libsql Migrate

Database migration and seed management for libsql with configurable options.

Installation

The easiest method is a global installation.

npm install -g libsql-migrate

The libsql-migrate command is now available for your usage.

Local installation

Instead of installing globally, you can install locally to your project.

npm install --save-dev libsql-migrate

This prevents compatibility issues because it defines the version of libsql-migrate that the migrations/seeds in your repository were written for.

You can either run npx libsql-migrate <command> and/or add migration commands to your package.json:

{
  "name": "mypackage",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "scripts": {
    "migrate": "libsql-migrate latest",
    "seed": "libsql-migrate seed:run"
  }
}

Usage

1. Navigate to your project's root directory.

cd my/project/root

2. Create a fresh libsql-migrate configuration file.

libsql-migrate init

3. This writes a file called libsqlrc.js with the following contents. Modify it to meet your project's configuration.

export default {
  development: {
    connection: {
      url: "file:local.db",
    },
  },
  production: {
    connection: {
      url: "libsql://...",
      authToken: "...",
    },
  },
};

Options

Custom Config Path (-c, --config)

libsql-migrate uses a configuration file named libsqlrc.js by default, which should export the necessary database connection and migration settings.

You can specify a custom path to your configuration file using the --config (or short -c) option. This is useful if the config file is located outside the project root or when you want to manage multiple environments.

Example:

libsql-migrate up --config ../configs/libsqlrc.js

This tells libsql-migrate to load configuration from the specified file instead of looking for libsqlrc.js in the current working directory. If used with command init it will write the default config file to the given location.

Make a new migration

1. Make a new migration named demo.

libsql-migrate make demo

Replace demo with whatever name you'd like to give the migration.

A file with the current timestamp and the name you chose will be written to the migrations directory. This directory is ./migrations by default, but can be configured in libsqlrc.js like so:

export default {
  development: {
    connection: {
      url: "file:local.db",
    },
    migrations: {
      directory: "my_migrations_directory",
    },
  },
  // ...
};

Migration files look like this:

export async function up(client) {}

export async function down(client) {}

2. Write the code that brings your schema up toward the latest version in the up() function. For example:

export async function up(client) {
  await client.execute(
    "CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, name TEXT);",
  );
}

3. Write the code that reverts your schema down in the down() function:

export async function down(client) {
  await client.execute("DROP TABLE users;");
}

---

Hooks

You can define optional lifecycle hooks to run custom logic before, after, or when an error occurs during a migration/seed. These hooks are defined in the libsqlrc.js file.

Available Hooks and Parameters

Hook Name	Called When
beforeMigration(action, name)	Before each migration is executed
afterMigration(action, name, result)	After each migration is successfully executed
afterMigrations(action, names, results)	Called after all migrations when using commands latest or rollback
beforeSeed(name)	Before each seed is executed
afterSeed(name, result)	After each seed is successfully executed
afterSeeds(names, results)	Called after all seeds are successfully executed
onError(action, name, error)	When a migration/seed/make fails

Note: All hooks may be async functions. If a function returns a Promise it will be awaited.

Hook Parameters

action ("up" | "down" | "seed" | "make" | "seed:make")

Indicates whether it is a seed-run or the direction of a migration:

• "up": applying a migration
• "down": rolling back a migration
• "seed": running a seed
• "make": error when "making" migration file
• "seed:make": error when "making" seed file

name (string)

The full name of the migration/seed file, including the timestamp prefix.
This is the name that has been generated using the make command, for example:

20240327102435_add-users-table

result (any | undefined)

The result of the executed migration or seed. This is the value returned by the function, if any.
If the function does not return a value, result will be undefined.

names (string[])

An array of all processed file names (only used in afterMigrations and afterSeeds).

results (any[] | undefined[])

An array of results returned by each migration/seed (only used in afterMigrations and afterSeeds).
If a function does not return a value, the corresponding entry will be undefined.

error (Error)

The error object thrown during a failed migration.

Example

// libsqlrc.js

export default {
  development: {
    connection: {
      url: "file:local.db",
    },
    migrations: {
      directory: "my_migrations_directory",
    },
    hooks: {
      beforeMigration: (action, name) => {
        console.log(`[${action}] Starting migration: ${name}`);
      },
      afterMigration: (action, name, result) => {
        console.log(`[${action}] Finished migration: ${name}`, result);
      },
      afterMigrations: (action, names, results) => {
        console.log(`[${action}] All migrations completed:`);
        names.forEach((name, i) => {
          console.log(` - ${name}`, results[i]);
        });
      },
      onError: (action, name, error) => {
        console.error(`[${action}] Migration failed: ${name}`, error);
      },
    },
  },
  // ...
};

Note: All hooks are optional. If a hook is not defined, it will be skipped silently.

---

Run the next migration

Run the next migration that has not yet been run.

libsql-migrate up

The up() function in the next migration file (alphabetically) in the migration directory will be executed.

You can repeatedly run this command to keep migrating up. If you want to run all pending migrations to bring the database schema fully up-to-date, use the latest command.

Roll back the latest migration

Roll back the latest migration that was run.

libsql-migrate down

The down() function in the most recently executed migration file will be executed.

You can repeatedly run this command to roll back the database schema further and further back.

Run all pending migrations

Run all migrations that have not yet been run.

libsql-migrate latest

The up() function for all pending migration files will be executed in series. All migrations that were run during this command are considered part of the same "batch".

Roll back the latest batch

Roll back all migrations that were run during the last batch.

libsql-migrate rollback

The down() function for all migrations that were run in the last batch will be executed in series. This is useful to roll back all changes from a libsql-migrate latest command.

You can repeatedly run this command to roll back subsequent batches.

Make a new seed

1. Generate a new seed file.

libsql-migrate seed:make demo

Replace demo with whatever name you'd like to give the seed.

A file with the name you chose will be written to the seeds directory. This directory is ./seeds by default, but can be configured in libsqlrc.js like so:

export default {
  development: {
    connection: {
      url: "file:local.db",
    },
    seeds: {
      directory: "my_seeds_directory",
    },
  },
  // ...
};

Seed files look like this:

export async function seed(client) {}

2. Write the code that seeds your database with preset data in the seed() function. Note that you'll probably want to delete old data before seeding.

For example:

export async function seed(client) {
  await client.execute("DELETE FROM users;");
  await client.execute("INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('admin')");
}

Run all seeds

Run all seed files to fill the database with preset data.

libsql-migrate seed:run

This will execute the seed() function inside all seed files in the seeds directory. Files are executed in alphabetical order.

Run specified seed(s)

Include the name of a seed file to run it.

libsql-migrate seed:run animals

This will execute the seed() function inside the animals.js file in the seeds directory.

Include multiple names to run multiple seeds.

libsql-migrate seed:run animals cars

This will run both the animals.js and the cars.js seed files. Seeds are run in alphabetical order no matter which order they are provided to the CLI.

Development

You can clone this project via git and make changes that fit your application.

1. Clone this repository.

git clone https://github.com/travishorn/libsql-migrate

2. Change into the cloned repository's directory.

cd libsql-migrate

3. Install dependencies.

npm install

4. (Optional) Install the CLI globally.

npm install -g .

The libsql-migrate command is now available globally for your usage.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Kindly run npm run format and npm run lint before committing code and submitting a pull request.

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright © 2025 Travis Horn

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.