# Add DB Migration

> Use when a ticket requires a database schema change — a new table/column, an index, a constraint, or a backfill. Invoke for "add a migration for X", "alter the schema", or any change to the persisted data model. Schema changes are high-risk; treat them carefully.

- Skill: `tmj-90/add-db-migration` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tmj-90/add-db-migration`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tmj-90/add-db-migration/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: tmj-90 (https://skillmd.com/u/tmj-90)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tmj-90/add-db-migration

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# Add a database migration

Schema changes are high-risk: they can lock tables, drop data, or break running code.
Produce a reversible migration that follows the repo's tooling — and escalate when a
human decision is needed.

## Steps

1. **Read the lore first.** Call `search_lore` (Memory MCP) for migration
   conventions: the tool (Flyway/Liquibase/Alembic/Prisma/Knex/…), naming/numbering,
   whether migrations must be backward-compatible with running code, and any ADR on
   zero-downtime changes.
2. **Assess the risk.** If the change is destructive (drop column/table, narrow a type,
   non-nullable add without default), rewrites a large table, or could cause downtime or
   data loss — stop and call `mark_ticket_blocked` with the specifics. A human decides.
3. **Write a reversible migration** using the repo's generator. Provide both up and down
   (or an explicit, justified note when a true rollback is impossible). Prefer additive,
   backward-compatible steps; split risky changes into expand → migrate → contract phases.
4. **Make it safe at scale.** Add indexes concurrently where the engine supports it; add
   columns nullable or with a default; backfill in batches, not one statement.
5. **Apply it against a test/dev database** (the context packet's DB; never production)
   and confirm it runs forward and rolls back cleanly. Add/adjust tests for the new schema.
6. **Run tests** (`run-tests`). Evidence the migration file, the apply+rollback output,
   and test results, then use the `record-evidence` skill and submit for review.

## Rules

- Every migration must be reversible, or carry an explicit reason it cannot be.
- Destructive or downtime-risking changes → `mark_ticket_blocked`; do not decide alone.
- Never run migrations against production; use the test/dev DB from the packet.
- Don't install DB tooling or write secret/`.env` files — the hook blocks both.
- Run on a branch (the `create-branch` skill), never a protected branch.

## Capture lore

This skill is one of the places durable, reusable knowledge naturally surfaces:
**A schema decision or migration constraint future agents must respect — a naming convention, a reversibility rule, or a modelling choice with downstream impact.** That kind of fact is *lore*. Capture it via the **lore-capture
protocol in your brief** (`CLAUDE.factory.md`, step 11 "Memory contribution"):
call the Memory MCP `suggest_lore` once at the close of your work — reusable
conventions, gotchas, decisions, and boundaries only, never per-ticket trivia.