lancedb-update-lance-dependency - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: lancedb-update-lance-dependency description: Update LanceDB to a specific Lance release or tag. Use when bumping Lance dependencies in the lancedb repository, including Rust workspace Lance crates, Java lance-core, validation, branch creation, commit, push, and PR creation when requested.

LanceDB Update Lance Dependency

Scope

Use this skill in the lancedb/lancedb repository when updating the Lance dependency to a specific Lance version or tag.

Inputs can be a version (7.2.0-beta.1), a tag (v7.2.0-beta.1), a tag ref (refs/tags/v7.2.0-beta.1), or latest.

Workflow

Confirm the worktree status with git status --short.
Resolve the target Lance version:
- If the input is latest, empty, or omitted, run:
```
python3 ci/check_lance_release.py
```
  Parse the JSON output. If needs_update is not true, stop without creating a PR. Otherwise use latest_tag.
- If the input is explicit, use it directly.
Compute update metadata without changing files:
```
python3 ci/update_lance_dependency.py "$TAG_OR_VERSION" --metadata-only
```
Before making changes, check for an existing open PR with the emitted pr_title:
```
gh pr list --search "\"$PR_TITLE\" in:title" --state open --limit 1 --json number,url,title
```
If a matching open PR exists, stop and report it instead of creating a duplicate.
Run the deterministic update entrypoint:
```
python3 ci/update_lance_dependency.py "$TAG_OR_VERSION"
```
This updates the Rust workspace Lance dependencies through ci/set_lance_version.py, updates java/pom.xml, refreshes Cargo metadata, and prints JSON metadata containing branch_name, commit_message, and pr_title.

Run validation:

cargo clippy --quiet --workspace --tests --all-features -- -D warnings
cargo fmt --all --quiet

Fix real diagnostics and rerun clippy until it succeeds. Do not skip warnings.

Inspect git status --short and git diff to ensure only the Lance dependency update and required compatibility fixes are present.
If the task only asks to prepare local changes, stop here and report the changed files and validation result.
If the task asks to publish the update, create a branch using the printed branch_name, stage all relevant files, and commit using the printed commit_message. Do not amend or rewrite existing commits.
Push to origin. Before creating the PR, check that the current token has push permission:
```
gh api repos/lancedb/lancedb --jq .permissions.push
```
If the remote branch already exists for the same generated branch name, delete the remote ref with gh api -X DELETE repos/lancedb/lancedb/git/refs/heads/$BRANCH_NAME, then push. Do not force-push.
Create a PR targeting main with the printed pr_title. If there is no PR template, keep the body to two or three concise sentences: state the Lance dependency bump, note any required compatibility fixes, and link the triggering Lance tag or release.
Read back the remote PR title after creation. If it is not a Conventional Commit title, fix it immediately.
When running in GitHub Actions after creating the LanceDB PR, trigger the Sophon dependency update:
```
gh workflow run codex-bump-lancedb-lance.yml \
  --repo lancedb/sophon \
  -f lance_ref="$LANCE_TAG" \
  -f lancedb_ref="$BRANCH_NAME"
gh run list --repo lancedb/sophon --workflow codex-bump-lancedb-lance.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId,url,displayTitle
```
Use the emitted metadata tag value as LANCE_TAG. Do this only after a new LanceDB PR has been created. If the update was skipped because no update is needed or an open PR already exists, do not trigger Sophon.

GitHub Actions

When this skill is used from GitHub Actions, TAG, GH_TOKEN, and GITHUB_TOKEN may already be set. Resolve latest first when TAG is empty. Once an explicit tag or version is known, use:

python3 ci/update_lance_dependency.py "$TAG" --github-output "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

Then use the emitted branch_name, commit_message, and pr_title values for branch, commit, and PR creation.