Staying Up to Date

FoundersOS ships improvements often. Because the connector runs through npx (or a global or local install), it’s easy to drift a version or two behind without noticing. There are two ways to stay current: have your AI check on a schedule (say, every Monday morning), or have it check at the start of each session. If your tool supports scheduled tasks, prefer that - it’s a single recurring check rather than the same lookup every time you sit down. This page covers both, plus how to upgrade when there’s something new.

Have it check on a schedule (recommended)

The connector has a built-in tool, get_version, that reports the version you’re running, compares it against the latest published release, tells you how you’d upgrade, and checks whether your database schema matches what the running server expects. If your AI tool supports scheduled tasks, the most efficient setup is to run that check on a cadence and have the result delivered somewhere you’ll see it, instead of waiting until your next session.

Ask your AI something like:

Check the FoundersOS version every Monday at 9am: if the founders-os connector
is loaded, call its get_version tool. Only message me if updateAvailable is
true or dbSchemaStatus is "behind" or "untracked" - in that case give me the
running and latest versions, the howToUpdate step, and the howToUpdateDb step
if there is one. Otherwise stay silent.

One recurring check, no per-session overhead, and it only speaks up when there’s actually a newer version waiting.

Or let your AI check at session start

If your tool doesn’t do scheduled tasks, the next best thing is a check that runs whenever a session begins. Paste this into your AI tool’s custom instructions (in Claude, that’s Settings > General > Instructions for Claude; most MCP-capable tools have an equivalent):

At the start of each session, if the FoundersOS connector is loaded, call its
get_version tool. It reports the running version, the latest published version,
whether an update is available, and whether the database schema is current. If
updateAvailable is true, tell me the running and latest versions and the
howToUpdate step. If dbSchemaStatus is "behind" or "untracked", tell me the
howToUpdateDb step.

From then on, your AI quietly checks each session and only speaks up when there’s a newer version waiting.

What get_version tells you

A typical response looks like this (version numbers in examples on this page are illustrative - the tool always reports your real ones):

{
  "package": "@ourthinktank/founders-os",
  "current": "0.15.0",
  "latest": "0.15.0",
  "updateAvailable": false,
  "launchMethod": "npx",
  "howToUpdate": "Launched via npx. To pick up a new version: make sure your MCP config pins @latest ...",
  "installPath": "/Users/you/.npm/_npx/abc123/node_modules/@ourthinktank/founders-os/dist/index.js",
  "expectedSchemaVersion": 37,
  "dbSchemaVersion": 37,
  "dbSchemaStatus": "current"
}

The fields worth knowing:

• current - the version running right now.
• latest - the newest version published to the registry.
• updateAvailable - true when those two differ. This is the field your instruction keys off.
• launchMethod - how the connector was started: npx, global, local, or unknown. This decides how you upgrade.
• howToUpdate - a ready-to-follow upgrade step tailored to your launch method.
• installPath - where the running code lives on disk, handy if the method comes back unknown.
• dbSchemaStatus - whether your database schema matches what this server version expects: current (all good), behind (run the migration files named in howToUpdateDb), untracked (database predates version tracking; howToUpdateDb says how to backfill the marker), ahead (database is newer than the server - update the connector), or unknown (the check itself failed; see dbSchemaError).
• howToUpdateDb - present when the database needs attention: the exact files or SQL to run in your Supabase SQL Editor. Founders OS migrations are idempotent, so re-running one you already applied is safe.

A note on what’s knowable: the connector can see how it was launched, but not the exact version string from your config. When you run through npx, the tool that starts the connector strips that detail before the connector ever sees it. So get_version reports the launch method and gives you the right upgrade step for it, rather than guessing at a value it can’t observe.

How to upgrade

Pick the row that matches your launchMethod.

Launched via npx (the most common setup)

Your config runs something like npx -y @ourthinktank/founders-os@latest. To pull a new version:

1. Make sure the config pins @latest (not a fixed version like @0.14.1).
2. Fully restart your AI app so npx re-resolves the package.

If a stale version still hangs around, clear the npx cache and restart:

npm cache clean --force

Global install

You installed it once with npm install -g. Upgrade in place:

npm install -g @ourthinktank/founders-os@latest

Then restart your AI app.

Local project dependency

The connector is a dependency in a project’s package.json. Bump it and reinstall:

npm install @ourthinktank/founders-os@latest

Then restart your AI app.

Database changes

Some releases change the database schema as well as the code. You don’t need to track this yourself: after upgrading, get_version compares your database’s recorded schema version against what the new server expects. If dbSchemaStatus comes back behind, the howToUpdateDb field names the exact migration files (from the repo’s supabase/migrations/ folder) to run in your Supabase SQL Editor, in order. They are idempotent - running one twice is harmless, so when in doubt, run it again. Your own database changes and migrations are unaffected; Founders OS only reads its own marker row.

Pin to @latest so restarts are enough

If you’d rather not think about versions at all, set your MCP config to use @latest. Here’s the relevant fragment:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "founders-os": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ourthinktank/founders-os@latest"]
    }
  }
}

With @latest in place, a simple restart of your AI app is usually all it takes to move to the newest release.