ts-migrate-mongoose

A migration framework for Mongoose, built with TypeScript.

Motivation

ts-migrate-mongoose is a migration framework for mongoose
I need a way to manage database migrations for mongoose models, run them from the CLI or programmatically, and keep track of which migrations have been applied. It should support both ESM and CommonJS, work with all major Node.js frameworks, and be flexible enough to handle complex migration scenarios.

Supports and tested with

{
  "node": "20.x || 22.x || 24.x",
  "mongoose": ">=6.6.x || 7.x || 8.x || 9.x",
}

Features

• Stores migration state in MongoDB
• Flexible configuration using migrate.json, migrate.ts, .env
• Utilizes mongoose models during migrations
• Supports async/await in migrations
• Run migrations from the CLI or programmatically
• Prune old migrations and sync new migrations
• Create custom templates for migrations
• Run individual migration up/down using -s, --single
• Supports ESM and CommonJS

Installation

mongoose is a peer dependency — install it alongside ts-migrate-mongoose.

npm install ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
pnpm add ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
yarn add ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
bun add ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose

Or globally:

npm install -g ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
pnpm add -g ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
yarn global add ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose
bun add -g ts-migrate-mongoose mongoose

Example

Works with any Node.js framework — Express, Fastify, Koa, Hono, Nest, etc.
How to use it with:

• Express: ts-express-tsx, ts-express-esbuild
• Nest: ts-express-nest

Migrations and alias imports

If you are using alias imports in your project, you can use tsconfig.json paths to resolve them for your project.

Configuration

If you don't want to provide -d or --uri flag in CLI or Programmatic mode, you can configure it.
Create a migrate.json or migrate.ts or .env file in the root of your project:

• migrate.json

{
  "uri": "mongodb://localhost/my-db",
  "collection": "migrations",
  "migrationsPath": "./migrations",
  "templatePath": "./migrations/template.ts",
  "autosync": false
}

• migrate.ts

export default {
  uri: "mongodb://localhost/my-db",
  collection: "migrations",
  migrationsPath: "./migrations",
  templatePath: "./migrations/template.ts",
  autosync: false,
  connectOptions: {
    autoIndex: true,
  },
};

• .env

# You can set this variable or in your CI/CD pipeline
# Or use --mode flag in CLI mode to switch between .env files
MIGRATE_MODE=development

If mode is set, it will look for .env.[mode] file in the root of your project
For example, if MIGRATE_MODE=development it will look for .env.development file
If mode is not set, it will look for .env file in the root of your project

.env                # loaded in all cases
.env.local          # loaded in all cases (used as override for local development)
.env.[mode]         # only loaded in specified mode
.env.[mode].local   # only loaded in specified mode (used as override for local development)

# Example .env file content
MIGRATE_MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost/my-db
MIGRATE_MONGO_COLLECTION=migrations
MIGRATE_CONFIG_PATH=./migrate
MIGRATE_MIGRATIONS_PATH=./migrations
MIGRATE_TEMPLATE_PATH=./migrations/template.ts
MIGRATE_AUTOSYNC=false

| Config file | .env / export | Default | Required | Description | | -------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | mode | MIGRATE_MODE | - | No | environment mode to use .env.[mode] file | | uri | MIGRATE_MONGO_URI | - | Yes | mongo connection string | | collection | MIGRATE_MONGO_COLLECTION | migrations | No | collection name to use for the migrations | | configPath | MIGRATE_CONFIG_PATH | - | No | will lookup ./migrate[.ts,.js,.json] in root | | migrationsPath | MIGRATE_MIGRATIONS_PATH | ./migrations | No | path to the migration files | | templatePath | MIGRATE_TEMPLATE_PATH | - | No | template file to use when creating a migration | | autosync | MIGRATE_AUTOSYNC | false | No | automatically sync new migrations without prompt | | connectOptions | - | - | No | mongoose connection options (config file only) |

Getting started with the CLI

Explore and learn commands, rest of the tutorial will be using npm

npx migrate -h
pnpm migrate -h
yarn migrate -h
bun migrate -h

CLI migration tool for mongoose

Usage: migrate <command> [options]

Commands:
  list                       list all migrations
  create <migration-name>    create a new migration file
  up [migration-name]        run all migrations or a specific migration if name provided
  down <migration-name>      roll back migrations down to given name
  prune                      delete extraneous migrations from migration folder or database

Options:
  -f, --config-path <path>        path to the config file
  -d, --uri <string>              mongo connection string
  -c, --collection <string>       collection name to use for the migrations
  -a, --autosync <boolean>        automatically sync new migrations without prompt
  -m, --migrations-path <path>    path to the migration files
  -t, --template-path <path>      template file to use when creating a migration
      --mode <string>             environment mode to use .env.[mode] file
  -s, --single                    run single migration (up/down only)
  -h, --help                      display help
  -v, --version                   display version

Before you start make sure you setup .env file or migrate.ts/json file so you don't need to provide -d on each command

npx migrate create add-users -d mongodb://localhost/my-db

In case you want to run just one migration up or down use option --single

npx migrate create first-migration
npx migrate create second-migration
npx migrate list
npx migrate up second-migration -s # will migrate up only second-migration
npx migrate down second-migration -s # will migrate down only second-migration
npx migrate up -s # will migrate up first-migration

Options override order

Note that options are overridden in the following order:

• Command line args > Env vars > Config file

Migration files

This example demonstrates how you can create a migration file using the CLI
By default, ts-migrate-mongoose assumes your migration folder exists (if it does not it will create one for you)

Here's an example of a migration created using:

npx migrate create first-migration
pnpm migrate create first-migration
yarn migrate create first-migration
bun migrate create first-migration

Executing the above command will create a migration file in the ./migrations folder with the following content:

• 1673525773572-first-migration.ts

// Import your schemas here
import type { Connection } from 'mongoose'

export async function up (connection: Connection): Promise<void> {
  // Write migration here
}

export async function down (connection: Connection): Promise<void> {
  // Write migration here
}

Using mongoose models in your migrations

As long as you can import the references to your models you can use them in migrations
Below is an example of a typical setup in a mongoose project:

• models/User.ts - defines the User model

import { Schema, model, models } from 'mongoose'

interface IUser {
  firstName: string
  lastName?: string
}

export const UserSchema = new Schema<IUser>({
  firstName: {
    type: String,
    required: true
  },
  lastName: {
    type: String
  }
})

export default models.User ?? model<IUser>('User', UserSchema)

• 1673525773572-first-migration-demo.ts - your migration file

import { UserSchema } from '../models/User'
import type { Connection } from 'mongoose'

export async function up(connection: Connection) {
  const User = connection.model('User', UserSchema)
  await User.create([
    {
      firstName: 'John',
      lastName: 'Doe',
    },
    {
      firstName: 'Jane',
      lastName: 'Doe',
    },
  ])
}

export async function down(connection: Connection) {
  const User = connection.model('User', UserSchema)
  await User.deleteMany({ firstName: { $in: ['Jane', 'John'] } }).exec()
}

Programmatic mode

Works with any Node.js framework — Express, Fastify, Koa, Hono, etc:

import { Migrator } from 'ts-migrate-mongoose'

const migrator = await Migrator.connect({
  uri: 'mongodb://localhost:27017/my-db',
  autosync: true,
})

await migrator.run('up')        // Run all pending migrations
await migrator.run('down', 'x') // Roll back a specific migration
await migrator.list()           // List all migrations and their status
await migrator.create('name')   // Create a new migration file
await migrator.prune()          // Remove orphaned migrations from DB
await migrator.close()          // Close the connection

Express / Fastify / Koa / Hono

import { Migrator } from 'ts-migrate-mongoose'

// Run before starting your server
const migrator = await Migrator.connect({
  uri: process.env.MONGO_URI ?? 'mongodb://localhost:27017/my-db',
  autosync: true,
})
await migrator.run('up')
await migrator.close()

// Start your server
app.listen(3000)

NestJS (because it's special)

Import MigrationModule from ts-migrate-mongoose/nest:

import { MigrationModule } from 'ts-migrate-mongoose/nest'

@Module({
  imports: [
    MongooseModule.forRoot(process.env.MONGO_URI),
    MigrationModule.forRootAsync({
      inject: [ConfigService],
      useFactory: (config: ConfigService) => ({
        uri: config.get<string>('MONGO_URI'),
        autosync: true,
      }),
    }),
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

Runs all pending up migrations on application bootstrap. For custom control:

MigrationModule.forRoot({
  uri: process.env.MONGO_URI,
  onBootstrap: async (migrator) => {
    await migrator.run('down', 'test')
    await migrator.prune()
    await migrator.run('up')
  },
})

See programmatic usage examples for the full API and more examples.

Contributing

Check CONTRIBUTING.md

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

Notes

• Currently, the -d or --uri must include the database to use for migrations in the uri.
• Example: -d mongodb://localhost:27017/development
• If you don't want to pass it every time feel free to use migrate.ts or migrate.json config file or an environment variable
• Feel Free to check out the /examples folder in the project to get a better idea of usage in Programmatic and CLI mode

Check my other projects

• ts-patch-mongoose - Patch history & events plugin for mongoose
• ts-cache-mongoose - Cache plugin for mongoose Queries and Aggregate (in-memory, redis)