---
name: al-298-keep-the-computer-your-ai-agents-run-on-patched-every-mor
description: "New CVEs and actively exploited bugs keep coming, and the machine your agents run on needs patching to keep up. Ken Reiners (@Ken_LinkWell), a former NASA security engineer and Navy veteran, shared his setup on X (Oct 23, 2026). A watcher bot follows X for new CVEs and zero-days, a builder bot checks the agents' computer read-only first, and a 9 a.m. routine applies only checksum-verified patch-level updates. Bigger changes (repo PRs, major versions, secrets) wait for his approval. That morning, advisories covered LiteLLM, Node, Next.js, Pillow, Go, certifi, PHP and WordPress. The builder updated Node, Go, Pillow, certifi and Python packages, found nothing compromised, and skipped software that wasn't installed. Use when the user wants help with patch management (security) for a small business."
---

# Keep the computer your AI agents run on patched every morning: one bot watches for new security advisories, another checks what's installed, applies only verified small updates and holds anything bigger for your OK

New CVEs and actively exploited bugs keep coming, and the machine your agents run on needs patching to keep up. Ken Reiners (@Ken_LinkWell), a former NASA security engineer and Navy veteran, shared his setup on X (Oct 23, 2026). A watcher bot follows X for new CVEs and zero-days, a builder bot checks the agents' computer read-only first, and a 9 a.m. routine applies only checksum-verified patch-level updates. Bigger changes (repo PRs, major versions, secrets) wait for his approval. That morning, advisories covered LiteLLM, Node, Next.js, Pillow, Go, certifi, PHP and WordPress. The builder updated Node, Go, Pillow, certifi and Python packages, found nothing compromised, and skipped software that wasn't installed.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- TIME
- SOURCES, e.g. official vendor advisories, the CISA Known Exploited…
- CRITICAL SERVICES
- KEY SERVICES/AGENTS

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

Every morning at [TIME], act as the patch manager for the computer my AI agents run on. 1) Collect the last 24 hours of security advisories (new CVEs, zero-days, actively exploited bugs) from [SOURCES, e.g. official vendor advisories, the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list, trusted security accounts on X]. 2) Read-only first: list what's actually installed on this machine (OS packages, language runtimes like Node, Python and Go, pip/npm packages, containers) and match each advisory to installed software. Ignore advisories for software that isn't installed and say so. 3) Apply on your own ONLY patch-level updates from official sources, and verify each one against its official checksum or signature before installing. 4) Do NOT apply major-version upgrades, changes to code repositories, anything touching secrets or keys, or anything that needs a restart of [CRITICAL SERVICES]. List those for my approval with the risk of waiting. 5) After updating, check that [KEY SERVICES/AGENTS] still run. Report: advisories reviewed, what applied to me, what you patched (old to new version, checksum verified), what's waiting for my yes, and any sign of compromise you noticed.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: Grok Bot, Claude Code, CISA KEV, X
- Based on this real-world example: https://x.com/Ken_LinkWell/status/2113636118914531693
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-298-keep-the-computer-your-ai-agents-run-on-patched-every-mornin/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/