Build a Znode 9 upgrade inventory before touching packages
Inventory behavior, ownership, extension seams, dependencies, and acceptance evidence before choosing an upgrade path or changing packages.
In this guide
Inventory behavior rather than assemblies
An upgrade inventory should answer what a customization does for the business, not only which project contains it. A package list cannot reveal that an account-switching change affects prices, carts, authorization, and support workflows. Begin with user-visible behaviors such as quote editing, ERP delivery, custom attributes, payment initiation, search filters, and Page Builder content.
For each behavior, identify entry points, extension seam, data touched, external dependencies, authorization boundary, user roles, test evidence, operational owner, and acceptance criteria. Classify the result as native configuration, supported extension, project-owned customization, direct database dependency, obsolete behavior, or unknown. Unknown is a valid outcome that deserves investigation.
- Behavior and affected readers.
- Current source and target version.
- Owner and redistribution status.
- Data and integration dependencies.
- Acceptance and rollback evidence.
Map risk and coupling
Direct database access, copied vendor code, payment flows, custom authentication, and legacy integration hooks deserve early attention because a package update can expose hidden assumptions. A small UI change can also be high risk when it changes buying context or pricing. Mark whether a behavior is covered by an executable test, a manual regression, an observed production symptom, or no evidence.
Avoid a simple red-yellow-green score that hides why a row is risky. Record the specific uncertainty, such as unpinned SDK contract, missing environment, unavailable ERP sandbox, or unreviewed permissions. This gives technical leads a real decision queue instead of a cosmetic dashboard.
This is an application-owned JSON contract for the project runbook and automation. Its field names are defined here; it is separate from Znode configuration and API request formats.
quote-upgrade-inventory.json json
{
"behaviorId": "quote-line-edit",
"businessOutcome": "Recalculate approved quote totals after a permitted line change",
"classification": "project-owned-customization",
"ownerRole": "commerce-engineering-lead",
"entryPoints": [
"quote-detail",
"quote-line-update"
],
"dependencies": [
"quote-state",
"account-authorization",
"price-calculation",
"shipping-calculation"
],
"authorization": {
"requiredRelationship": "current-user-can-edit-current-account-quote",
"validateOn": "every-write"
},
"coupling": [
{
"boundary": "service-registration",
"action": "compare-source-and-target-registration-contract"
},
{
"boundary": "quote-dto",
"action": "map-explicitly-to-application-model"
},
{
"boundary": "calculation-result",
"action": "reject-result-for-an-older-quote-revision"
}
],
"acceptanceCases": [
"authorized-edit-recalculates-tax-freight-and-total",
"unauthorized-account-edit-rejected",
"older-calculation-cannot-replace-newer-result",
"calculation-failure-blocks-confirmation"
],
"releaseGate": [
"exact-source-version-recorded",
"exact-target-version-recorded",
"target-seams-reviewed",
"acceptance-cases-pass"
]
}Choose vertical slices
Do not attempt a mechanical translation of every class. Select one behavior that crosses UI, API, data, and integration boundaries, then rebuild or adapt it against the target architecture. Verify its business outcome and failure cases. That vertical slice exposes new extension boundaries and deployment assumptions earlier than a large batch of isolated file conversions.
Keep source and target contracts visible. The target may change DTO names, timestamps, authorization behavior, concurrency, or storage ownership. An upgrade succeeds when the agreed business behavior is safe and verifiable, not when a compiler reports fewer errors.
- Choose a bounded, high-value behavior.
- Pin source and target baselines.
- Document contract changes intentionally.
- Prove success, failure, authorization, and recovery.
Create a living assessment
The inventory becomes the upgrade backlog and acceptance ledger. Update it when a dependency is removed, a release note changes an assumption, or a newly discovered integration expands scope. Connect each entry to its implementation and regression cases so the scope follows real behavior.
Before touching packages, obtain actual target release notes, compatible dependency information, and a permitted test environment. Schedule a decision point for behaviors that cannot be validated because of vendor, payment, or external system constraints.
Verification checklist
A complete first inventory has no unclassified customization, even if some entries are marked unknown. Each high-risk behavior has a named owner, target evidence needed, and a decision date. Reconcile the inventory against actual configuration and deployment assets before declaring scope stable.
References and further reading
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Independent guidance from GCG. Znode is a trademark of its owner. Examples use fictional data and are not official platform documentation. Suggest a correction.