mx-migration-author

Development

Author and review Drizzle SQL migrations safely for rolling deploys. Triggers when editing apps/core/src/database/schema/*.ts or apps/core/src/database/migrations/*.sql, when the user runs drizzle-kit generate, when "lint-migrations" reports a violation, or on prompts like "迁移", "改 schema", "alter table", "add a column", "drop column", "migration safety". Enforces the expand-contract pattern because mx-core ships rolling deploys (Dokploy, 2 replicas) where new and old pods coexist for tens of seconds during cutover.

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MX Migration Author

Migrations run as a release-phase step (see docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-05-database-migration-release-phase-design.md). Schema changes must be backwards-compatible with the previous release's code, because old replicas keep serving traffic until rolling deploy finishes.

§A Invariants

mx-core ships rolling deploy. New and old pods run simultaneously during cutover.
Therefore: release N's migration must work with release N-1's code without errors. The contract-side change (drop / rename / type change) must wait one release after the expand-side change.
mx-migrate runs to completion before any mx-core pod starts. The app refuses to start if schema is behind. This means migration failures block the deploy rather than crash-loop replicas.
Drizzle migrations run inside a transaction by default. CONCURRENTLY index creation requires --> statement-breakpoint to break out.

§B Decision tree

Is the change additive (table / nullable column / index / FK)?
├── yes  → use §C.1 (one release)
└── no   → expand first, contract later — see §C.2 (multiple releases)

§C.1 Expand templates (single release)

Operation	Safe approach
Add table	`CREATE TABLE` (drizzle generates) — safe; old code has no reference.
Add nullable column	`ADD COLUMN col TYPE` — safe.
Add NOT NULL column	Three releases. Phase 1: add nullable + dual-write in code. Phase 2: backfill (separate SQL migration). Phase 3: `ALTER COLUMN col SET NOT NULL`.
Add NOT NULL with DEFAULT	`ADD COLUMN col TYPE NOT NULL DEFAULT <expr>` — single release, but consider table size: a wide DEFAULT rewrites the table.
Add index (small table)	`CREATE INDEX` is fine.
Add index (large table, est. >1M rows)	`CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY`. Must be its own statement and not inside a drizzle transaction. Annotate the breakpoint and the lint allow.
Add FK (large table)	Two releases: `ADD CONSTRAINT ... NOT VALID`, then `VALIDATE CONSTRAINT`.

§C.2 Mutate / contract templates (multiple releases)

Operation	Stages
Drop column	R1: stop reading/writing the column in code (deploy code only). R2: `ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN`.
Rename column	R1: add new column. R2: dual-write (read old preferentially, write both). R3: backfill, switch reads to new. R4: drop old column.
Change column type	R1: add new column. R2: backfill + dual-write. R3: cut over readers/writers. R4: drop old.
Drop NOT NULL	One release — relaxing constraint is safe.
Add NOT NULL	See §C.1 row.
Drop table	R1: stop all references in code. R2: `DROP TABLE IF EXISTS`.
Drop index	One release — only loses performance; not a correctness break.

§D Working with the lint guard

pnpm -C apps/core run lint:migrations flags dangerous patterns (no-drop-column, no-drop-table, no-bare-not-null-add, no-rename-column, no-alter-type, no-bare-create-index). The lint runs in CI on every PR.

If the lint flags a statement and the change is genuinely safe in this context (e.g. baseline cutover with no existing consumers, large-batch rebuild on a known-cold table), add a per-statement annotation above or on the same line as the statement:

-- migration-lint:allow=no-drop-column reason=baseline cutover, no consumers yet
ALTER TABLE users DROP COLUMN email;

reason= is mandatory. Bare migration-lint:allow=* without reason= is itself a lint error. Reviewers must read the reason; do not slip allow annotations past review without justification.

§E Self-checklist (run after generating each migration)

[ ] Is this migration backwards-compatible with the previous release's code?
[ ] Does any DDL acquire AccessExclusive on a hot table? (DROP/RENAME/TYPE)
[ ] Indexes on large tables are CONCURRENTLY (and broken out of drizzle's tx)?
[ ] If a backfill is needed, is it staged so it does not block?
[ ] Is a follow-up contract migration tracked (issue / next-release plan)?
[ ] `pnpm -C apps/core run lint:migrations` passes locally?
[ ] Migration applied cleanly against an ephemeral testcontainer?

§F Authoring workflow

Edit apps/core/src/database/schema/*.ts.
Run pnpm -C apps/core exec drizzle-kit generate to scaffold the SQL.
Read the generated SQL. Restructure if the change implies a contract operation — split into expand-now / contract-later migrations across releases.
pnpm -C apps/core run lint:migrations. Fix or annotate.
Apply locally: pnpm -C apps/core run migrate.
Add tests covering the schema change (repository spec, e2e where user-facing). For NOT NULL adds with default, also write a test that reads existing rows.
Commit. PR title prefix: migration: or db:. PR body must include the expand-contract phase plan.

§G What this skill must not do

Decide unilaterally to add migration-lint:allow= — that's a human judgment call. Suggest the annotation and the reason, surface the trade-off, but require explicit user confirmation.
Combine expand and contract into one migration, except for the baseline (idx ≤ 0003).
Suggest schema changes without first reading apps/core/src/database/schema/ to understand current shape.
Use applyMigrations or any boot-time mutation. Migration is a release-phase step, end of story.

§H Cross-references

release-core skill — release pipeline, version bump, image tag.
mx-review — broader review conventions.
api-conventions — controller / DTO conventions, often coupled to schema.
zod-patterns — DTO shape often follows schema; update both.
Spec doc: docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-05-database-migration-release-phase-design.md.