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Version: v4.3.0

Migrations

This page covers migration behavior for both database schema and storage data in OpenReader.

Runtime ownership​

  • @openreader/database owns database clients, schemas, SQL migration files, and programmatic migration execution for SQLite and PostgreSQL.
  • @openreader/bootstrap owns startup orchestration, storage migration, and optional embedded SeaweedFS, NATS, and compute-worker processes.
  • The Next.js app imports @openreader/database directly, but does not orchestrate migrations or child processes.

Docker deploys bootstrap as an isolated runtime bundle under /opt/openreader/bootstrap; it does not merge migration dependencies into the standalone Next.js app under /app.

Startup migration behavior​

By default, the shared entrypoint runs migrations automatically before app startup in:

  • Docker container startup
  • pnpm dev
  • pnpm start

Startup migration phases:

  • DB schema migrations (pnpm migrate)
  • Storage/data migration (pnpm migrate-fs) for legacy filesystem content into S3 + DB rows
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In most setups, you do not need to run migration commands manually because startup handles this automatically.

Schema history​

Migrations are applied in order. All of the following ship in v3.0.0; an instance upgrading from v2.2.0 applies 0001–0004 in a single startup pass.

MigrationDialectsWhat it does
0001_tts_segmentsSQLite + PostgresCreates the original single-table tts_segments used by server-side TTS segment caching.
0002_add_segment_key_to_tts_segmentsSQLite + PostgresAdds the segment_key column to tts_segments for stable locator-independent segment identity.
0003_tts_segments_v2_splitSQLite + PostgresReplaces tts_segments with a normalized two-table model: tts_segment_entries (one row per document segment + locator identity) and tts_segment_variants (one row per settings combination, holding the cached audio key, status, and alignment). Drops the original tts_segments table — no released build (v2.2.0 or earlier) ever populated it, so there is no production data to migrate.
0004_admin_panelSQLite + PostgresCreates admin_providers (encrypted shared TTS provider rows) and admin_settings (runtime site-feature config), and adds the is_admin column to the user table. Backs the Admin Panel.

To skip automatic startup migrations:

  • Set RUN_DRIZZLE_MIGRATIONS=false
  • Set RUN_FS_MIGRATIONS=false
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If you disable startup migrations, ensure your deployment process runs migrations before serving traffic.

Apply migrations​

In most cases, you do not need manual migration commands because startup runs migrations automatically.

pnpm migrate applies migrations for one database target:

  • Postgres when POSTGRES_URL is set
  • SQLite when POSTGRES_URL is unset
# Run pending migrations for one target:
# - Postgres if POSTGRES_URL is set
# - SQLite if POSTGRES_URL is unset
pnpm migrate

# Run storage migration (filesystem -> S3 + DB)
pnpm migrate-fs

# Dry-run storage migration without uploading/deleting
pnpm migrate-fs:dry-run

pnpm migrate uses the programmatic Drizzle migrator from @openreader/database. Drizzle Kit is not a production or startup dependency; it is used only to generate new migration files.

Generate migrations​

pnpm generate is a two-phase script for contributors and schema changes:

  1. Better Auth schema generation — runs the Better Auth CLI twice (once for SQLite, once for Postgres) to produce auto-generated Drizzle schema files for auth tables (user, session, account, verification).
  2. Drizzle migration generation — runs drizzle-kit generate for both configs in packages/database, producing SQL migration files from all schema files (app + auth).
note

Most users do not need to run pnpm generate. Use it when contributing or when you have changed Drizzle schema files and need new migration files.

Schema ownership​

Auth tables are owned by Better Auth. Their Drizzle schema definitions are auto-generated and should not be hand-edited:

  • packages/database/src/schema_auth_sqlite.ts
  • packages/database/src/schema_auth_postgres.ts

App-specific tables are manually maintained in the standard Drizzle schema files:

  • packages/database/src/schema_sqlite.ts
  • packages/database/src/schema_postgres.ts

Both sets of schema files are included in the Drizzle generation configs. Runtime migration execution is owned by @openreader/database.

When app schema changes (for example tts_segments), keep these in sync:

  • packages/database/src/schema_sqlite.ts
  • packages/database/src/schema_postgres.ts
  • packages/database/migrations/sqlite/*.sql + packages/database/migrations/sqlite/meta/_journal.json
  • packages/database/migrations/postgres/*.sql + packages/database/migrations/postgres/meta/_journal.json
# Full pipeline: Better Auth CLI + Drizzle generate (both dialects)
pnpm generate