Keep Dart Packages Healthy with a Maintenance Agent Skill

Where this fits

You are preparing a patch release for a Dart package. You bump pubspec.yaml and add a CHANGELOG entry, but only after publishing do you realize the version header didn't match. Or you're reviewing a dependency update and need to know whether it is a breaking change. This skill gives agents the same maintenance guidelines the Dart team uses, so versioning, publishing, and PR workflows stay consistent.

Why agents benefit

• Validates consistency between CHANGELOG.md and pubspec.yaml before any change is made.
• Decides the correct semver bump by classifying changes as major, minor, or patch.
• Checks published versions before editing metadata, preventing accidental version collisions.
• Applies Dart-specific conventions such as 0.major.minor+patch for unstable packages.
• Helps automate release preparation, leaving less room for human oversight.

Practical scenarios

Release prep after merged PRs

An agent scans the repository, identifies merged changes since the last tag, determines the appropriate semver increment, and updates both pubspec.yaml and CHANGELOG.md in one pass.

Triaging a dependency update PR

A contributor submits a PR with a new dependency version. The agent uses the skill to verify whether the update is breaking and checks the CHANGELOG guidance to recommend a version bump.

Handing over maintenance tasks

A maintainer asks the agent to "prepare a patch release." Instead of guessing, the agent follows the skill's discovery checks and publishing workflow guidelines.

Add it to your agent workflow

Install the skill with:

npx skills add kevmoo/dash_skills --skill dart-package-maintenance

Then instruct your agent: "Use dart-package-maintenance to check if CHANGELOG.md and pubspec.yaml are in sync before I cut a release." The agent will compare the top CHANGELOG header to the version field and then recommend the correct publishing step.

Compare before adopting

The skill is valuable only if you actually maintain external Dart packages. Compare it against your current release checklist or a custom agent prompt. Look at the repo's maintenance freshness and the author's track record — kevmoo is well known in Dart tooling, and the 143 stars are a moderate signal. Make sure the skill's workflow matches how you manage PRs and publishing today.

Why it is worth tracking

This skill captures conventions that are easy to miss in manual release processes. It comes from a credible author and has enough community traction to be worth watching: if stars keep growing and the repo stays active, it will likely become a standard skill for Dart package maintenance. You can evaluate it alongside other agent skills in the OpenAgentSkill catalog at https://www.openagentskill.com/skills/kevmoo-dart-package-maintenance, especially when your Dart packages start needing regular releases.