---
name: dependency-management
description: "Investigate whether a dependency is actually necessary, check existing versions/conventions, minimize dependency additions, and update lockfiles deliberately."
---

# Dependency Management Skill

Investigate whether a dependency is actually necessary, check existing versions/conventions, minimize dependency additions, and update lockfiles deliberately.

## Process

### 1. Necessity
- Can this be done with stdlib?
- Is there an existing internal utility?
- What's the maintenance cost?

### 2. Conventions
- Check existing similar dependencies
- Follow version pinning policy
- Use approved registries

### 3. Minimize
- Prefer fewer, well-maintained deps
- Avoid transitive dependency bloat
- Consider vendoring for small utils

### 4. Update
- Update lockfiles atomically
- Test after updates
- Document breaking changes