Database Migration Patterns for Rails 8
Overview
Safe database migrations are critical for production stability:
- •Zero-downtime deployments
- •Reversible migrations
- •Proper indexing
- •Data integrity constraints
Quick Start
bash
bin/rails generate migration AddStatusToEvents status:integer bin/rails db:migrate bin/rails db:rollback bin/rails db:migrate:status
Safety Checklist
code
Migration Safety: - [ ] Migration is reversible (has down or uses change) - [ ] Large tables use batching for updates - [ ] Indexes added concurrently (if needed) - [ ] Foreign keys have indexes - [ ] NOT NULL added in two steps (for existing columns) - [ ] Default values don't lock table - [ ] Tested rollback locally
Safe Migration Patterns
Pattern 1: Add Column (Safe)
ruby
class AddStatusToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :events, :status, :integer, default: 0, null: false
end
end
Pattern 2: Add Column with NOT NULL (Two-Step)
For existing tables with data, add NOT NULL in two migrations:
ruby
# Step 1: Add column with default (allows NULL temporarily)
class AddPriorityToTasks < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :tasks, :priority, :integer, default: 0
end
end
# Step 2: Add NOT NULL constraint after backfill
class AddNotNullToTasksPriority < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
change_column_null :tasks, :priority, false
end
end
Pattern 3: Add Index (Production Safe)
ruby
class AddIndexToEventsStatus < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def change
add_index :events, :status, algorithm: :concurrently, if_not_exists: true
end
end
Pattern 4: Add Foreign Key with Index
ruby
class AddAccountToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_reference :events, :account, null: false, foreign_key: true, index: true
end
end
Pattern 5: Rename Column
ruby
class RenameNameToTitleOnEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
rename_column :events, :name, :title
end
end
Pattern 6: Remove Column
First remove references in code, then migrate:
ruby
class RemoveLegacyFieldFromEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
safety_assured { remove_column :events, :legacy_field, :string }
end
end
Pattern 7: Add Enum Column
ruby
class AddStatusEnumToOrders < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :orders, :status, :integer, default: 0, null: false
add_index :orders, :status
end
end
In model:
ruby
class Order < ApplicationRecord
enum :status, { pending: 0, confirmed: 1, shipped: 2, delivered: 3, cancelled: 4 }
end
Pattern 8: Create Table with State Record
For app-wide configuration (single-row tables):
ruby
class CreateAppConfigs < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
create_table :app_configs do |t|
t.string :site_name, null: false, default: "My App"
t.boolean :maintenance_mode, null: false, default: false
t.text :settings
t.timestamps
end
end
end
Dangerous Operations (Avoid)
DON'T: Change Column Type Directly
ruby
# DANGEROUS - can lose data or lock table change_column :events, :budget, :decimal # DON'T DO THIS
DO: Add New Column, Migrate Data, Remove Old
ruby
# Step 1: Add new column
class AddBudgetDecimalToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :events, :budget_decimal, :decimal, precision: 10, scale: 2
end
end
# Step 2: Backfill data
class BackfillEventsBudget < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def up
Event.in_batches.update_all("budget_decimal = budget")
end
def down
# Data migration, no rollback needed
end
end
# Step 3: Remove old column (after code updated)
class RemoveOldBudgetFromEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
safety_assured { remove_column :events, :budget, :integer }
rename_column :events, :budget_decimal, :budget
end
end
Data Migrations
Safe Backfill Pattern
ruby
class BackfillEventStatus < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def up
Event.unscoped.in_batches(of: 1000) do |batch|
batch.where(status: nil).update_all(status: 0)
sleep(0.1) # Reduce database load
end
end
def down
# No rollback for data migration
end
end
Index Strategies
Composite Indexes
ruby
# For queries: WHERE account_id = ? AND status = ? add_index :events, [:account_id, :status] # Order matters! Left-to-right prefix matching: # Helps: WHERE account_id = ? AND status = ? # Helps: WHERE account_id = ? # Does NOT help: WHERE status = ?
Partial Indexes
ruby
# Index only active records add_index :events, :event_date, where: "status = 0", name: "index_events_on_date_active" # Index only non-null values add_index :users, :reset_token, where: "reset_token IS NOT NULL"
Unique Indexes
ruby
add_index :users, :email, unique: true add_index :event_vendors, [:event_id, :vendor_id], unique: true
Foreign Keys
ruby
class AddForeignKeys < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_reference :events, :venue, foreign_key: true
add_foreign_key :events, :users, column: :organizer_id
# ON DELETE options
add_foreign_key :comments, :posts, on_delete: :cascade
add_foreign_key :posts, :users, column: :author_id, on_delete: :nullify
end
end
Testing Migrations
Schema Integrity Test
ruby
# test/db/schema_test.rb
require "test_helper"
class SchemaTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
test "all foreign keys have indexes" do
connection = ActiveRecord::Base.connection
connection.tables.each do |table|
foreign_keys = connection.foreign_keys(table)
indexes = connection.indexes(table)
foreign_keys.each do |fk|
indexed = indexes.any? { |idx| idx.columns.first == fk.column }
assert indexed, "Missing index for #{fk.column} on #{table}"
end
end
end
end
Rollback Test (CLI)
bash
bin/rails db:migrate bin/rails db:rollback bin/rails db:migrate bin/rails db:migrate:status
Reversible Migrations
Using up/down (Manual Reversal)
ruby
class ChangeEventsStructure < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def up
execute <<-SQL
ALTER TABLE events ADD CONSTRAINT check_positive_budget
CHECK (budget_cents >= 0)
SQL
end
def down
execute <<-SQL
ALTER TABLE events DROP CONSTRAINT check_positive_budget
SQL
end
end
Irreversible Migrations
ruby
class DropLegacyTable < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def up
drop_table :legacy_events
end
def down
raise ActiveRecord::IrreversibleMigration, "Cannot restore dropped table"
end
end
Performance Tips
ruby
# DON'T - Locks entire table add_index :large_table, :column # DO - Non-blocking disable_ddl_transaction! add_index :large_table, :column, algorithm: :concurrently # DON'T - Updates all at once Event.update_all(status: 0) # DO - Updates in batches Event.in_batches(of: 1000) do |batch| batch.update_all(status: 0) end
Checklist
- • Migration is reversible
- • Indexes on foreign keys
- • Concurrent index creation for large tables
- • NOT NULL added safely (two-step)
- • Data migrations use batching
- • Tested rollback locally
- • No table locks during deploy