Database Migrations & Schema Management

What happens when your application changes? New features often need new places to store data, or changes to existing data structures. This is where managing your database schema comes in.

A database schema is like a blueprint for your database. It defines the tables, columns, relationships, and constraints that structure your data.

As your application evolves, so must its schema. Manual changes can be risky and inconsistent across environments.

Database migrations are version control for your database schema. Think of them like code commits, but for your database structure.

Each migration is a set of instructions (usually SQL) that describes how to change the database from one version to the next. They are typically timestamped and applied in order.

• `up` script: Applies a change (e.g., add a table).
• `down` script: Reverts a change (e.g., drop a table).