[](https://github.com/fabianlindfors/Reshape/actions/workflows/test.yaml)
Reshape is an easy-to-use, zero-downtime schema migration tool for Postgres. It automatically handles complex migrations that would normally require downtime or manual multi-step changes. During a migration, Reshape ensures both the old and new schema are available at the same time, allowing you to gradually roll out your application.
*Note: Reshape is **experimental** and should not be used in production. It can (and probably will) destroy your data and break your application.*
Each migration should be stored as a separate file under `migrations/`. The files can be in either JSON or TOML format. The name of the file will become the name of your migration and they will be sorted by file name. We recommend prefixing every migration with an incrementing number.
Let's create a simple migration to set up a new table `users` with two fields, `id` and `name`. We'll create a file called `migration/1_create_users_table.toml`:
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "create_table"
table = "users"
[[actions.columns]]
name = "id"
type = "SERIAL"
[[actions.columns]]
name = "name"
type = "TEXT"
```
This is the equivalent of running `CREATE TABLE users (id SERIAL, name TEXT)`.
### Preparing your application
Reshape relies on your application using a specific schema. When establishing the connection to Postgres in your application, you need to run a query to select the most recent schema. This query can be generated using: `reshape generate-schema-query`.
To pass it along to your application, you could use an environment variable in your build script: `RESHAPE_SCHEMA_QUERY=$(reshape generate-schema-query)`. Then in your application:
As this is the first migration, Reshape will automatically complete it. For subsequent migrations, you will need to first run `reshape migrate`, roll out your application and then complete the migration using `reshape complete`.
## Writing migrations
### Basics
Every migration consists of one or more actions. The actions will be run sequentially. Here's an example of a migration with two actions to create two tables, `customers` and `products`:
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "create_table"
table = "customers"
[[actions.columns]]
name = "id"
type = "SERIAL"
[[actions]]
type = "create_table"
table = "products"
[[actions.columns]]
name = "sku"
type = "TEXT"
```
Every action has a `type`. The supported types are detailed below.
The `add_column` action will add a new column to an existing table. You can optionally provide an `up` setting. This should be an SQL expression which will be run for all existing rows to backfill the new column.
*Example: add a new column `reference` to table `products`*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "add_column"
table = "products"
[actions.column]
name = "reference"
type = "INTEGER"
nullable = false
default = "10"
```
*Example: replace an existing `name` column with two new columns, `first_name` and `last_name`*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "add_column"
table = "users"
# Extract the first name from the existing name column
up = "(STRING_TO_ARRAY(name, ' '))[1]"
[actions.column]
name = "first_name"
type = "TEXT"
[[actions]]
type = "add_column"
table = "users"
# Extract the last name from the existing name column
up = "(STRING_TO_ARRAY(name, ' '))[2]"
[actions.column]
name = "last_name"
type = "TEXT"
[[actions]]
type = "remove_column"
table = "users"
column = "name"
# Reconstruct name column by concatenating first and last name
The `alter_column` action enables many different changes to an existing column, for example renaming, changing type and changing existing values.
When performing more complex changes than a rename, `up` and `down` must be provided. These should be set to SQL expressions which determine how to transform between the new and old version of the column. Inside those expressions, you can reference the current column value by the column name.
*Example: rename `last_name` column on `users` table to `family_name`*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "alter_column"
table = "users"
column = "last_name"
[actions.changes]
name = "family_name"
```
*Example: change the type of `reference` column from `INTEGER` to `TEXT`*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "alter_column"
table = "users"
column = "reference"
up = "CAST(reference AS TEXT)" # Converts from integer value to text
down = "CAST(reference AS INTEGER)" # Converts from text value to integer
[actions.changes]
type = "TEXT" # Previous type was 'INTEGER'
```
*Example: increment all values of a `index` column by one*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "alter_column"
table = "users"
up = "index + 1" # Increment for new schema
down = "index - 1" # Decrement to revert for old schema
The `remove_column` action will remove an existing column from a table. You can optionally provide a `down` setting. This should be an SQL expression which will be used to determine values for the old schema when inserting or updating rows using the new schema. The `down` setting must be provided when the removed column is `NOT NULL` or doesn't have a default value.
*Example: remove column `name` from table `users`*
```toml
[[actions]]
type = "remove_column"
table = "users"
column = "name"
# Use a default value of "N/A" for the old schema when inserting/updating rows
Starts a new migration, applying all migrations under `migrations/` that haven't yet been applied. After the command has completed, both the old and new schema will be usable at the same time. When you have rolled out the new version of your application which uses the new schema, you should run `reshape complete`.
#### Options
*See also [Connection options](#connection-options)*
| Option | Default | Description |
| ------ | ------- | ----------- |
| `--complete`, `-c` | `false` | Automatically complete migration after applying it. Useful during development. |
Generates the SQL query you need to run in your application before using the database. This command does not require a database connection. Instead it will generate the query based on the latest migration in the `migrations/` directory (or the directories specified by `--dirs`).
The options below can be used with all commands that communicate with Postgres. Use either a connection URL or specify each connection option individually.
| Option | Default | Description |
| ------ | ------- | ----------- |
| `--url` | | URI to connect to your Postgres database.<br>Can also be provided with the environment variable `DATABASE_URL`. |
| `--host` | `localhost` | Hostname to use when connecting to Postgres |
| `--port` | `5432` | Port which Postgres is listening on |
Reshape works by creating views that encapsulate the underlying tables, which your application will interact with. During a migration, Reshape will automatically create a new set of views and set up triggers to translate inserts and updates between the old and new schema. This means that every migration is a two phase process:
1.**Start migration** (`reshape migrate`): Create new views to ensure both the new and old schema are usable at the same time.
- After phase one is complete, you can start the roll out of your application. Once the roll out is complete, the second phase can be run.
2.**Complete migration** (`reshape complete`): Removes the old schema and any intermediate data.
