# ionic-app-upgrades

Walks the agent through a major Ionic upgrade: step-by-step migrations for Angular, React and Vue, plus component and CSS variable breaking changes.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 740 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/ionic-app-upgrades/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/ionic-app-upgrades

## What it does

The skill reads the `@ionic/angular`, `@ionic/react` or `@ionic/vue` version from `package.json`, works out the current major and the framework in use, then asks for the target version. Say nothing and it defaults to 8.

From there the agent applies one reference file per major jump, from `upgrade-v4-to-v5.md` through `upgrade-v7-to-v8.md`, in order. Multi-version jumps are not skipped: after each step the project is built with `npm run build`, errors get fixed, and the app is checked before moving on. The run ends with a final build and, for Capacitor projects, `npx cap sync`.

Node.js and npm are required. This skill does not cover Capacitor upgrades, plugin libraries or non-Ionic UI frameworks — Capacitor has its own `capacitor-app-upgrades`. When a build breaks after a step, the usual culprits are removed component properties, renamed CSS variables or changed event handler signatures, all documented in the reference files. Failing Jest tests usually point at `transformIgnorePatterns`: Ionic 6 and later ship as ES Modules.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

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

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

### Codex

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

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

### Cursor

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

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

### GitHub Copilot

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

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

### Gemini CLI

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

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

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

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

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add capawesome-team/skills --skill ionic-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/ionic-app-upgrades/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- move an app from Ionic 5 to 8 without skipping intermediate versions
- fix the build after removed component properties
- track down renamed CSS variables and dropped Shadow Parts
- update Jest config for ES Modules in Ionic 6+
- sync native platforms with `npx cap sync` after the upgrade

## Example prompts
- Upgrade my Ionic app from 6 to 8, it uses Angular
- Read the Ionic version in package.json and lay out the upgrade plan
- \`npm run build` fails after the upgrade — walk through the compiler errors

## 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: a534bb072b27eccf.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE a534bb072b27eccf
````text
---
name: ionic-app-upgrades
description: "Guides the agent through upgrading an Ionic Framework app to a newer major version. Supports upgrades from Ionic 4 through 8, including multi-version jumps. Covers framework-specific migration steps for Angular, React, and Vue, component breaking changes, CSS variable updates, and browser support changes. Do not use for Capacitor version upgrades (use capacitor-app-upgrades instead), for plugin library upgrades, or for non-Ionic UI frameworks."
license: MIT
compatibility: "Requires Node.js and npm."
metadata:
  author: capawesome-team
  source: https://github.com/capawesome-team/skills/tree/main/skills/ionic-app-upgrades
---

# Ionic App Upgrade

Upgrade an Ionic Framework app to a newer major version (4 to 5, 5 to 6, 6 to 7, or 7 to 8).

## Prerequisites

| Target Version | Angular  | React | Vue     |
| -------------- | -------- | ----- | ------- |
| 5              | 8.2+     | 16+   | N/A     |
| 6              | 12+      | 17+   | 3.0.6+  |
| 7              | 14+      | 17+   | 3.0.6+  |
| 8              | 16+      | 17+   | 3.0.6+  |

## Procedures

### Step 1: Detect Current Version

Read `@ionic/angular`, `@ionic/react`, or `@ionic/vue` version from `package.json` (`dependencies` or `devDependencies`). Determine the current major version and which framework is in use (Angular, React, Vue, or Core/Standalone).

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

### Step 2: Execute Upgrade

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

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

For multi-version jumps (e.g., 5 to 8), apply each upgrade in order:
1. Read and apply `references/upgrade-v5-to-v6.md`
2. Build the project (`npm run build`), fix any errors, and verify the app runs
3. Read and apply `references/upgrade-v6-to-v7.md`
4. Build the project (`npm run build`), fix any errors, and verify the app runs
5. Read and apply `references/upgrade-v7-to-v8.md`
6. Build the project (`npm run build`), fix any errors, and verify the app runs

Do **not** skip intermediate versions.

### Step 3: Final Verification

After completing all upgrade steps:

```bash
npm run build
```
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE a534bb072b27eccf

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the a534bb072b27eccf 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.

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