# capacitor-app-upgrades

Walks the agent through upgrading a Capacitor app to a newer major version, including jumps across several versions. Useful when you finally move from 4 to 8.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 902 installs · ★ 51
- Author: capawesome-team
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades

## What it does

The skill reads the `@capacitor/core` version from `package.json`, works out the current major, and asks which version you want. Leave it blank and it targets 8. Then it applies the steps from `references/upgrade-v4-to-v5.md` and the other reference files, one jump at a time.

One thing to know: `npx cap migrate` never runs. It is interactive, so an agent cannot call it, and every upgrade step is applied by hand from the reference files. Multi-version jumps keep the intermediate versions — after each one the skill runs `npx cap sync`, builds, and verifies on both platforms.

Check your toolchain first. Capacitor 8 wants Node.js 22+, Xcode 26.0+ and Android Studio Otter 2025.2.1+; version 7 wants Node.js 20+, Xcode 16.0+ and Ladybug 2024.2.1+ with Java 21. If the Android build breaks after an upgrade, the skill points you to Tools > AGP Upgrade Assistant in Android Studio. Plugin upgrades and non-Capacitor mobile frameworks are out of scope.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill capacitor-app-upgrades -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill capacitor-app-upgrades -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill capacitor-app-upgrades -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install capawesome-team/skills capacitor-app-upgrades
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill capacitor-app-upgrades -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills --path skills/capacitor-app-upgrades
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill capacitor-app-upgrades -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- upgrade a Capacitor app from version 4 to version 8
- run the migration without the interactive `npx cap migrate` command
- keep intermediate versions when jumping across several majors
- verify Android and iOS builds after every upgrade step
- find out which Node.js, Xcode and Android Studio versions the target needs

## Example prompts
- Upgrade my Capacitor project from 6 to 8
- Read the `@capacitor/core` version in `package.json` and tell me which migration I need
- Run the upgrade step by step and fire `npx cap sync` after each one

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 9b5987f65c05b999.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 9b5987f65c05b999
```text
---
name: capacitor-app-upgrades
description: "Guides the agent through upgrading a Capacitor app project to a newer major version. Supports upgrades from Capacitor 4 through 8, including multi-version jumps. Performs all upgrade steps manually — does not use the interactive `npx cap migrate` command. Do not use for plugin library upgrade or non-Capacitor mobile frameworks."
license: MIT
compatibility: "Requires Node.js and npm. Xcode on macOS is required for iOS and Android Studio with a matching JDK for Android; the minimum versions depend on the target Capacitor version."
metadata:
  author: capawesome-team
  source: https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills/tree/main/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades
---

# Capacitor App Upgrade

Upgrade a Capacitor app project to a newer major version (4→5, 5→6, 6→7, or 7→8).

## Prerequisites

| Target Version | Node.js | Xcode   | Android Studio                  |
| -------------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------------- |
| 5              | 16+     | 14.1+   | Flamingo 2022.2.1+ (Java 17)   |
| 6              | 18+     | 15.0+   | Hedgehog 2023.1.1+              |
| 7              | 20+     | 16.0+   | Ladybug 2024.2.1+ (Java 21)    |
| 8              | 22+     | 26.0+   | Otter 2025.2.1+                 |

## Procedures

### Step 1: Detect Current Version

Read `@capacitor/core` version from `package.json` (`dependencies` or `devDependencies`). Determine the current major version.

Ask the user for the target version. Default to the latest (8) if not specified.

### Step 2: Execute Upgrade

**Do not run `npx cap migrate`.** It is an interactive command that cannot be invoked by an agent. Always apply each upgrade manually using the steps in the corresponding reference file.

For each major version jump between the current and target version, apply the corresponding upgrade guide **sequentially**:

| Current → Target | Reference                            |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| 4 → 5            | `references/upgrade-v4-to-v5.md`   |
| 5 → 6            | `references/upgrade-v5-to-v6.md`   |
| 6 → 7            | `references/upgrade-v6-to-v7.md`   |
| 7 → 8            | `references/upgrade-v7-to-v8.md`   |

For multi-version jumps (e.g., 5 → 8), apply each upgrade in order:
1. Read and apply `references/upgrade-v5-to-v6.md`
2. Run `npx cap sync`, build, and verify on both platforms
3. Read and apply `references/upgrade-v6-to-v7.md`
4. Run `npx cap sync`, build, and verify on both platforms
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 9b5987f65c05b999

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 9b5987f65c05b999 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2543 of 3841 bytes. © capawesome-team · MIT · https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/capacitor-app-upgrades/SKILL.md

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