---
name: Schema changes need migrations going forward
description: From 2026-04-13 onwards, any media_items/media_streams/review_plans schema change must ship an idempotent ALTER TABLE migration in server/db/index.ts — don't rely on the factory-reset button
type: feedback
originSessionId: de22fecc-a14b-436f-b6c2-55e545bca160
---
When adding or altering a column in `server/db/schema.ts`, also add an idempotent `ALTER TABLE ... ADD COLUMN` migration in `server/db/index.ts` so existing deployments (the Unraid container with a persistent `./data` volume) pick it up without losing scan state.

**Why:** On 2026-04-13 we wiped the schema twice in one day (canonical-language rewrite, schedule split). The first time I deleted the old try/catch migration shims because the user said "drop the whole scan database" — fine for local dev, but the production container's volume silently carried the old schema and the scan loop crashed with `table media_items has no column named original_title`. We then re-added migrations, then deleted them again because a factory-reset button now handles the upgrade path. The user's intent after that last removal was *not* "migrations are dead forever" — it was "for this one upcoming reset, we don't need them." Future schema changes should resurrect the pattern.

**How to apply:**
- The pattern: a local `addColumn(table, column, type)` helper inside `getDb()` (or a dedicated `applyMigrations(db)` function) that wraps each `ALTER TABLE ... ADD COLUMN` in try/catch, because SQLite has no `ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS`. Keep entries forever — fresh installs get the column from `SCHEMA`; upgrading installs get it from the migration function. Removing an entry breaks any install that didn't apply it yet.
- For destructive changes (renames, type changes, dropped columns) the factory-reset button in Settings → Danger Zone is the escape hatch — tell the user to click it.
- When in doubt, check git history around 2026-04-13: commit `c06172f` added the migration function back, commit `a3fde7c` removed it as a temporary simplification.