picpeak/MIGRATION_ERROR_FIX.md

Quick Fix for Migration Error

Immediate Fix

The error "relation photo_categories already exists" occurs because the database already has tables but the migration tracking doesn't know they were applied.

Option 1: Use Safe Migration Runner (Recommended)

Update your docker-compose.prod.yml to use the safe migration command:

backend:
  environment:
    - NODE_ENV=production
  # ... other config ...

Then update the wait-for-db.sh (already done) to use npm run migrate:safe in production.

Option 2: Quick Manual Fix

If you need to fix the running system immediately:

# 1. Enter the backend container
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec backend sh

# 2. Run the safe migration script
npm run migrate:safe

# 3. If that fails, manually mark migrations as applied:
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec db psql -U picpeak -d picpeak

# In PostgreSQL:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS migrations (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  filename VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  applied_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

-- Mark existing migrations as applied
INSERT INTO migrations (filename) VALUES 
  ('init.js'),
  ('004_add_categories_and_cms.js'),
  ('006_add_photo_counter_to_categories.js'),
  ('007_add_read_at_to_activity_logs.js'),
  ('008_add_language_support_to_email_templates.js'),
  ('009_update_german_email_templates.js'),
  ('010_add_missing_email_templates.js'),
  ('011_add_user_upload_settings.js'),
  ('012_add_hero_photo_id.js'),
  ('013_fix_email_links_and_date_format.js'),
  ('014_add_default_welcome_message.js'),
  ('014_add_host_name_to_events.js'),
  ('015_add_login_attempts_table.js'),
  ('016_add_auth_security_columns.js'),
  ('017_add_token_revocation_tables.js')
ON CONFLICT (filename) DO NOTHING;

\q

Option 3: Fresh Start (Nuclear Option)

If you don't have important data yet:

# Stop everything
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml down

# Remove database volume
docker volume rm wedding-photo-sharing_postgres_data

# Start fresh
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

Root Cause

The issue happens when:

1. Database volume persists between deployments
2. Migration tracking table gets out of sync
3. The original migration runner doesn't check for existing tables

Permanent Solution

The new safe migration runner (migrate:safe) handles this by:

1. Checking if tables exist before creating them
2. Catching "already exists" errors gracefully
3. Auto-detecting existing schema and marking migrations as applied

Next Steps

After fixing the migration issue:

1. Create admin user:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec backend node scripts/create-admin.js \
  --username admin \
  --email admin@yourdomain.com

2. Check health:

curl http://yourdomain.com/api/health

3. Monitor logs:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f backend