{"title":"Writing database migrations","version":"1.8","locale":"en","docname":"howto/writing-migrations","url":"/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations/","canonical":"https://djangodocs.dev/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations/","summary":"This document explains how to structure and write database migrations for different scenarios you might encounter. For introductory material on migrations, see the…","html":"<h1>Writing database migrations<a class=\"heading-anchor\" href=\"#writing-database-migrations\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Link to this heading</span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">#</span></a></h1>\n<p>This document explains how to structure and write database migrations for\ndifferent scenarios you might encounter. For introductory material on\nmigrations, see <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/topics/migrations/\"><span class=\"doc\">the topic guide</span></a>.</p>\n<section id=\"data-migrations-and-multiple-databases\">\n<span id=\"id1\"></span><h2>Data migrations and multiple databases<a class=\"heading-anchor\" href=\"#data-migrations-and-multiple-databases\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Link to this heading</span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">#</span></a></h2>\n<p>When using multiple databases, you may need to figure out whether or not to\nrun a migration against a particular database. For example, you may want to\n<strong>only</strong> run a migration on a particular database.</p>\n<p>In order to do that you can check the database connection’s alias inside a\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunPython</span></code> operation by looking at the <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">schema_editor.connection.alias</span></code>\nattribute:</p>\n<div class=\"code-block\" data-language=\"default\"><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Code code\"><code><span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">django.db</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">migrations</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">def</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nf\">forwards</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">apps</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">schema_editor</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n    <span class=\"k\">if</span> <span class=\"ow\">not</span> <span class=\"n\">schema_editor</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">connection</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">alias</span> <span class=\"o\">==</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;default&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">:</span>\n        <span class=\"k\">return</span>\n    <span class=\"c1\"># Your migration code goes here</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"c1\"># Dependencies to other migrations</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">operations</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">RunPython</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">forwards</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></div>\n<aside class=\"version-note version-added\" data-version=\"1.8\">\n<p class=\"version-note-title\">New in Django 1.8</p></aside>\n<p>You can also provide hints that will be passed to the <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/topics/db/multi-db/#allow_migrate\" title=\"allow_migrate\"><code class=\"xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">allow_migrate()</span></code></a>\nmethod of database routers as <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">**hints</span></code>:</p>\n<figure class=\"code-block code-block-captioned\" data-language=\"default\"><figcaption class=\"code-block-caption\"><code>myapp/dbrouters.py</code></figcaption><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"myapp/dbrouters.py\"><code><span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">MyRouter</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"nb\">object</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"k\">def</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nf\">allow_migrate</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"bp\">self</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">db</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">app_label</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">model_name</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"kc\">None</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"o\">**</span><span class=\"n\">hints</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n        <span class=\"k\">if</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;target_db&#39;</span> <span class=\"ow\">in</span> <span class=\"n\">hints</span><span class=\"p\">:</span>\n            <span class=\"k\">return</span> <span class=\"n\">db</span> <span class=\"o\">==</span> <span class=\"n\">hints</span><span class=\"p\">[</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;target_db&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">]</span>\n        <span class=\"k\">return</span> <span class=\"kc\">True</span>\n</code></pre></figure>\n<p>Then, to leverage this in your migrations, do the following:</p>\n<div class=\"code-block\" data-language=\"default\"><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Code code\"><code><span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">django.db</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">migrations</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">def</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nf\">forwards</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">apps</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">schema_editor</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n    <span class=\"c1\"># Your migration code goes here</span>\n    <span class=\"o\">...</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"c1\"># Dependencies to other migrations</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">operations</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">RunPython</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">forwards</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">hints</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"p\">{</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;target_db&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">:</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;default&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">}),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></div>\n<p>If your <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunPython</span></code> or <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunSQL</span></code> operation only affects one model, it’s good\npractice to pass <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">model_name</span></code> as a hint to make it as transparent as possible\nto the router. This is especially important for reusable and third-party apps.</p>\n</section>\n<section id=\"migrations-that-add-unique-fields\">\n<h2>Migrations that add unique fields<a class=\"heading-anchor\" href=\"#migrations-that-add-unique-fields\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Link to this heading</span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">#</span></a></h2>\n<p>Applying a “plain” migration that adds a unique non-nullable field to a table\nwith existing rows will raise an error because the value used to populate\nexisting rows is generated only once, thus breaking the unique constraint.</p>\n<p>Therefore, the following steps should be taken. In this example, we’ll add a\nnon-nullable <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/models/fields/#django.db.models.UUIDField\" title=\"django.db.models.UUIDField\"><code class=\"xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">UUIDField</span></code></a> with a default value. Modify\nthe respective field according to your needs.</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>Add the field on your model with <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">default=uuid.uuid4</span></code> and <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">unique=True</span></code>\narguments (choose an appropriate default for the type of the field you’re\nadding).</p></li>\n<li><p>Run the <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/django-admin/#django-admin-makemigrations\"><code class=\"xref std std-djadmin docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">makemigrations</span></code></a> command. This should generate a migration\nwith an <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AddField</span></code> operation.</p></li>\n<li><p>Generate two empty migration files for the same app by running\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">makemigrations</span> <span class=\"pre\">myapp</span> <span class=\"pre\">--empty</span></code> twice. We’ve renamed the migration files to\ngive them meaningful names in the examples below.</p></li>\n<li><p>Copy the <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AddField</span></code> operation from the auto-generated migration (the first\nof the three new files) to the last migration and change <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AddField</span></code> to\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AlterField</span></code>. For example:</p>\n<figure class=\"code-block code-block-captioned\" data-language=\"default\"><figcaption class=\"code-block-caption\"><code>0006_remove_uuid_null.py</code></figcaption><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"0006_remove_uuid_null.py\"><code><span class=\"c1\"># -*- coding: utf-8 -*-</span>\n<span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">__future__</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">unicode_literals</span>\n\n<span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">django.db</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">models</span>\n<span class=\"kn\">import</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">uuid</span>\n\n\n<span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;myapp&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;0005_populate_uuid_values&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">operations</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">AlterField</span><span class=\"p\">(</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">model_name</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;mymodel&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">name</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;uuid&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">field</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"n\">models</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">UUIDField</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">default</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"n\">uuid</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">uuid4</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">unique</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"kc\">True</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></figure>\n</li>\n<li><p>Edit the first migration file. The generated migration class should look\nsimilar to this:</p>\n<figure class=\"code-block code-block-captioned\" data-language=\"default\"><figcaption class=\"code-block-caption\"><code>0004_add_uuid_field.py</code></figcaption><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"0004_add_uuid_field.py\"><code><span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;myapp&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;0003_auto_20150129_1705&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">operations</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">AddField</span><span class=\"p\">(</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">model_name</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;mymodel&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">name</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;uuid&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span>\n            <span class=\"n\">field</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"n\">models</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">UUIDField</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">default</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"n\">uuid</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">uuid4</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">unique</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"kc\">True</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></figure>\n<p>Change <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">unique=True</span></code> to <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">null=True</span></code> – this will create the intermediary\nnull field and defer creating the unique constraint until we’ve populated\nunique values on all the rows.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>In the first empty migration file, add a\n<a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/migration-operations/#django.db.migrations.operations.RunPython\" title=\"django.db.migrations.operations.RunPython\"><code class=\"xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunPython</span></code></a> or\n<a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/migration-operations/#django.db.migrations.operations.RunSQL\" title=\"django.db.migrations.operations.RunSQL\"><code class=\"xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunSQL</span></code></a> operation to generate a\nunique value (UUID in the example) for each existing row. For example:</p>\n<figure class=\"code-block code-block-captioned\" data-language=\"default\"><figcaption class=\"code-block-caption\"><code>0005_populate_uuid_values.py</code></figcaption><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"0005_populate_uuid_values.py\"><code><span class=\"c1\"># -*- coding: utf-8 -*-</span>\n<span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">__future__</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">unicode_literals</span>\n\n<span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">django.db</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">models</span>\n<span class=\"kn\">import</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">uuid</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">def</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nf\">gen_uuid</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">apps</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">schema_editor</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n    <span class=\"n\">MyModel</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"n\">apps</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">get_model</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;myapp&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;MyModel&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">)</span>\n    <span class=\"k\">for</span> <span class=\"n\">row</span> <span class=\"ow\">in</span> <span class=\"n\">MyModel</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">objects</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">all</span><span class=\"p\">():</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">row</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">uuid</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"n\">uuid</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">uuid4</span><span class=\"p\">()</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">row</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">save</span><span class=\"p\">()</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;myapp&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;0004_add_uuid_field&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">operations</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"c1\"># omit reverse_code=... if you don&#39;t want the migration to be reversible.</span>\n        <span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">RunPython</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">gen_uuid</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"n\">reverse_code</span><span class=\"o\">=</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">RunPython</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">noop</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></figure>\n</li>\n<li><p>Now you can apply the migrations as usual with the <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/django-admin/#django-admin-migrate\"><code class=\"xref std std-djadmin docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">migrate</span></code></a> command.</p>\n<p>Note there is a race condition if you allow objects to be created while this\nmigration is running. Objects created after the <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AddField</span></code> and before\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">RunPython</span></code> will have their original <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">uuid</span></code>’s overwritten.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</section>\n<section id=\"controlling-the-order-of-migrations\">\n<h2>Controlling the order of migrations<a class=\"heading-anchor\" href=\"#controlling-the-order-of-migrations\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Link to this heading</span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">#</span></a></h2>\n<p>Django determines the order in which migrations should be applied not by the\nfilename of each migration, but by building a graph using two properties on the\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">Migration</span></code> class: <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">dependencies</span></code> and <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">run_before</span></code>.</p>\n<p>If you’ve used the <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/django-admin/#django-admin-makemigrations\"><code class=\"xref std std-djadmin docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">makemigrations</span></code></a> command you’ve probably\nalready seen <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">dependencies</span></code> in action because auto-created\nmigrations have this defined as part of their creation process.</p>\n<p>The <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">dependencies</span></code> property is declared like this:</p>\n<div class=\"code-block\" data-language=\"default\"><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Code code\"><code><span class=\"kn\">from</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nn\">django.db</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"kn\">import</span> <span class=\"n\">migrations</span>\n\n<span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">dependencies</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;myapp&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;0123_the_previous_migration&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></div>\n<p>Usually this will be enough, but from time to time you may need to\nensure that your migration runs <em>before</em> other migrations. This is\nuseful, for example, to make third-party apps’ migrations run <em>after</em>\nyour <a class=\"reference internal\" href=\"/en/1.8/ref/settings/#std-setting-AUTH_USER_MODEL\"><code class=\"xref std std-setting docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">AUTH_USER_MODEL</span></code></a> replacement.</p>\n<p>To achieve this, place all migrations that should depend on yours in\nthe <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">run_before</span></code> attribute on your <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">Migration</span></code> class:</p>\n<div class=\"code-block\" data-language=\"default\"><div class=\"code-block-toolbar\"><span class=\"code-block-language\">Code</span><button type=\"button\" class=\"copy-button\" data-copy hidden><span class=\"copy-button-label\">Copy</span></button></div><pre role=\"group\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Code code\"><code><span class=\"k\">class</span><span class=\"w\"> </span><span class=\"nc\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"n\">migrations</span><span class=\"o\">.</span><span class=\"n\">Migration</span><span class=\"p\">):</span>\n    <span class=\"o\">...</span>\n\n    <span class=\"n\">run_before</span> <span class=\"o\">=</span> <span class=\"p\">[</span>\n        <span class=\"p\">(</span><span class=\"s1\">&#39;third_party_app&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">,</span> <span class=\"s1\">&#39;0001_do_awesome&#39;</span><span class=\"p\">),</span>\n    <span class=\"p\">]</span>\n</code></pre></div>\n<p>Prefer using <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">dependencies</span></code> over <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">run_before</span></code> when possible. You should\nonly use <code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">run_before</span></code> if it is undesirable or impractical to specify\n<code class=\"docutils literal notranslate\"><span class=\"pre\">dependencies</span></code> in the migration which you want to run after the one you are\nwriting.</p>\n</section>","rootId":"writing-database-migrations","toc":[{"title":"Data migrations and multiple databases","anchor":"data-migrations-and-multiple-databases","children":[]},{"title":"Migrations that add unique fields","anchor":"migrations-that-add-unique-fields","children":[]},{"title":"Controlling the order of migrations","anchor":"controlling-the-order-of-migrations","children":[]}],"breadcrumbs":[{"docname":"howto/index","title":"“How-to” guides","url":"/en/1.8/howto/"}],"prev":{"docname":"howto/windows","title":"How to install Django on Windows","url":"/en/1.8/howto/windows/"},"next":{"docname":"faq/index","title":"Django FAQ","url":"/en/1.8/faq/"},"formats":{"html":"/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations/","markdown":"/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations.md","json":"/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations.json"},"source":"https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/1.8.x/docs/howto/writing-migrations.txt","official":"https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/writing-migrations/","inVersions":["dev","6.1","6.0","5.2","5.1","5.0","4.2","4.1","4.0","3.2","3.1","3.0","2.2","2.1","2.0","1.11","1.10","1.9","1.8"],"inLocales":["en"]}