Keeping Current

CareerRat is published to npm as careerrat@latest. This page covers the npm CLI's update command. If you're on the Mac app instead, see Mac app updates below; the two paths work differently.

Update command

careerrat update

The update does a privacy-guarded tarball extract: it downloads the latest published package, unpacks only the code files, and replaces them in your checkout. It never touches your .careerrat/candidate/ directory or .careerrat/workspace/ data.

What gets updated

• bin/ — the CLI
• src/ — scripts and core logic
• .agents/skills/*/SKILL.md — all 28 skill definitions
• config/*.schema.json — schemas (your data files are validated against these)
• templates/ — scaffolding templates (your existing files are not overwritten)

What is never touched

• .careerrat/candidate/ - your profile, targeting config, evidence bank, honesty boundaries, form defaults, modes, automation on/off switches
• .careerrat/workspace/ - tracker data, tailored artifacts, comms, research, activity log
• Any file that is gitignored in the repo

Checking your version

careerrat --version
# or
careerrat doctor

doctor reports your current version alongside environment and scaffold state.

After an update

If the update added schema changes, run careerrat tracker --verify to confirm your tracker data is still valid:

careerrat tracker --verify

Skill definitions are picked up automatically the next time you open your agent — no reinstall needed. If your agent does not see new skills after an update, run:

careerrat install-skills

That re-shims .claude/skills → .agents/skills for Claude Code (or creates a copied tree where symlinks are not available).

Mac app updates (v0.19.2 only)

The Mac app ended at v0.19.2. Its updater checked GitHub for signed releases and required Restart and install before replacing the app. Those instructions apply only to that retired release.

Current CareerRat installs and updates through npm. Use careerrat update for the terminal workspace.