How career-ops Auto-Updates While Preserving User Data in the Data Layer

The career-ops updater script, update-system.mjs, separates system files from user files and refreshes only the system layer, leaving your personal CV, profile, and reports untouched.

The santifer/career-ops repository implements a dedicated mechanism that shows how career-ops auto-updates while preserving user data in the data layer by strictly separating system files from personal content. By defining SYSTEM_PATHS and USER_PATHS in update-system.mjs, the tool refreshes core scripts and templates without ever touching your CV, profile, or reports. This boundary ensures that every update cycle is safe and predictable.

System Layer vs. User Layer Design

In update-system.mjs, the update logic relies on two explicit constants to draw a hard boundary between code and data.

How SYSTEM_PATHS Defines the Updater Scope

The constant SYSTEM_PATHS lists every file that belongs to the system layer. This includes core assets such as modes/_shared.md, files under templates/, and scripts like generate-pdf.mjs. When the updater runs, it targets only these paths, ensuring that no personal content is accidentally swept into a bulk checkout.

How USER_PATHS Protects Personal Data

The companion constant USER_PATHS explicitly covers everything that belongs to the user layer. Entries include cv.md, config/profile.yml, the data/ directory, and the reports/ directory. Because these paths are excluded from the update checkout, Git’s merge logic never interferes with your local data, even if the remote repository contains newer versions of system files.

How the Auto-Update Process Works

When you run the updater from the command line, update-system.mjs executes a precise workflow that refreshes the core application without touching the data layer:

1. Check the remote repository for a newer version using node update-system.mjs check.
2. Checkout only the paths listed in SYSTEM_PATHS from the latest remote commit. The script never checks out or overwrites anything defined in USER_PATHS.
3. Write the fetched system files back to your local directory while leaving all user-layer files in their exact previous state.
4. Refresh bookkeeping files such as .gitignore so that future runs continue to respect the same system-versus-user boundaries.

The script’s header formalizes this contract in lines 6–8 of update-system.mjs:

“Updates ONLY system layer files (modes, scripts, dashboard, templates).
NEVER touches user data (cv.md, profile.yml, _profile.md, data/, reports/).”

Running Updates and Rollbacks Safely

The updater exposes simple CLI commands to manage the lifecycle of your installation.

Check for available updates before applying anything:

node update-system.mjs check

A typical response confirms a new version is ready:

career-ops update available (v1.10.0 → v1.11.0)

Apply the update once you are ready. This command fetches only the files listed in SYSTEM_PATHS and preserves everything under USER_PATHS:

node update-system.mjs apply

If an update introduces unexpected behavior, restore the prior commit without touching personal files:

node update-system.mjs rollback

By default, the updater respects local modifications to system files unless you explicitly pass --force, which overwrites them.

Key Files Behind the Safe Update Mechanism

Several files in the santifer/career-ops repository define and enforce the update boundary:

• update-system.mjs — The core auto-updater that declares SYSTEM_PATHS and USER_PATHS, and performs the selective checkout.
• DATA_CONTRACT.md — The formal specification of the system layer versus the user layer that the updater honors.
• AGENTS.md — Documentation of the overall architecture and how the updater integrates with the broader CLI workflow.

Summary

• career-ops uses update-system.mjs to separate system code from user data through the SYSTEM_PATHS and USER_PATHS constants.
• The updater checks the remote repository and refreshes only the file paths listed in SYSTEM_PATHS.
• User files such as cv.md, config/profile.yml, and directories like data/ and reports/ are explicitly excluded and never modified.
• Commands such as check, apply, and rollback give you full control, with an optional --force flag to override local system edits.
• Bookkeeping files like .gitignore are also updated to maintain consistent layer boundaries across runs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I have locally edited a system file?

The updater preserves your local changes to system files unless you run node update-system.mjs apply --force. Without the flag, the selective checkout respects your modifications while still updating the remaining system layer.

Can the updater accidentally delete my CV or profile data?

No. The USER_PATHS constant in update-system.mjs explicitly excludes cv.md, config/profile.yml, data/, and reports/ from every checkout operation. The script’s header at lines 6–8 formally promises that it never touches user data.

How do I know if a new version is available before applying it?

Run node update-system.mjs check. This command queries the remote repository and prints a version comparison, such as v1.10.0 → v1.11.0, without changing any local files.

Is there a way to undo an update if something breaks?

Yes. Run node update-system.mjs rollback to restore the previous commit. This command reverts the system layer while keeping all user-layer files exactly as they were.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}