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Lesson 11
4 min

Keeping Updated

Maintain and upgrade your environment

New to ACFS?

Complete the setup wizard first to get the most from these lessons.

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Goal

Learn how to keep your ACFS tools current.

Why Updates Matter

Your VPS has 30+ tools installed. Each one gets improvements:

  • Bug fixes and security patches
  • New features and capabilities
  • Better performance

Keeping things updated means:

Fewer mysterious errors
Better security
Access to new agent features

The Update Command

ACFS provides a single command to update everything:

bash
acfs-update

That's it! This updates:

System packagesapt
Shell toolsOMZ, P10K, plugins
Coding agentsClaude, Codex, Gemini
Cloud CLIsWrangler, Supabase, Vercel
$ acfs-update --stack
READY
Scenario

Standard update across all components. Everything pulls cleanly.

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Common Update Patterns

Quick Agent Update

If you just want the latest agent versions:

bash
acfs-update --agents-only

Skip System Packages

apt updates can be slow. Skip them when you're in a hurry:

bash
acfs-update --no-apt

Preview Changes

See what would be updated without changing anything:

bash
acfs-update --dry-run

Include Stack Tools

The Dicklesworthstone stack (ntm, slb, ubs, etc.) is skipped by default because it takes longer. Include it with:

bash
acfs-update --stack

Automated Updates

For hands-off maintenance, use quiet mode:

bash
acfs-update --yes --quiet

This runs without prompts and only shows errors.

Pro Tip
You can add this to a cron job for weekly updates!
bash
# Edit crontab
crontab -e
# Add this line for weekly Sunday 3am updates
0 3 * * 0 $HOME/.local/bin/acfs-update --yes --quiet >> $HOME/.acfs/logs/cron-update.log 2>&1

Checking Update Logs

Every update is logged:

bash
1# List recent logs
2ls -lt ~/.acfs/logs/updates/ | head -5
3
4# View the most recent log
5cat ~/.acfs/logs/updates/$(ls -1t ~/.acfs/logs/updates | head -1)
6
7# Watch a running update
8tail -f ~/.acfs/logs/updates/$(ls -1t ~/.acfs/logs/updates | head -1)

Troubleshooting

apt is locked

If you see "apt is locked by another process":

# Wait for other apt operations to finish, or:
sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend
sudo dpkg --configure -a

Agent update failed

Try updating directly:

# Claude
claude update --channel latest

# Codex
bun install -g --trust @openai/codex@latest

# Gemini
bun install -g --trust @google/gemini-cli@latest

Shell tools won't update

Check git remote access:

git -C ~/.oh-my-zsh remote -v

Quick Reference

Command
What it does
acfs-update
Update everything (except stack)
acfs-update --stack
Include stack tools
acfs-update --agents-only
Just update agents
acfs-update --no-apt
Skip apt (faster)
acfs-update --dry-run
Preview changes
acfs-update --yes --quiet
Automated mode
acfs-update --help
Full help

How Often to Update?

Recommendations:

Weekly - Full update including stack
After issues - If something breaks, update first
Before major work - Get latest agent versions

Congratulations!

You've completed the ACFS onboarding!

You now have:

A fully configured development VPS
Three powerful coding agents
A complete coordination toolstack
The knowledge to use it all

Go build something amazing!

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