Show HN: SRTD – Live-reloading SQL templates for Supabase migrations

github.com

1 points by t1mmen 2 months ago

We've been happily building on Supabase for ~two years, two major DX frustrations aside:

1. The iteration cycle for database functions was needlessly complex. Some variation of this workflow was common:

  - Find existing function/view/policy/etc in past migrations
  - Copy to SQL editor
  - Make changes 
  - Test
  - Copy back to migration file
  - Repeat
2. Code reviews were painful since every function modification appeared as a complete rewrite. Adding a single line in a 400-line function results in an entirely new file with +401 lines. No historic context, either. Lots of mental overhead for reviewers.

I have searched for tools/workflows to address this, but have came up short. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36007640, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37755076)

So, over the holidays I paired with Claude to make SRTD (Supabase Repeatable Template Definitions), addressing these issues with a template-based workflow:

    # Make a template with safely repeatable SQL
    echo "-- some idempotent sql" >> supabase/migrations-templates/my_function.sql
    
    # Edit your SQL templates, changes auto-apply to local DB
    npx @t1mmen/srtd watch
    
    # Generate standard Supabase migrations when ready
    npx @t1mmen/srtd build
Key features:

   * Live-reload for SQL templates (great for functions, policies, views, etc)
   * Single source of truth for database objects, with history/functional git blame.
   * Standard (Supabase) migrations as output
   * Safe iteration with WIP templates that never generate migrations (.wip.sql)
Focus has been on Supabase migrations, but it'll work with any Postgres database using `20250109104647_migration_name.sql` formatted migrations with some configuration adjustments.

Happy to accept PR or issues for other migration file formats (or even DBs).

Project: https://github.com/t1mmen/srtd

Would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and ideas for improvement!

jumski 2 months ago

thanks for contributing this! i will definitely check it, was thinking about using https://atlasgo.io/ for declarative sql code, glad there is another option!

  • t1mmen 2 months ago

    You're very welcome, hope it helps you!

    I considered Atlas as well, but I didn't like the idea of using HCL to define SQL; The srtd approach is just SQL, so aside from setup, there's nothing new to learn.

    The downside of srtd vs Atlas is that Atlas (seemingly) can do your whole schema, including tables, indexes, etc. srtd only works well for idempotent operations (aka can re-run multiple times without producing a different result)

    • jumski 2 months ago

      I believe you do not need to use HCL to be able to work in hybrid mode - it would be definitely a blocker for me.

      Will get to testing it when getting more free time. Cool stuff! <3