Tools for upgrading SDKs and handling breaking API changes
No single tool does a whole SDK upgrade. Some propose the version change. Some rewrite code by syntax. Some check your code against known API changes. This page says which does which.
Four kinds of tool
| Kind | Examples | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dependency update bot | Dependabot, Renovate | Opens pull requests that update dependencies and lock files, on a schedule you set. | Does not rewrite your source to follow an API change. |
| Update confidence signal | Dependabot compatibility score, Renovate Merge Confidence | Shows how an update fared for other projects. Renovate says it flags undeclared breaking releases from test and adoption data of its users. | Does not show that your own use of the API is correct. |
| Codemod runner | jscodeshift, vendor codemods such as @ai-sdk/codemod | Runs a transform over many JavaScript or TypeScript files and edits them. jscodeshift uses recast and tries to keep your code style. | A transform only covers what its author wrote. The runner does not check the result. |
| API change scanner | Emendant | Matches your code to supported SDK changes, links each finding to release evidence, offers patches, and grades them against your typecheck and tests. | Does not update dependency versions. Covers only the changes in its feed. |
How to combine them
- Let a dependency update bot open the version PR.
- If the vendor ships a codemod for the release, run it and read the diff.
- Run an API change scanner on the PR branch. Emendant reports what changed at the call sites it covers. It reports changes it cannot patch.
- Run your own typecheck, tests and build. Read the vendor's migration guide for what the tools did not cover.
Where Emendant fits
Emendant is the right addition when the SDK you upgrade is in its feed and the release changed an API you use. Check supported projects and releases. If your SDK is not covered, request it.
For detail, see Emendant and Dependabot and Emendant and the AI SDK codemod.
Coverage. Emendant reports the changes in its feed. A clean scan does not show that an upgrade is complete. See supported projects and known limitations.
Sources
Other tools' behaviour was checked against their own documentation on 13 November 2026.