Dependency Update Checker#

What This Does#

A CLI tool that checks for outdated dependencies by running native package manager commands. Currently supports:

• npm: Checks package.json dependencies using npm outdated
• pip: Checks requirements.txt using pip list --outdated
• poetry: Checks pyproject.toml using poetry show --outdated (if poetry is installed)

The tool detects which package managers are relevant based on files in the current directory and runs the appropriate checks.

When To Use#

• You want a quick overview of outdated dependencies across multiple projects
• You need to check dependency status before updating or deploying
• You're managing multiple projects with different package managers
• You want a consistent interface for checking updates across ecosystems

Usage#

Check dependencies in current directory:

bash

python3 scripts/main.py check

Check specific package manager:

bash

python3 scripts/main.py check --manager npm
python3 scripts/main.py check --manager pip
python3 scripts/main.py check --manager poetry

Output format (JSON):

bash

python3 scripts/main.py check --format json

Examples#

Example 1: Check all dependencies#

bash

cd /path/to/project
python3 scripts/main.py check

Output:

text

Checking dependencies...
[✓] Found package.json
[✓] Running npm outdated...
┌─────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────────────┐
│ Package         │ Current │ Wanted  │ Latest │ Package Type │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────────────┤
│ express         │ 4.17.1  │ 4.18.0  │ 4.18.0  │ dependencies │
│ lodash          │ 4.17.20 │ 4.17.21 │ 4.17.21 │ dependencies │
└─────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴──────────────┘

[✓] Found requirements.txt
[✓] Running pip list --outdated...
┌─────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
│ Package         │ Current │ Latest  │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ requests        │ 2.28.1  │ 2.31.0  │
│ flask           │ 2.2.3   │ 2.3.0   │
└─────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┘

Example 2: JSON output#

bash

python3 scripts/main.py check --format json

Output:

json

{
  "npm": [
    {
      "package": "express",
      "current": "4.17.1",
      "wanted": "4.18.0",
      "latest": "4.18.0",
      "type": "dependencies"
    }
  ],
  "pip": [
    {
      "package": "requests",
      "current": "2.28.1",
      "latest": "2.31.0"
    }
  ]
}

Requirements#

• Python 3.x
• npm: Required for checking Node.js dependencies
• pip: Required for checking Python dependencies
• poetry: Optional, for checking Poetry projects

Limitations#

• This is a CLI tool, not an auto-integration plugin
• Requires package managers to be installed and available in PATH
• Some package managers may not support JSON output (fallback to text parsing)
• Only checks direct dependencies, not transitive dependencies
• Does not automatically update dependencies (check-only tool)
• May have issues with private registries or custom package sources
• Performance depends on network speed for checking remote registries