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dojo-migrate skill

/skills/dojo-migrate

This skill helps manage world migrations, upgrades, and breaking changes in Dojo deployments, ensuring smooth version updates and data integrity.

npx playbooks add skill dojoengine/book --skill dojo-migrate

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SKILL.md
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---
name: dojo-migrate
description: Manage world migrations, handle breaking changes, and upgrade Dojo versions. Use when updating deployed worlds, migrating to new versions, or handling schema changes.
allowed-tools: Read, Bash, Grep, Glob
---

# Dojo Migration Management

Handle world migrations, upgrades, and breaking changes when updating deployed Dojo worlds.

## When to Use This Skill

- "Migrate my world changes"
- "Upgrade to new Dojo version"
- "Handle breaking changes"
- "Update deployed models"

## What This Skill Does

Manages migration workflows:
- Analyze migration diffs
- Plan migration strategies
- Execute migrations
- Handle breaking changes
- Upgrade Dojo versions

## Quick Start

**Update existing world:**
```
"Migrate my changes to the deployed world"
```

**Version upgrade:**
```
"Upgrade my project to Dojo v1.8.0"
```

## Migration Workflow

### 1. Inspect Changes

```bash
sozo inspect
```

Shows:
- New models
- Modified models
- New systems/contracts
- Modified systems
- Status of all resources

### 2. Build and Test

```bash
sozo build
sozo test
```

### 3. Execute Migration

```bash
# Deploy with default dev profile
sozo migrate

# Deploy with specific profile
sozo migrate --profile sepolia
```

## Migration Types

### Additive Migrations (Safe)

**Adding new model:**
```cairo
// New model - safe to add
#[derive(Copy, Drop, Serde)]
#[dojo::model]
pub struct NewFeature {
    #[key]
    pub player: ContractAddress,
    pub data: u32,
}
```

**Adding new system:**
```cairo
// New system - safe to add
#[dojo::contract]
pub mod new_system {
    // Implementation
}
```

**Adding model field:**
```cairo
// Adding field - existing data will have default (zero) value
struct Position {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    x: u32,
    y: u32,
    z: u32,  // New field
}
```

### Breaking Migrations (Dangerous)

**Changing key fields:**
```cairo
// Old
struct Position {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    x: u32, y: u32,
}

// New - BREAKING! Different key structure
struct Position {
    #[key] entity_id: u32,  // Changed key
    x: u32, y: u32,
}
```

**Removing fields:**
```cairo
// Old
struct Stats {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    health: u8,
    mana: u8,
}

// New - BREAKING! Data loss
struct Stats {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    health: u8,
    // mana removed
}
```

**Changing field types:**
```cairo
// Old
struct Position {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    x: u32,
    y: u32,
}

// New - BREAKING! Type incompatible
struct Position {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    x: u128,  // Changed type
    y: u128,
}
```

## Handling Breaking Changes

### Option 1: New World

Deploy fresh world with different seed:
```toml
# dojo_dev.toml
[world]
seed = "my_game_v2"  # Different seed = new world address
```

```bash
sozo build && sozo migrate
```

### Option 2: Parallel Models

Keep both old and new versions:
```cairo
// Keep old model
#[derive(Copy, Drop, Serde)]
#[dojo::model]
pub struct PositionV1 {
    #[key] player: ContractAddress,
    x: u32, y: u32,
}

// Add new model
#[derive(Copy, Drop, Serde)]
#[dojo::model]
pub struct PositionV2 {
    #[key] entity_id: u32,
    x: u32, y: u32, z: u32,
}
```

### Option 3: Data Migration System

Create a migration system to transform data:
```cairo
#[dojo::contract]
pub mod migrator {
    fn migrate_positions(ref self: ContractState, players: Array<ContractAddress>) {
        let mut world = self.world_default();

        for player in players {
            // Read old format
            let old_pos: PositionV1 = world.read_model(player);

            // Transform to new format
            let new_pos = PositionV2 {
                entity_id: world.uuid(),
                x: old_pos.x,
                y: old_pos.y,
                z: 0,
            };

            // Write new format
            world.write_model(@new_pos);
        }
    }
}
```

## Version Upgrades

### Update Dojo Version

1. Update `Scarb.toml`:
```toml
[dependencies]
dojo = "1.8.0"

[dev-dependencies]
dojo_cairo_test = "1.8.0"
```

2. Review changelog for breaking changes

3. Build and test:
```bash
sozo build
sozo test
```

4. Migrate:
```bash
sozo migrate
```

## Migration Checklist

### Pre-Migration
- [ ] Review changes with `sozo inspect`
- [ ] Test changes locally on Katana
- [ ] Identify breaking changes
- [ ] Plan data migration if needed
- [ ] Test migration on testnet first

### Migration
- [ ] Build succeeds (`sozo build`)
- [ ] Tests pass (`sozo test`)
- [ ] Migration executes (`sozo migrate`)
- [ ] Verify new models/systems work
- [ ] Check existing data integrity

### Post-Migration
- [ ] Test all systems still work
- [ ] Update Torii indexer if needed
- [ ] Regenerate client bindings
- [ ] Update client integration
- [ ] Monitor for issues

## Common Scenarios

### Adding a New Model

```bash
# 1. Add model to code
# 2. Build
sozo build

# 3. Migrate
sozo migrate

# 4. Verify
sozo inspect
```

### Updating System Logic

```bash
# 1. Update system code
# 2. Build and test
sozo build
sozo test

# 3. Migrate (redeploys system)
sozo migrate

# 4. Test updated system
sozo execute my_game-actions spawn
```

## Troubleshooting

### "Class hash not found"
- Run `sozo build` first
- Check Scarb.toml version compatibility
- Clear `target/` directory and rebuild

### "Model already exists"
- Models cannot be removed from world
- Use versioned model names if structure changes
- Consider deploying new world

### "Migration failed"
- Check account has funds for gas
- Verify profile configuration
- Review `sozo inspect` output

## Next Steps

After migration:
1. Test all functionality
2. Update client bindings (`sozo build --typescript`)
3. Update Torii if model changes (`dojo-indexer` skill)
4. Monitor world for issues

## Related Skills

- **dojo-deploy**: Initial deployment
- **dojo-config**: Update configuration
- **dojo-world**: Manage permissions after migration
- **dojo-indexer**: Update indexer for new schema
- **dojo-client**: Update client bindings

Overview

This skill manages Dojo world migrations, upgrades, and breaking-change workflows when updating deployed Dojo worlds. It helps you inspect diffs, plan safe strategies, and execute migrations while preserving data integrity and minimizing downtime.

How this skill works

The skill inspects current world state and code changes (sozo inspect), builds and tests locally (sozo build, sozo test), and runs migrations (sozo migrate) using profiles. It classifies changes as additive or breaking, recommends strategies (new world, parallel models, or data-migration systems), and provides a checklist and troubleshooting guidance for successful upgrades.

When to use it

  • Deploy changes to an existing Dojo world
  • Upgrade your project to a new Dojo version
  • Handle schema or model breaking changes
  • Migrate data between model versions
  • Validate migration on testnet before production

Best practices

  • Run sozo inspect to understand new, modified, and removed resources before migrating
  • Prefer additive changes where possible; treat key, type, or removed-field changes as breaking
  • For breaking changes, choose between new world, parallel models, or an explicit data migration system
  • Build and run full test suites (sozo build; sozo test) and test migrations on Katana or testnet first
  • Keep a migration checklist: inspect, plan, build, test, migrate, verify, and monitor

Example use cases

  • Add a new model and migrate safely with default profile
  • Upgrade project dependencies to Dojo v1.8.0, run tests, then migrate
  • Handle a changed model key by deploying parallel model versions and writing a migrator to copy data
  • Deploy a new world seed to avoid irreversible breaking changes and migrate clients to the new address
  • Debug migration failures by rebuilding, checking Scarb.toml compatibility, and verifying account gas profiles

FAQ

What is the safest way to handle breaking model changes?

Safest options are deploy a new world (different seed) or keep versioned models and write a migration system to transform data; both avoid in-place destructive changes.

What commands should I run before migrating?

Run sozo inspect to review diffs, then sozo build and sozo test to ensure the code compiles and passes tests before sozo migrate.

How do I upgrade the Dojo version?

Update dojo versions in Scarb.toml, review the changelog for breaking changes, rebuild and test, then run sozo migrate.