docs: clarify install vs update command differences

[abdullahmujahidali]

Pull Request Check List

Resolves: #4117

• Added tests for changed code.
• Updated documentation for changed code.

Summary

Improves documentation for install and update commands to address common user confusion.

Changes

• Added note in install section explaining when to use install vs update
• Clarified that update also installs packages after updating the lock file
• Added note that update does not modify pyproject.toml

Questions Addressed (from issue)

• When doing update, are new packages installed?-> Yes
• Is pyproject.toml updated? -> No, only poetry.lock
• When should one do install? → After cloning or for reproducible installs

Summary by Sourcery

Clarify the behavioral differences between the poetry install and poetry update commands in the CLI documentation.

Documentation:

• Document when to use poetry install versus poetry update, emphasizing reproducible installs and lockfile creation.
• Clarify that poetry update both updates and installs dependencies while only modifying poetry.lock and not pyproject.toml, and direct users to add for changing version constraints.

[sourcery-ai]

Reviewer's guide (collapsed on small PRs)

Reviewer's Guide

Clarifies Poetry CLI docs for install vs update by adding guidance on when to use each, explicitly stating that update both refreshes the lockfile and installs dependencies, and noting that update does not modify pyproject.toml.

Sequence diagram for poetry update behavior on lockfile and environment

sequenceDiagram
  actor User
  participant Poetry_CLI
  participant pyproject_toml
  participant poetry_lock
  participant Environment

  User->>Poetry_CLI: poetry update
  Poetry_CLI-->>pyproject_toml: Read version_constraints
  Poetry_CLI-->>poetry_lock: Read_existing_locked_versions
  Poetry_CLI->>Poetry_CLI: Resolve_dependencies_to_latest_compatible_versions
  Poetry_CLI-->>poetry_lock: Write_updated_locked_versions
  Poetry_CLI--x pyproject_toml: Do_not_modify_constraints
  Poetry_CLI->>Environment: Install_updated_dependencies
  Environment-->>User: Updated_packages_available

Loading

File-Level Changes

Change	Details	Files
Document when to use install vs update and how they behave with the lockfile and environment.	Added a note under the install command explaining typical use cases for install versus update, including reproducible installs and initial project setup. Clarified update command description to state that it both updates dependency resolutions in poetry.lock and installs them into the environment. Added a note under the update command that it does not modify pyproject.toml and that version constraint changes should be done via the add command.	docs/cli.md

Assessment against linked issues

Issue	Objective	Addressed	Explanation
#4117	Clarify in the documentation what poetry install does and when it should be used (e.g., after cloning a project, for reproducible installs, versus other commands).	✅
#4117	Clarify in the documentation what poetry update does, including that it updates and installs dependencies according to constraints, and that it updates only poetry.lock (not pyproject.toml).	✅

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[dosubot]

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[sourcery-ai]

Hey - I've found 1 issue

Prompt for AI Agents

Please address the comments from this code review:

## Individual Comments

### Comment 1
<location> `docs/cli.md:480` </location>
<code_context>

+{{% note %}}
+**When to use `install` vs `update`:**
+- Use `poetry install` to install dependencies as specified in `poetry.lock` (or resolve and create it if missing).
+  This is what you run after cloning a project or when you want reproducible installs.
+- Use `poetry update` when you want to update dependencies to their latest versions (within constraints)
</code_context>

<issue_to_address>
**suggestion (typo):** Clarify the phrase "or resolve and create it if missing" to avoid ambiguity.

The parenthetical is grammatically ambiguous: "resolve" has no clear object, and "it" refers to `poetry.lock`, which isn’t something you typically "resolve." Please reword to make it explicit, e.g. "(or resolve dependencies and create it if missing)" or "(or resolve dependencies and create the lock file if it’s missing)."

```suggestion
- Use `poetry install` to install dependencies as specified in `poetry.lock` (or resolve dependencies and create the lock file if it’s missing).
```
</issue_to_address>

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[radoering]

Especially for reproducible installs sync is even better than install.

[radoering]

Which constraints? Maybe, better:

Suggested change

	- Use `poetry update` when you want to update dependencies to their latest versions (within constraints)
	- Use `poetry update` when you want to update dependencies to their latest versions (within the constraints from the `pyproject.toml`)