Cloud · May 12, 2026 · Gynvix · 1 min read
A migration you can explain
An additive migration is easier to recover than a clever one that rewrites history.
Add, then backfill, then require
Add the column as optional. Backfill it. Only later make it required. Skipping the middle step locks you into a deploy that cannot roll forward cleanly.
Do not drop to make a rename easy
A rename can be a new column, a copy, and a later removal. Dropping the old column in the same change throws away the recovery path.
The note
Write one sentence in the migration about what a row looks like before and after.