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Review a migration with one MUST, one SHOULD and one NIT

Practice: Asking for a format you can use. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

Review this Postgres 16 migration as exactly 3 numbered comments: one 'MUST (L<n>): ...', then one 'SHOULD (L<n>): ...', then one 'NIT (L<n>): ...', each under 25 words. Team rule: anything that blocks writes on a table over 1 million rows is a MUST. Don't flag the ADD COLUMN with a constant DEFAULT; on Postgres 11+ it doesn't rewrite the table. No code blocks, no summary.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • No severity labels. Without your scheme, the AI writes a flat list where nothing says what blocks the merge. Try: Show the shape: "1. MUST (L5): ... 2. SHOULD (L9): ... 3. NIT (L2): ...".
  • Flagging a non-issue. The AI often warns that ADD COLUMN with DEFAULT rewrites the table, which stopped being true in Postgres 11. Try: Add: "Postgres 16. Don't flag the ADD COLUMN DEFAULT on line 3."
  • Wrong priority. Without your rule, the AI may rank the missing down migration above a write-blocking index. Try: Add: "Anything that blocks writes on a table over 1M rows is a MUST."
  • A long review with fixes. The AI lists 6 or more points and pastes rewritten SQL. Try: Add: "Exactly 3 numbered comments under 25 words each. No code blocks."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Gives the labels
  • Asks for line numbers
  • Gives the priority rule
  • Names the Postgres version
  • Sets the number of comments

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