Is passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {}; redundant?

I was adding it to obs-cmd some time ago to bump it to 1.0.0, but now I noticed the package updated without it:

$ git log -1 -- pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix
commit 780c676b733629966efeb4bbaf5a5d88d5b3d23d
Author: R. RyanTM <ryantm-bot@ryantm.com>
Date:   Mon Apr 13 19:26:51 2026 +0000

    obs-cmd: 0.31.3 -> 1.0.0

The bot did the update, but the package doesn't explicit the script:

$ git diff --staged
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix
index 9e11f3d97c1d..c9b916e2ac93 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
+  nix-update-script,
 }:

+  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {};
+

By reading the docs it seems that there is a "chain" it follows:

It uses package repository information from Repology.org (though that requires other projects to detect the update), the GitHub releases API, and, if available, the package passthru.updateScript

I remember when I added the change I ran nix-update -A obs-cmd and it updated successfully, even if the bot logs didn't yet pick up the new version.

So maybe it is useful to add it (?)

Let's see if I understand what you are saying: passthru.updateScript is needed for maintainers to have a place to write scripts for their packages update.
Each maintainer can run a command passing its name and the get-script function will run for each of the maintainers modules and run the script if present.

So regarding my question I can therefore assume that the bot doesn't really care about the presence of the updateScript. It has scripts of its own to update packages generically.
If an updateScript it's not strictly required I won't add it since the bot should be able to update it on its own. I can maybe open a PR if I want to speed up a package update since the bot may have a long queue before reaching the package.

Also if I specify passthru.updateScript for packages that "aren't mine" then the maintainer will have them in their nix-shell maintainers/scripts/update.nix --argstr maintainer NOTME output when they didn't before and they might not be pleased.

Am I wrong?

Yep just tried it. Adding updateScript may not be enjoyed by the actual maintainer if they use the script

$ grep updateScript pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix; nix-shell maintainers/scripts/update.nix --argstr maintainer ramblurr

Going to be running update for following packages:
 - davis-5.4.2
 - gost-3.2.6
 - hacompanion-1.0.30
 - microsocks-1.0.5
 - ocis_5-bin-5.0.9
 - roon-server-2.67.1661

Press Enter key to continue...^C

obs-cmd not present above. Now I add the updateScript part and it will be present:

$ grep update pkgs/by-name/ob/obs-cmd/package.nix; nix-shell maintainers/scripts/update.nix --argstr maintainer ramblurr
  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {};
  nix-update-script,
  passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script {};

Going to be running update for following packages:
 - davis-5.4.2
 - gost-3.2.6
 - hacompanion-1.0.30
 - microsocks-1.0.5
 - obs-cmd-1.0.0
 - ocis_5-bin-5.0.9
 - roon-server-2.67.1661

Press Enter key to continue...^C

In reply to @evils:nixos.dev
is there a way to see what packages the bot tried to update but failed on?

In reply to @artturin:matrix.org
the check here is wrong https://github.com/ryantm/nixpkgs-update/blob/8fedf8f6f29280578e335bf4483c9f88d4bcdbaa/src/Skiplist.hs#L151