Test migrations on a branch/copy before applying to production. Neon and PlanetScale have native branching.
Applying untested migrations directly to production risks downtime, data corruption, or irreversible schema changes.
BeforeMerge scans your pull requests against this rule and 3+ others. Get actionable feedback before code ships.
Database migrations are the riskiest deployment step. A bad migration can:
# Create a branch from production
neonctl branches create --name migration-test --parent main
# Apply and test migration
psql $BRANCH_URL -f migration.sql
# If good, apply to main
psql $MAIN_URL -f migration.sql
# Clean up
neonctl branches delete migration-test# Create a branch
pscale branch create mydb migration-test
# Apply schema changes
pscale shell mydb migration-test < migration.sql
# Create a deploy request (like a PR for your schema)
pscale deploy-request create mydb migration-test
# Review and deploy
pscale deploy-request deploy mydb 1# Use linked project branching (preview branches)
supabase branches create migration-test
# Or use local for testing
supabase start
supabase db push # Test locally first