DependaFix: A GitHub App for Fixing Breaking Dependency Updates in CI Build for Java Projects

Abstract

Third-party libraries are essential to modern software development, but updating them can introduce changes that break the project build. Manually diagnosing and repairing such failures in continuous integration (CI) pipelines is time-consuming and delays the adoption of security and feature updates. In this paper, we present DependaFix, a GitHub App that automates the end-to-end repair of Java projects whose builds break after dependency version updates. DependaFix builds on Byam, an automated repair tool based on large language models (LLMs), by integrating the repair process into GitHub's CI/CD workflow for pull requests. DependaFix detects failing dependency version-update pull requests and attempts to repair them. It extracts build context from CI logs and local Maven builds, delegates the repair to Byam, and creates a pull request for the repair if the fix succeeds. We demonstrate, through an example, that DependaFix can automate the repair process, potentially reducing the manual effort required by developers to diagnose and fix dependency-update failures in pull requests.