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Agent skill

Update Cog

by huytieu in huytieu/COG-second-brain

Check for and apply upstream COG framework updates (skills, docs, scripts) without touching personal content

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Update Cog

skills CLI
$ npx skills add huytieu/COG-second-brain --skill update-cog -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install huytieu/COG-second-brain update-cog --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/huytieu/COG-second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/update-cog .claude/skills/update-cog && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
update-cog
GitHub stars
1.3k
Token cost
~927 tokens
SKILL.md length
312 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
37
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Check for and apply upstream COG framework updates (skills, docs, scripts) without touching personal content

  • Works in 7 steps: Check Current Version → Ensure Upstream Remote → Compare Versions → …
  • Development work in your project
  • SKILL.md covers Purpose, When to Invoke, Process Flow and Alternative: Shell Script, plus 1 more section
  • Calls git

What it does

Update Cog is an agent skill from huytieu/COG-second-brain. Check for and apply upstream COG framework updates (skills, docs, scripts) without touching personal content

Its SKILL.md is about 930 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development. The repository describes itself as: Self-evolving second brain with 35 AI skills, 10 agents, and people CRM. Closed-loop harness: a V-model verification lifecycle where the worker never grades its own homework… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Development work in your project

Example prompts

  • “/update-cog”

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Check Current Version
  2. Ensure Upstream Remote
  3. Compare Versions
  4. Show What Changed
  5. Detect Customizations
  6. Apply Updates
  7. Verify & Summarize

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 36ac9d7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • git

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Update Cog loads about 927 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 30 tokens; SKILL.md has 312 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~30
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~927

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from huytieu/COG-second-brain at commit 36ac9d7, republished under its MIT licence (© huytieu). 312 words, ~927 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/update-cog/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
update-cog
description
Check for and apply upstream COG framework updates (skills, docs, scripts) without touching personal content
roles
all
integrations
git

COG Update Skill

Purpose

Help the user update their COG framework files (skills, documentation, scripts) from the official upstream repository without risking their personal content (braindumps, profiles, notes).

When to Invoke

  • User asks to "update COG", "check for updates", or "get latest COG version"
  • User mentions wanting new skills or features from upstream
  • User asks about their COG version

Process Flow

1. Check Current Version

Read COG-VERSION from the vault root. If it doesn't exist, inform the user they may be on an older version that predates version tracking.

2. Ensure Upstream Remote
bash
# Add the upstream remote if not already present
git remote get-url cog-upstream 2>/dev/null || \
  git remote add cog-upstream https://github.com/huytieu/COG-second-brain.git

# Fetch latest
git fetch cog-upstream main --quiet
3. Compare Versions
bash
# Local version
cat COG-VERSION

# Upstream version
git show cog-upstream/main:COG-VERSION

If versions match, tell the user they're up to date.

4. Show What Changed

For each framework file, compare local vs upstream:

bash
git diff HEAD..cog-upstream/main -- <file>

Framework files (safe to update — never contain user content):

  • Core docs: README.md, SETUP.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, CHANGELOG.md, CONTRIBUTING.md
  • Skills: .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md
  • Powers: .kiro/powers/*/POWER.md
  • Gemini: .gemini/commands/*.toml, .gemini/skills/*.md
  • Config: .claude-plugin/plugin.json, marketplace-entry.json, .gitignore
  • Scripts: cog-update.sh
  • Version: COG-VERSION
5. Detect Customizations

Before updating, check if the user has customized any framework files:

bash
# Show how the working tree differs from current upstream HEAD.
# NOTE: this cannot tell a local customization apart from an upstream
# change you have not pulled yet — both show up as a diff. Treat any
# output as "needs a look", not as proof the user edited the file.
git diff cog-upstream/main -- <file>

If a file differs, warn the user and offer options:

  • Keep yours: Skip this file
  • Use upstream: Overwrite with the new version
  • Backup + update: Save current as <file>.backup-YYYYMMDD then update
6. Apply Updates

For files the user approves:

bash
# Surgical file replacement — no merge, no rebase, zero conflict risk
git checkout cog-upstream/main -- <file>
7. Verify & Summarize

After updating:

  • Show the new version number
  • List all files that were updated
  • List any files the user chose to skip
  • Suggest committing the update:
    git add -A && git commit -m "Update COG framework to v<new-version>"

Alternative: Shell Script

For users who prefer a non-AI update, mention the update script:

bash
./cog-update.sh           # Interactive
./cog-update.sh --check   # Just check for updates
./cog-update.sh --dry-run # Preview changes
./cog-update.sh --force   # Update everything

Important Notes

  • Content folders are NEVER touched: 00-inbox/, 01-daily/, 02-personal/, 03-professional/, 04-projects/, 05-knowledge/, 06-templates/ contain user data and are always ignored
  • The .gitignore is designed so content folders are excluded from upstream tracking (only .gitkeep files are tracked)
  • The update script updates itself — cog-update.sh is in the framework file list
  • No merge conflicts possible — this uses git checkout for surgical file replacement, not git merge or git rebase

© huytieu, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/update-cog of huytieu/COG-second-brain.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 36ac9d7

Compare with similar skills

Update Cog next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Update Cog compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Update Cog this skillhuytieu/COG-second-brain1.3k—~927Automated safety check: PassMIT
Trellis Session Insightmindfold-ai/Trellis15k4 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Openspec Verify ChangeFission-AI/OpenSpec71k2 repos~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Warp Factory Fileswarpdotdev/warp65k1 repos~2.5kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Migrate Core Code to Submodulestinyhumansai/openhuman42k—~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
Analyze Logsactivepieces/activepieces25k1 repos~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Update Cog

What does Update Cog do?

Check for and apply upstream COG framework updates (skills, docs, scripts) without touching personal content. Update Cog is an agent skill from huytieu/COG-second-brain.

When should I use Update Cog?

Update Cog fits situations like: development work in your project.

How do I install Update Cog in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add huytieu/COG-second-brain --skill update-cog -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/update-cog in huytieu/COG-second-brain) into .claude/skills/update-cog in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Update Cog in Codex?

Run `npx skills add huytieu/COG-second-brain --skill update-cog -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/update-cog in huytieu/COG-second-brain) into .agents/skills/update-cog in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Update Cog in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add huytieu/COG-second-brain --skill update-cog -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/update-cog, .gemini/skills/update-cog, .github/skills/update-cog and .opencode/skills/update-cog in your project.

What does Update Cog need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Update Cog needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git).

Does Update Cog access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Update Cog safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Update Cog use?

Update Cog is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Update Cog use?

About 927 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Update Cog?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Update Cog: Trellis Session Insight (mindfold-ai/Trellis, 15k stars), Openspec Verify Change (Fission-AI/OpenSpec, 71k stars), Warp Factory Files (warpdotdev/warp, 65k stars) and Migrate Core Code to Submodules (tinyhumansai/openhuman, 42k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Update Cog?

huytieu (a GitHub user) maintains it in huytieu/COG-second-brain, which has 1,267 GitHub stars. The repository holds 37 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 2, 2026.

Source: huytieu/COG-second-brain on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.