| name | ef-migration |
| description | Canonical commands and safety rules for EF Core migration management in the Menu repository — adding, removing, and applying migrations correctly. |
| user-invokable | true |
| context | inline |
EF Core Migration Management
Purpose
Use this skill when adding, removing, or reasoning about EF Core migrations in the Menu repository. The project layout requires specific flags that differ from the EF CLI defaults.
Repository facts
- Migrations project:
backend/MenuDB (contains MenuDbContext and the Migrations/ folder)
- Startup project:
backend/MenuApi (required for EF tool configuration)
- Always run EF CLI commands from the backend solution root (
backend/), not from a project subfolder.
Commands
Add a migration
cd backend
dotnet ef migrations add <MigrationName> --project MenuDB --startup-project MenuApi
<MigrationName> should be PascalCase and describe the schema change, e.g. AddRecipeIngredientsTable.
Remove the most recent migration (before it is applied)
cd backend
dotnet ef migrations remove --project MenuDB --startup-project MenuApi
Only remove a migration that has not been applied to any environment. If the migration is already in the database, revert it first with a new migration.
List applied and pending migrations
cd backend
dotnet ef migrations list --project MenuDB --startup-project MenuApi
How migrations are applied at runtime
Menu.MigrationService is a BackgroundService that applies all pending EF migrations on startup and then exits. MenuApi is configured with WaitForCompletion on Menu.MigrationService, so the API never starts before migrations complete.
Do not run dotnet ef database update against a shared or production database. Let Menu.MigrationService manage migration application at runtime.
EF entity configuration
Entity mappings live in backend/MenuDB/Data/. Column constraints (max length, required, etc.) are configured inside MenuDbContext.OnModelCreating. After adding a migration, always inspect the generated migration file to confirm the SQL it will execute matches your intent before committing.
Validation
After adding a migration, build the solution to confirm there are no EF model snapshot conflicts:
cd backend
dotnet restore MenuApi.sln
dotnet build MenuApi.sln --configuration Release --no-restore
