THE GITHTML FIELD GUIDE
Dependency upgrade review template for compatibility decisions
A dependency upgrade review should connect a proposed version change to the code that uses the dependency. Summarize relevant upstream changes, compatibility risks, required edits, and test evidence. Record the old and new versions exactly, including transitive changes that affect the decision, and leave unsupported assumptions visible.
Scope the dependency relationship
Identify whether the dependency is used at runtime, during development, or to produce build artifacts. Then list the integration points that could change behavior. An illustrative report might examine a parser library used by an import feature, including its configuration and error handling. Do not paste all upstream release notes and call that analysis. Select the entries that actually touch the project's usage. Semantic Versioning defines a versioning contract for projects that adopt it, but a version number alone does not prove a particular upgrade is safe.
Build an evidence-led review entry
Use fields for old version, proposed version, reason, affected code, upstream evidence, required migration, local verification, and unresolved questions. An illustrative risk could be that malformed input now produces a different error shape; the review should point to the consumer that handles that error and the test that checks the message. Read the dependency's own release notes and migration guide at the relevant versions. If a security advisory motivates the change, link the authoritative advisory without overstating whether this application is affected.
- Compare the dependency versions and the exact lockfile change.
- Locate code that depends on changed behavior or configuration.
- Record commands actually run, their environment, and their observed results.
Make approval conditional where necessary
Distinguish completed validation from checks still required before release. A passing installation does not establish runtime compatibility, and a build does not exercise every code path. Record a rollback approach only when its limitations are understood, especially if the upgrade changes persistent data. Give reviewers a concise decision summary followed by the detailed evidence. A static HTML upgrade report can support asynchronous reading, but it should identify the revision inspected and should never imply that gitHtml runs dependency analysis or performs the upgrade.
Sources and further reading
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