db-migrations-and-schema-changes by letta-ai

---
name: DB migrations and schema changes
description: >-
  Workflows and commands for managing Alembic database migrations and schema changes
  in the letta-cloud core app, including using uv, just, LETTA_PG_URI, and
  switching between SQLite and Postgres.
---

# DB migrations and schema changes (letta-cloud core)

Use this skill whenever you need to change the database schema or debug Alembic
migrations in `apps/core` of the letta-cloud repo.

This skill assumes:
- Working directory: `apps/core`
- Migrations: Alembic in `apps/core/alembic`
- Python runner: `uv`
- Helper: `just ready` for environment + DB setup

## Quick start

1. Ensure environment is ready:
   - `just ready`
2. For Postgres migrations, set:
   - `export LETTA_PG_URI=postgresql+pg8000://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/letta-core`
3. Make your ORM/schema change.
4. Autogenerate migration:
   - `uv run alembic revision --autogenerate -m "<short_message>"`
5. Apply migration:
   - `uv run alembic upgrade head`

See `references/migration-commands.md` for exact commands and variants.

## Standard workflows

### 1. Add or modify a column (ORM-first)

1. Identify the ORM model and table.
2. Update the SQLAlchemy model in `letta/orm/...`:
   - Prefer using mixins (e.g. `ProjectMixin`) when available instead of
     duplicating columns.
3. Run `just ready` if dependencies or environment may have changed.
4. Ensure `LETTA_PG_URI` is set if you want the migration to target Postgres.
5. Autogenerate Alembic revision with `uv`.
6. Inspect the generated file under `alembic/versions/`:
   - Confirm `op.add_column` / `op.alter_column` match expectations.
7. Apply migrations with `uv run alembic upgrade head`.

Use this pattern for changes like adding `project_id` columns via `ProjectMixin`.

### 2. Data backfill / one-off data migration

1. Make sure the schema change (if any) is already represented in ORM + Alembic.
2. Create a new Alembic revision **without** autogenerate (or edit an
   autogen file) and add Python logic in `upgrade()` that:
   - Uses `op.get_bind()` and SQLAlchemy Core/SQL to backfill data.
3. Keep `downgrade()` simple and safe (ideally reversible).
4. Run against Postgres with `LETTA_PG_URI` set, using `uv run alembic upgrade head`.

### 3. Fixing a bad migration

Typical cases:
- Migration fails only on SQLite (ALTER constraint limitations).
- Migration was generated while pointing at SQLite instead of Postgres.

Workflow:
1. Identify the failing revision in `alembic/versions/`.
2. If failure is SQLite-specific, prefer running migrations against Postgres by
   exporting `LETTA_PG_URI` and re-running upgrade.
3. If logic is wrong, create a **new** migration that fixes the problem rather
   than editing an applied revision (especially in shared environments).
4. For purely local/dev history, you can delete and regenerate migrations but
   only if no one else depends on them.

See `references/sqlite-vs-postgres-gotchas.md` for SQLite-specific issues.

### 4. Switching between SQLite and Postgres

Alembic picks the engine based on `letta.settings.DatabaseChoice` and
environment variables.

General rules:
- For local dev stateful runs, `just ready` handles baseline migrations.
- For schema design and production-like migrations, prefer Postgres and set
  `LETTA_PG_URI`.

Workflow for Postgres-targeted migration:
1. `export LETTA_PG_URI=postgresql+pg8000://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/letta-core`
2. From `apps/core`:
   - `uv run alembic upgrade head`
   - `uv run alembic revision --autogenerate -m "..."`

### 5. Resetting local Postgres for clean migration generation

If your local Postgres database has drifted from main (e.g., applied migrations
that no longer exist, or has stale schema), you can reset it to generate a clean
migration.

From the repo root (`/Users/sarahwooders/repos/letta-cloud`):

```bash
# 1. Remove postgres data directory
rm -rf ./data/postgres

# 2. Stop the running postgres container
docker stop $(docker ps -q --filter ancestor=ankane/pgvector)

# 3. Restart services (creates fresh postgres)
just start-services

# 4. Wait a moment for postgres to be ready, then apply all migrations
cd apps/core
export LETTA_PG_URI=postgresql+pg8000://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/letta-core
uv run alembic upgrade head

# 5. Now generate your new migration
uv run alembic revision --autogenerate -m "your migration message"
```

This ensures the migration is generated against a clean database state matching
main, avoiding spurious diffs from local-only schema changes.

## Troubleshooting

- **"Target database is not up to date" when autogenerating**
  - First run `uv run alembic upgrade head` (with appropriate engine/URI).
- **SQLite NotImplementedError about ALTER CONSTRAINT**
  - Switch to Postgres by setting `LETTA_PG_URI` and rerun.
- **Autogenerated migration missing expected changes**
  - Ensure ORM imports and metadata (`Base.metadata`) are correct and that the
    changed model is imported in Alembic env context.
- **Autogenerated migration has unexpected drops/renames**
  - Review model changes; consider explicit operations instead of relying on
    autogenerate. Reset local Postgres (see workflow 5) to get a clean baseline.

## References

- `references/migration-commands.md` — canonical commands for `uv`, Alembic,
  and `just`.
- `references/sqlite-vs-postgres-gotchas.md` — engine-specific pitfalls and
  how to avoid them.