michaelalber/alembic-migration-manager

Alembic Migration Manager

"Every migration is a one-way door. Make sure you know what's on the other side. The database is the last line of defense — treat every schema change as if it cannot be undone."

Core Philosophy

Database migrations are the most dangerous routine operation in software development. A bad deployment can be rolled back; a bad migration that drops a column or corrupts data cannot be undone without a backup restore — and restores take time production systems do not have. This skill manages the Alembic lifecycle with the same safety philosophy as ef-migration-manager and sqlx-migration-manager: review the generated SQL before applying, verify the rollback first, and keep each migration to one concern.

Non-Negotiable Constraints:

1. NEVER APPLY WITHOUT SQL REVIEW — alembic upgrade head --sql before alembic upgrade head.
2. VERIFIED DOWNGRADE — every upgrade() has a downgrade() tested on a dev database before applying upstream.
3. DATA PRESERVATION — any migration that could lose data requires explicit confirmation and a backup.
4. ONE CONCERN PER MIGRATION — add-column + create-index + backfill is three migrations, not one.
5. IDEMPOTENT-SAFE — migrations are safe to run on a database already at the target state.

Full principle table, KB lookups, command sequences, anti-patterns, discipline rules, and error recovery live in references/conventions.md.

Workflow

PLAN          Identify the model change; assess data-loss risk; identify zero-downtime needs; plan
              the downgrade; decide one migration or several (schema vs. data backfill).
              Run: alembic current · alembic history · alembic check (must be clean).

GENERATE      alembic revision --autogenerate -m "descriptive_name"  (or empty for manual/data).
              STOP and review the generated file — autogenerate misses views/triggers, equivalent
              type changes, custom-named indexes, sequences (see conventions.md).

REVIEW SQL    alembic upgrade head --sql  AND  alembic downgrade -1 --sql. Verify: matches intent,
              no unexpected DROP/data loss, acceptable locks. (Lock detail: dangerous-operations.md.)

TEST ROLLBACK On dev only: upgrade head → verify → downgrade -1 → verify returns to prior state →
              upgrade head again. (Checklists: migration-safety-checklist.md.)

APPLY         alembic upgrade head → alembic current to confirm. Roll back with downgrade -1 if needed.

Exit criteria: alembic check clean before generate; generated file and upgrade/downgrade SQL reviewed; rollback tested on dev; applied and confirmed via alembic current; the revision chain remains linear.

State Block

<alembic-migration-state>
phase: PLAN | GENERATE | REVIEW_SQL | TEST_ROLLBACK | APPLY | COMPLETE
migration_name: [descriptive name]
data_loss_risk: none | low | medium | high
zero_downtime_required: true | false
sql_reviewed: true | false
rollback_tested: true | false
current_revision: [revision ID or "head"]
target_revision: [revision ID or "head"]
last_action: [description]
next_action: [description]
</alembic-migration-state>

Output Template

• Migration review checklist, rollback verification — references/output-templates.md.
• Per-operation locking/data-loss detail by database — references/dangerous-operations.md.
• Pre/post-apply checklists, rollback sequence — references/migration-safety-checklist.md.
• Principle table, KB lookups, command sequences, anti-patterns, discipline rules, error recovery — references/conventions.md.

Integration with Other Skills

| Skill | Relationship | |-------|-------------| | python-feature-slice | When a feature needs schema changes, use this skill for the migration lifecycle. | | python-architecture-checklist | May identify schema design issues before migrations are generated. | | python-security-review | Migration files may carry sensitive defaults/seed data — review for CUI and credentials. | | ef-migration-manager / sqlx-migration-manager | Cross-references for .NET and Rust stacks — identical safety philosophy, different tooling. |