Database Migration Standards

Apply these rules when creating or modifying database migrations. Migrations are permanent records of schema evolution and must be treated with extreme care.

When to use this skill

• When creating new database migration files (db/migrate/, migrations/, alembic/, etc.)
• When modifying database schema such as adding, removing, or altering tables and columns
• When implementing rollback/down methods for reversible migrations
• When creating indexes on database tables, especially large tables requiring concurrent indexing
• When writing data migrations to transform or populate data
• When planning zero-downtime deployments that require backwards-compatible schema changes
• When establishing naming conventions for migration files
• When separating schema changes from data migrations
• When reviewing or modifying existing migrations for safety and clarity

This Skill provides Claude Code with specific guidance on how to adhere to coding standards as they relate to how it should handle backend migrations.

Core Principles