make:migration - Lyger PHP Framework

The make:migration command generates a new migration file in the database/migrations directory.

Syntax

php rawr make:migration <name>

name

string

required

Descriptive name for the migration (use snake_case)

Basic Usage

Create a new migration:

php rawr make:migration create_users_table

Output:

Migration created: database/migrations/2026_03_08_143022_create_users_table.php

Migration filenames are automatically prefixed with a timestamp to ensure they run in the correct order.

Generated Migration

The command creates a migration class with up() and down() methods:

database/migrations/2026_03_08_143022_create_users_table.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class CreateUsersTable extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->create('create_users_table', function ($table) {
            $table->id();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->drop('create_users_table');
    }
}

Migration Structure

Class Name

The class name is automatically generated from your migration name:

Migration Name	Generated Class Name
`create_users_table`	`CreateUsersTable`
`add_role_to_users`	`AddRoleToUsers`
`update_products_table`	`UpdateProductsTable`

rawr (line 288)

$className = str_replace(['-', '_'], '', ucwords($name, '-_'));

Timestamp Prefix

Each migration gets a unique timestamp:

rawr (line 284)

$timestamp = date('Y_m_d_His');
$filename = $timestamp . '_' . $name . '.php';

Example: 2026_03_08_143022_create_users_table.php

up() Method

Defines the changes to apply:

public function up(): void
{
    $this->getSchema()->create('users', function ($table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('name');
        $table->string('email')->unique();
        $table->timestamp('created_at')->nullable();
    });
}

down() Method

Defines how to reverse the changes:

public function down(): void
{
    $this->getSchema()->drop('users');
}

Naming Conventions

Table Creation

For creating new tables:

php rawr make:migration create_products_table
php rawr make:migration create_orders_table

Column Addition

For adding columns to existing tables:

php rawr make:migration add_status_to_orders
php rawr make:migration add_price_and_stock_to_products

Column Modification

For modifying existing columns:

php rawr make:migration update_users_email_nullable
php rawr make:migration change_price_to_decimal_in_products

Table Deletion

For dropping tables:

php rawr make:migration drop_old_logs_table
php rawr make:migration remove_deprecated_tables

Use descriptive names that clearly indicate what the migration does. This makes it easier to understand your database history.

Common Migration Patterns

Create Table with Columns

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class CreateProductsTable extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->create('products', function ($table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('name');
            $table->text('description')->nullable();
            $table->decimal('price', 10, 2);
            $table->integer('stock')->default(0);
            $table->boolean('active')->default(true);
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->drop('products');
    }
}

Add Columns to Existing Table

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class AddCategoryToProducts extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('products', function ($table) {
            $table->foreignId('category_id')->nullable()->constrained();
            $table->string('sku')->unique();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('products', function ($table) {
            $table->dropForeign(['category_id']);
            $table->dropColumn(['category_id', 'sku']);
        });
    }
}

Create Pivot Table

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class CreateOrderProductTable extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->create('order_product', function ($table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->foreignId('order_id')->constrained()->onDelete('cascade');
            $table->foreignId('product_id')->constrained()->onDelete('cascade');
            $table->integer('quantity')->default(1);
            $table->decimal('price', 10, 2);
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->drop('order_product');
    }
}

Add Indexes

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class AddIndexesToUsers extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('users', function ($table) {
            $table->index('email');
            $table->index(['last_name', 'first_name']);
            $table->unique('username');
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('users', function ($table) {
            $table->dropIndex(['email']);
            $table->dropIndex(['last_name', 'first_name']);
            $table->dropUnique(['username']);
        });
    }
}

Modify Columns

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class UpdateUsersEmailNullable extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('users', function ($table) {
            $table->string('email')->nullable()->change();
            $table->string('phone', 20)->after('email');
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        $this->getSchema()->table('users', function ($table) {
            $table->string('email')->nullable(false)->change();
            $table->dropColumn('phone');
        });
    }
}

Available Column Types

The schema builder supports various column types:

Numeric

$table->id();                           // Auto-incrementing primary key
$table->integer('votes');               // INTEGER
$table->bigInteger('votes');            // BIGINT
$table->decimal('amount', 8, 2);        // DECIMAL with precision
$table->float('amount', 8, 2);          // FLOAT
$table->double('amount', 8, 2);         // DOUBLE

String

$table->string('name');                 // VARCHAR(255)
$table->string('name', 100);            // VARCHAR(100)
$table->text('description');            // TEXT
$table->char('code', 10);               // CHAR(10)

Date/Time

$table->date('birth_date');             // DATE
$table->dateTime('created_at');         // DATETIME
$table->timestamp('updated_at');        // TIMESTAMP
$table->timestamps();                   // created_at + updated_at
$table->time('sunset');                 // TIME

Other

$table->boolean('active');              // BOOLEAN
$table->json('options');                // JSON
$table->binary('data');                 // BLOB
$table->enum('status', ['pending', 'active', 'inactive']);

Column Modifiers

Customize columns with modifiers:

$table->string('email')->unique();                  // Unique constraint
$table->string('name')->nullable();                 // Allow NULL
$table->integer('votes')->default(0);               // Default value
$table->string('role')->default('user');            // String default
$table->timestamp('created_at')->useCurrent();      // Current timestamp
$table->string('bio')->after('email');              // Column order
$table->text('description')->comment('User bio');   // Add comment

Foreign Keys

Define relationships between tables:

// Simple foreign key
$table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained();

// Custom foreign key
$table->foreignId('author_id')
      ->constrained('users')
      ->onDelete('cascade')
      ->onUpdate('cascade');

// Drop foreign key
$table->dropForeign(['user_id']);

Error Handling

Missing Name

php rawr make:migration

Output:

Error: Migration name required

Directory Creation

The command automatically creates the migrations directory if it doesn’t exist:

rawr (lines 279-282)

$migrationsPath = $basePath . '/database/migrations';
if (!is_dir($migrationsPath)) {
    mkdir($migrationsPath, 0755, true);
}

Source Code

The migration generation logic:

rawr (lines 272-315)

function makeMigration(string $basePath, ?string $name): void
{
    if ($name === null) {
        echo "Error: Migration name required\n";
        exit(1);
    }

    $migrationsPath = $basePath . '/database/migrations';
    if (!is_dir($migrationsPath)) {
        mkdir($migrationsPath, 0755, true);
    }

    $timestamp = date('Y_m_d_His');
    $filename = $timestamp . '_' . $name . '.php';
    $migrationPath = $migrationsPath . '/' . $filename;

    $className = str_replace(['-', '_'], '', ucwords($name, '-_'));

    $content = <<<PHP
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Lyger\Database\Migration;

class {$className} extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        \$this->getSchema()->create('{$name}', function (\$table) {
            \$table->id();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        \$this->getSchema()->drop('{$name}');
    }
}
PHP;

    file_put_contents($migrationPath, $content);
    echo "Migration created: database/migrations/{$filename}\n";
}

Workflow Example

php rawr make:migration create_posts_table

Best Practices

Do:

Use descriptive migration names
Always define both up() and down() methods
Keep migrations small and focused
Test rollbacks to ensure they work

Don’t:

Modify existing migrations after they’ve been run
Delete migration files
Put business logic in migrations
Use raw SQL unless absolutely necessary

Next Steps

Run Migrations

Execute your migrations

Make Model

Create models for your tables

Schema Builder

Learn about schema building

Seeding

Populate your database with test data

Commands

​Syntax

​Basic Usage

​Generated Migration

​Migration Structure

​Class Name

​Timestamp Prefix

​up() Method

​down() Method

​Naming Conventions

​Table Creation

​Column Addition

​Column Modification

​Table Deletion

​Common Migration Patterns

​Create Table with Columns

​Add Columns to Existing Table

​Create Pivot Table

​Add Indexes

​Modify Columns

​Available Column Types

​Numeric

​String

​Date/Time

​Other

​Column Modifiers

​Foreign Keys

​Error Handling

​Missing Name

​Directory Creation

​Source Code

​Workflow Example

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Run Migrations

Make Model

Schema Builder

Seeding

Syntax

Basic Usage

Generated Migration

Migration Structure

Class Name

Timestamp Prefix

up() Method

down() Method

Naming Conventions

Table Creation

Column Addition

Column Modification

Table Deletion

Common Migration Patterns

Create Table with Columns

Add Columns to Existing Table

Create Pivot Table

Add Indexes

Modify Columns

Available Column Types

Numeric

String

Date/Time

Other

Column Modifiers

Foreign Keys

Error Handling

Missing Name

Directory Creation

Source Code

Workflow Example

Best Practices

Next Steps