Skill-version warning recommends `graphify install` even when the skill is newer than the package (silent downgrade)

[TPAteeq]

Summary

The skill-version mismatch warning (_check_skill_version, graphify/__main__.py:122) fires on any version difference and always advises Run 'graphify install' to update. But when the installed skill is newer than the running package, that advice doesn't update anything — graphify install copies the package's (older) bundled skill over the newer one and re-stamps .graphify_version, i.e. it silently downgrades the skill to make the warning go away.

I hit this as a contributor (my skill was stamped from a dev checkout at 0.9.2 while my installed CLI was an older published build), so I'm not sure whether this direction of mismatch is expected/handled — hence an issue rather than a PR.

What I saw

$ graphify --version
  warning: skill is from graphify 0.9.2, package is 0.8.27. Run 'graphify install' to update.
graphify 0.8.27

$ graphify install
  skill installed  ->  /Users/.../.claude/skills/graphify/SKILL.md

$ cat ~/.claude/skills/graphify/.graphify_version
0.8.27          # <- skill went 0.9.2 -> 0.8.27; warning now silent

So following the warning's own advice moved me from the 0.9.2 skill to the 0.8.27 skill.

Why

_check_skill_version compares installed != __version__ and prints the same "run install to update" line regardless of direction:

if installed != __version__:
    print(f"  warning: skill is from graphify {installed}, package is {__version__}. Run 'graphify install' to update.")

The docstring says "Warn if the installed skill is from an older graphify version", but the code never checks which side is older. And install always writes the package-bundled skill + stamps __version__ (__main__.py:334), so in the skill-newer-than-package case it's a downgrade.

The actual trigger (env, for context)

My CLI is a stale uv tool — installed as graphifyy pinned at 0.8.27, while PyPI's latest graphifyy is 0.9.3. The genuine fix for me is uv tool upgrade graphifyy (then graphify install), not the graphify install the warning suggested.

Question

Is the warning meant to fire (and recommend install) when the skill is newer than the package? If not, would it make sense to make it direction-aware — e.g. when skill > package, suggest upgrading the package (uv tool upgrade … / pip install -U …) instead of install, so users (and contributors with dev skills) don't get silently downgraded?

Happy to send a PR if you'd like it changed.

[safishamsi]

Good catch, and thanks for the precise diagnosis — the docstring said "warn if the skill is from an older version" but the code never checked direction, so a newer-skill-than-package mismatch sent you to install, which writes the package's own (older) bundled skill and re-stamps .graphify_version — a silent downgrade, exactly as you saw.

Fixed in 47033c8 on v8. The warning is now direction-aware:

• skill older than package -> Run 'graphify install' to update (unchanged)
• skill newer than package -> recommends upgrading the package (uv tool upgrade graphifyy / pip install -U graphifyy) and explicitly notes that running install would downgrade the skill

Versions compare numerically now (so 0.10 > 0.9, and a malformed stamp degrades gracefully rather than raising). Added tests for both mismatch directions, numeric ordering, and the silent-when-equal case. Ships next release.

[safishamsi]

Fixed on v8 (47033c8) — the warning is now direction-aware. Closing.