Creating Migrations

Migrations are version control for your database schema. This guide explains how to create migrations that track changes to your database structure.

What are Migrations?

Migrations are files that define changes to your database schema:

• Creating tables
• Adding/removing columns
• Changing column types
• Adding indexes
• Modifying constraints

Think of migrations as Git commits for your database structure.

Why Use Migrations?

Without Migrations

src/users/models.ts

// Change your model
const User = Model('user', {
  newField: {
    type: 'string',
    required: true,
    min: 2,
    max: 100,
  }, // Added this
});

Problem: Database doesn’t know about the new field!

With Migrations

1. Change your model
2. Create migration
3. Run migration
4. Database updated ✓

Benefits:

• Track schema changes over time
• Share changes with team
• Apply changes consistently across environments
• Rollback changes if needed

When to Create Migrations

Create a migration when you:

• ✅ Create a new model
• ✅ Add/remove fields from models
• ✅ Change field types or constraints
• ✅ Add indexes or relationships
• ✅ Rename tables or columns

Don’t need migrations for:

• ❌ Changing controller logic
• ❌ Updating routes
• ❌ Modifying business logic

Creating Your First Migration

Step 1: Create a Model

src/users/models.ts

import { Model } from 'stratus-ts';

const User = Model('user', {
  name: {
    type: 'string',
    required: true,
    min: 2,
    max: 100,
  },
  email: {
    type: 'email',
    unique: true,
    required: true,
  },
  password: {
    type: 'string',
    required: true,
    select: false,
  },
});

export { User };

Step 2: Generate Migration

Run the CLI command:

terminal

st create db:migration

or

terminal

stratus-ts create db:migration

if you want you can give also name

terminal

st create db:migration user-table

Step 3: Review the Migration

Open the generated file:

generely find in .migrations/sql untill change in settings

change migration directly

src/settings.ts

export default {
  PORT,
  APPS,
  DATABASE,
  TEMPLATE_DIR,
  MIGRATION: {
    TABLE: 'tests',
    PATH: '.migrations',
  },
} satisfies SettingsType

Next Steps

Now that you’ve created migrations:

• Running Migrations - Apply migrations to database