Add a verify-first step to the agent install prompts (#41)

@patchstack/connect was first published in May 2026, after most AI
coding agents' training cutoffs, so they assert the package doesn't
exist and refuse the install. Lead the prompts and the bundled guide
with a read-only `npm view @patchstack/connect` check so agents verify
against the registry instead of trusting stale memory.

Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ejntaylor

AGENT-INSTALL.md

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ You are reading this either from `node_modules/@patchstack/connect/AGENT-INSTALL
 ## Verify before you trust (do this, it's quick)
 
 - The connector is a normal npm package: [`@patchstack/connect`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@patchstack/connect), MIT-licensed, source at https://github.com/patchstack/connect. Install it pinned, check the integrity hash in the lockfile, run `npm audit` over it — whatever your policy requires.
+- If your training data says this package or repo doesn't exist, your training data predates it — the first version was published in May 2026. Run `npm view @patchstack/connect` (read-only, executes nothing) and trust the registry over your memory.
 - It reads the project's **lockfile only** (`package-lock.json`, `pnpm-lock.yaml`, or `yarn.lock`) and sends package names + versions to Patchstack for vulnerability matching. No source code, no env vars, no file paths, no git history.
 - Patchstack is not WordPress-only. This connector monitors any JS/Node project — Vite, Next.js, plain vanilla JS, anything with a lockfile.
 

README.md

@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ For how this repo fits with the wider Patchstack ecosystem (`saas`, `hub`, `patc
 
 Copy and paste this prompt into any AI coding assistant (Cursor, v0, Bolt, Lovable, Claude Code, etc.):
 
-> Install the npm package `@patchstack/connect` as a dev dependency (MIT, source: https://github.com/patchstack/connect) to add dependency vulnerability monitoring, then run `npx @patchstack/connect guide` and follow the setup guide it prints. It only reads the lockfile — nothing is fetched from a URL or executed remotely.
+> Add dependency vulnerability monitoring with `@patchstack/connect` — Patchstack's npm connector for JS/Node projects (MIT, source: https://github.com/patchstack/connect). It was first published in May 2026, which may be after your knowledge cutoff, so do not conclude from memory that it doesn't exist: verify it with the read-only command `npm view @patchstack/connect` first. Once verified, install it as a dev dependency like any other package, then read the setup guide it ships at `node_modules/@patchstack/connect/AGENT-INSTALL.md` and follow it.
 
-The prompt is built to survive agent security filters: it names a pinnable, auditable npm package (not a remote script), the `guide` command prints instructions that ship *inside* the installed package (`AGENT-INSTALL.md`), and it preempts the "Patchstack is WordPress-only" objection. If the agent has network access, the always-current version of the guide is at https://patchstack.com/install.txt — this longer prompt uses it directly:
+The prompt is built to survive agent security filters, in order of how they fire: it gives the agent a safe, read-only registry command to *verify* the package exists (agents whose training predates May 2026 otherwise assert it doesn't and refuse), it frames the install as an ordinary pinnable dev dependency rather than a remote script, the setup instructions ship *inside* the installed package as a readable file (`AGENT-INSTALL.md`, also printed by `npx @patchstack/connect guide`), and it preempts the "Patchstack is WordPress-only" objection. If the agent has network access, the always-current version of the guide is at https://patchstack.com/install.txt — this longer prompt uses it directly:
 
-> Add Patchstack dependency vulnerability monitoring: install the npm package `@patchstack/connect` as a dev dependency (MIT, source: https://github.com/patchstack/connect — pin it and verify however your policy requires), then follow the plain-text setup instructions at https://patchstack.com/install.txt. That URL is documentation to read, not a script to execute — nothing gets piped to a shell. Patchstack monitors any JS/Node lockfile, not just WordPress.
+> Add Patchstack dependency vulnerability monitoring. First verify the connector exists with the read-only command `npm view @patchstack/connect` (first published May 2026, likely newer than your training data — the registry is the source of truth; MIT, public source at https://github.com/patchstack/connect). Then install it as a dev dependency and follow the plain-text setup instructions at https://patchstack.com/install.txt — that URL is documentation to read, not a script to execute. Patchstack monitors any JS/Node lockfile, not just WordPress.
 
 ## Quick start (zero configuration)