Dependency Modernizer

Autonomous Custom Flow that identifies outdated .NET packages, analyzes release notes for breaking changes, refactors to match requirements, verifies via CI/CD, and generates a Merge Request.

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The Story of Dependency Modernizer

The Inspiration

We’ve all been there: a simple v8.1.1 to v13.0.1 dependency bump that turns a Friday afternoon into a weekend-long rescue mission. The inspiration for this project came from the realization that while AI is great at writing new code, it often struggles with the deep architectural "surgery" required to move away from deprecated patterns, like shifting from Static APIs to Dependency Injection. We wanted to build a tool that didn't just point at the fire but acted as the autonomous fire suppression system.

How We Built It

The Dependency Modernizer was forged during the GitLab Duo Hackathon using a multi-stage orchestration flow:

  1. Contextual Analysis: We used GitLab Duo to scan the abstract syntax tree (AST) of the codebase to identify not just the broken line, but the entire dependency graph.
  2. The Refactor Engine: We prompted the Duo Agent to generate a "Transformation Blueprint." This isn't a simple regex find-and-replace; it’s a structural mapping that converts legacy static calls into modern, testable interfaces.
  3. Verification Loop: The project integrates with GitLab CI/CD to run a "Modernization Pipeline," verifying that the new IMapper implementation maintains the same logic as the old Mapper.Initialize call.

Challenges We Faced

The road to modernization wasn't without its "Build Failed" moments:

  • Context Window Limits: Large monolithic projects have massive dependency trees. We had to learn how to "chunk" the code so the AI could understand the relationship between a Program.cs setup and a deep-level Service.cs implementation.
  • Ambiguous Patterns: Some legacy code is... "creative." Mapping non-standard singleton patterns to a standard Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection container required rigorous prompt engineering to ensure the AI didn't "hallucinate" new architectural patterns.

What We Learned

This hackathon taught us that Modernization > Patching. We realized that the true power of GitLab Duo lies in its ability to understand intent.

Built With

  • agent
  • duo
  • gitlab
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