Think Through Data & Storage

Overview

Production guidance for data modeling and storage. Each reference paper captures the correctness work that schema-first drafts miss: precision hazards, constraint-race conditions, index design from real predicates, soft-delete interactions with uniqueness, file-handling abuse, derived-store rebuilds, and retention obligations.

Core principle: Data outlives code. Every column, identifier, file, and derived index is a durable decision with invariants, an owner, and a lifecycle — not a convenient shape for today's feature.

Domain Law

NO DATA OR STORAGE CHANGE WITHOUT:
1. the minimum required primary paper(s) for the data being modeled selected from the context table;
2. the paper's pre-change questions
   answered, or each open point labeled as an assumption;
3. "Existing-codebase checks" run when changing an existing schema or store;
4. every applicable MUST mapped to a decision (constraint, index, policy),
   a test, or a documented exception — never silently downgraded.