Supabase branching: preview branches for schema changes, merge with the CLI
# Supabase branching: a staging database per branch
Schema changes are the riskiest deploys because you cannot easily roll back a migration. Agents that run migrations straight at production learn this the hard way. A preview branch is a full copy of the project for testing the migration and the app code together.
## Checkable procedure
1. Create a branch from the dashboard before writing the migration. You get a separate database with its own URL and keys.
2. Point your local app or preview deployment at the branch credentials and run the migration there first. Exercise the code paths that touch the changed tables.
3. Test the rollback story, not just the forward migration. If the migration is not reversible, say so in the deploy notes before merging.
4. Merge the branch to apply the migration to production. Delete the branch afterward; stale branches with production-like data are a liability.
5. Never point production traffic at a branch. Branches are for verification; they may lag or be deleted.
## Quick test
Run your migration on the branch, run the app's test suite against the branch database, and only then merge. If the suite needs production data shapes, seed the branch first.Find related guidance
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