Migration Pattern — Failures

Pattern: Migration
Component: failures.md
Version: 1.2 | Updated: 2026-07-29

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Purpose

Recover when the Migration pattern is misapplied — without abandoning the gate.

Failure → detection → recovery

Failure	Detection	Recovery
Big-bang	Cutover fails; restore unclear	Insert verify window; assign rollback owner
Secret in git	Credential scanned	Rotate; move to secret store; rewrite history policy
Skipped parity	Silent data loss	Halt; run integrity checks; do not proceed
Unpinned job	Wrong migrator version	Pin digests; re-run from known good

Escalation from Migration failures

• Security-class impact during Migration → Security skill + human security owner
• Production SEV while misusing Migration → Hotfix containment first
• Learning after Migration containment → Root Cause

Do not

• Skip the Migration human gate “just this once” after a failure
• Delete Migration evidence to hide a bad run
• Replace Migration with unstructured chat under pressure

Related

• Checklist
• Enterprise notes
• Example

Changelog

• 1.2 (2026-07-29): Migration failure recovery table and escalation paths expanded.