Database migration rollback plan

Severity: Critical

Code rollback is useless if the database schema is incompatible. Destructive migrations (DROP COLUMN, DROP TABLE) require special consideration.

Check automatically:

1. Identify migration tool:

# Check for migration tools
grep -E "prisma|drizzle|knex|typeorm|sequelize|migrate" package.json 2>/dev/null

2. Check for migrations:

# Find migration files
find . -path ./node_modules -prune -o -name "*migration*" -type f -print 2>/dev/null
ls migrations/ prisma/migrations/ drizzle/ db/migrations/ 2>/dev/null

# Check for down migrations (reversible)
find . -path ./node_modules -prune -o -name "*.sql" -type f -exec grep -l "DOWN\|down\|rollback" {} \; 2>/dev/null | head -5

3. Check for destructive migrations:

# Find DROP statements (irreversible without backup)
find . -path ./node_modules -prune -o -name "*.sql" -type f -exec grep -l "DROP TABLE\|DROP COLUMN" {} \; 2>/dev/null | head -5

4. Check for migration rollback documentation:

grep -riE "migration.*rollback|rollback.*migration|down migration" docs/ README.md CLAUDE.md --include="*.md" 2>/dev/null

Migration tool considerations:

Tool	Rollback Support
Prisma	No built-in down migrations. Rollback = previous schema + manual SQL or backup restore
Drizzle	Supports down migrations if written
Knex	Supports down migrations if written
TypeORM	Supports down migrations if written

Ask user:

• "What migration tool do you use?"
• "Do you write down/rollback migrations?"
• "For destructive migrations (DROP), what's the recovery plan?"
• "Do you test migrations on staging with production-like data first?"

Cross-reference with:

• RR-001 (rollback procedure) - migrations are part of overall rollback
• Section 26 (backups) - backup restore may be the only rollback for destructive migrations
• Section 5/6 (database) - migration practices

Pass criteria:

• Migration tool in use with clear rollback strategy
• Destructive migrations have documented recovery plan (backup restore, manual SQL)
• Migrations tested on staging before production
• Team knows the difference between reversible and irreversible migrations

Fail criteria:

• No rollback strategy ("we just fix forward")
• Destructive migrations with no backup plan
• Migrations go straight to production untested
• Using Prisma but thinking prisma migrate reset is a rollback (it's not - it drops everything)

Evidence to capture:

• Migration tool in use
• Whether down migrations are written
• Strategy for destructive migrations
• Staging testing process

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