repo:
git branch -r --list 'upstream/skill/*'If any upstream/skill/* branches exist:
/update-skills using the Skill tool.Show:
git rev-parse --short HEADgit rev-parse --short upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCHgit diff --name-only upstream/$UPSTREAM_BRANCH..HEADTell the user:
git reset --hard <backup-tag-from-step-1>backup/pre-update-<HASH>-<TIMESTAMP>launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.nanoclaw.plist && launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.nanoclaw.plistnpm run dev.claude/skills/update-nanoclaw/diagnostics.md.