Database Management¶

HoloMUSH uses PostgreSQL as its primary data store. This guide covers database setup, migrations, and maintenance.

Prerequisites¶

PostgreSQL 18 or later
A database user with CREATE privileges
The pg_trgm extension (for fuzzy search)

Database Migrations¶

HoloMUSH uses golang-migrate for schema management. Migrations are embedded in the binary and run automatically on startup, or can be managed manually.

Running Migrations¶

# Apply all pending migrations
holomush migrate up

# Preview migrations without executing
holomush migrate up --dry-run

# Check current migration status
holomush migrate status

# Rollback one migration
holomush migrate down

# Force version (for dirty state recovery)
holomush migrate force 7

Automatic Migrations¶

By default, HoloMUSH runs migrations automatically on startup. This can be controlled with environment variables:

# Disable automatic migrations
HOLOMUSH_DB_AUTO_MIGRATE=false

# Run migrations manually
holomush migrate up

Creating New Migrations¶

For creating new migration files, see the Contributing Guide.

Bootstrapping Existing Databases¶

If migrating from an older HoloMUSH version with an existing schema:

psql -d holomush -f scripts/bootstrap-migrations.sql

This marks all migrations as applied without running them.

Connection Configuration¶

Configure the database connection via environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
`DATABASE_URL`	Full PostgreSQL connection URL	Required

Example connection URL:

DATABASE_URL="postgres://holomush:secret@localhost:5432/holomush?sslmode=require"

Backup and Recovery¶

Creating Backups¶

# Full database dump
pg_dump -Fc holomush > holomush_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).dump

# Schema only
pg_dump -Fc --schema-only holomush > holomush_schema.dump

# Data only
pg_dump -Fc --data-only holomush > holomush_data.dump

Restoring from Backup¶

# Restore full backup
pg_restore -d holomush holomush_backup.dump

# Restore to new database
createdb holomush_restored
pg_restore -d holomush_restored holomush_backup.dump

Troubleshooting¶

Dirty Migration State¶

If a migration fails partway through, the database may be in a "dirty" state:

# Check current state
holomush migrate status

# If dirty, fix manually then force version
holomush migrate force 6

Connection Issues¶

Check PostgreSQL is running and accessible:

psql $DATABASE_URL -c "SELECT 1"

Verify the pg_trgm extension is available:

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm;

Error Codes Reference¶

Migration commands return structured error codes to help diagnose issues.

Migration Errors¶

Code	Meaning	Common Causes	Remediation
`MIGRATION_SOURCE_FAILED`	Failed to read embedded migration files	Corrupted binary, missing migrations	Rebuild the binary
`MIGRATION_INIT_FAILED`	Failed to connect to database for migrations	Invalid DATABASE_URL, database offline	Check connection string, verify PostgreSQL is running
`MIGRATION_UP_FAILED`	Failed to apply pending migrations	SQL syntax error, constraint violation, dirty state	Check migration SQL, resolve conflicts, use `migrate force` if dirty
`MIGRATION_DOWN_FAILED`	Failed to rollback migrations	SQL error in down migration, missing table	Check down migration SQL, verify schema state
`MIGRATION_STEPS_FAILED`	Failed to apply/rollback specific steps	Same as UP/DOWN errors	Check specific migration file
`MIGRATION_VERSION_FAILED`	Failed to read current version	Database connection lost, schema_migrations missing	Check connection, run bootstrap if needed
`MIGRATION_FORCE_FAILED`	Failed to force-set version	Database connection lost	Check connection
`MIGRATION_CLOSE_FAILED`	Failed to close migrator cleanly	Connection already closed	Usually safe to ignore

CLI Errors¶

Code	Meaning	Common Causes	Remediation
`MIGRATION_VERSION_CHECK_FAILED`	Migration applied but version check failed	Database connection dropped during operation	Run `migrate status` to verify actual state
`CONFIG_INVALID`	Missing required configuration	DATABASE_URL not set	Set DATABASE_URL environment variable
`INVALID_VERSION`	Invalid version number for force command	Non-integer input, negative number	Use positive integer (e.g., `migrate force 6`)

Reading Error Output¶

Errors include context to help diagnose issues:

MIGRATION_UP_FAILED: migration failed
  operation: apply migration 7
  error: pq: relation "objects" already exists

The nested context shows:

Error code: Quick identification of failure type
Operation: What the system was trying to do
Error: Underlying database or system error