Freshness Gate: Skill Updater

What this skill does

• Keeps all installed skills up to date, from any publisher, in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and Devin Desktop
• Checks only what is due: freshness classes from 10 days to timeless, custom intervals per skill
• Finds time-sensitive claims such as versions, APIs, platform rules, SEO guidance, standards and deadlines
• Researches official sources and rates every change by severity and confidence
• Stores updates as a SkillPatch with source and history, reversible in one sentence
• Reconciles after official updates and detects your own edits to a skill
• Applies patches automatically via hooks in Claude Code and Gemini CLI, per session in Codex, Cursor and VS Code
• Helper script fg.mjs with zero dependencies and 72 automated tests

Description

Freshness Gate: Skill Updater is a skill for updating AI skills, a Skill Update Layer for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot and Gemini CLI. Skills are snapshots: an instruction that was right when you installed it can be wrong a few months later because an API was retired, a platform changed its rules or a new standard took over. Freshness Gate keeps all your installed skills up to date, whether they come from skills-for-ai, GitHub or your own folder. Every skill gets a freshness class, from volatile like AI APIs to timeless like thinking methods. Only skills that are due get checked, and only their time-sensitive claims: versions, endpoints, platform features, SEO guidance, standards, security rules and legal deadlines. Research is targeted and goes to official sources first: vendor documentation, changelogs and specifications, with forums only as a supplement. When it finds relevant changes, it asks you with a clear recommendation: apply, review first or ignore this time. Approved fixes are stored as a SkillPatch, a small, versioned overlay with source, severity and history, while the original skill stays untouched. Official updates stay installable, your own edits are preserved, and any change can be rolled back in one sentence. When an official update arrives, Freshness Gate reconciles old patches and retires the ones the update already covers. In Claude Code and Gemini CLI the SkillPatch is applied automatically through a hook whenever you use the skill; in Codex, Cursor and VS Code it is applied at the start of each session, and everywhere else on request. Without web search it never claims a check: the skill is marked unverified and keeps working. A zero-dependency helper script makes every step verifiable, reversible and logged.

Examples

Tested with Claude Code

Illustrative answers. Results may differ depending on the AI and model.

What it does not do

• Never edits original skills unless you explicitly ask, and then only with a backup, a diff and a confirmation
• No fake freshness: without real research the status says unverified, never current
• No silent changes: updates only with your approval, and HIGH or CRITICAL ones always need an explicit decision
• No permission changes: a SkillPatch never alters safety rules, tool access or files
• Not a package manager: it doesn't install skills or replace official publisher updates
• Not legal advice: for legal topics it reports that the context changed, with source and date

Compatibility & tech

Tested (internal)

6 scenarios

Recommended runtime

A current model with web search (Claude, GPT, Gemini) in a tool with file access. The helper script needs Node 18 or newer, no extra packages. For automatic hooks: Claude Code or Gemini CLI; for session start: Codex, Cursor, VS Code or Copilot CLI.

Modes

Automatic on use (Claude Code, Gemini CLI) · Per session (Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Copilot) · Manual check of one or all skills · Check selected topics only, such as security · Status, history and rollback · Reconcile after an official update

Inputs

a plain question such as "Are my skills still up to date?" · a specific skill by name or folder · a topic or source constraint such as "official Google docs only"

Output format

A short status card per skill (status, freshness class, last and next check, active SkillPatch), one question with a recommendation when changes are found and, on request, a compact review of each change with the old assumption, current guidance, impact and source.

Subcategory

Skill maintenance, freshness checks and non-destructive updates

License

Proprietär

Security profile

What you get

• freshness-gate-1.0.0/15 files
  • .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
  • plugins/freshness-gate/skills/freshness-gate/15 files

    • SKILL.md
    • manifest.json
    • benchmark-results.md
    • data/1 file

      • tests/1 file

        • cases.json
    • examples/2 files

      • change.example.json
      • walkthrough.md
    • hooks/1 file

      • hooks.json
    • references/7 files

      • approval-and-controls.md
      • freshness-model.md
      • platform-adapters.md
      • reconciliation-and-rollback.md
      • research-and-sources.md
      • security.md
      • skillpatch-format.md
    • scripts/1 file

      • fg.mjs
  • .agents/skills/freshness-gate/→ universal, same content (Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, Windsurf, Cline)
  • LICENSE.txt

Installation

Also works as a chat prompt

Note

Freshness Gate improves how current your skills are but does not guarantee complete or legally binding accuracy. Automation depends on what your tool supports; elsewhere you check on request. Hooks are executable code: they only read Freshness Gate's own registry and never write to your skills.

Changelog

• v1.0.024.09.2026Initial release: keeps all installed AI skills up to date without touching the original. Finds time-sensitive claims, checks due skills against official sources and stores approved fixes as a reversible SkillPatch with source, severity and history. Reconciles patches after official updates and protects your own edits. Automatic via hooks in Claude Code and Gemini CLI, per session in Codex, Cursor and VS Code, on request everywhere else. Zero-dependency helper script fg.mjs with 72 automated tests and 7 references.

Frequently asked questions