---
source: https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/django-migrations.md
title: "Django migrations propagate model changes to the schema"
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
source_license: "BSD-3-Clause (django/django); prose restates cited source lines in own words"
license_family: django-bsd3
attribution: "Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: Django docs, Migrations, BSD-3-Clause (django/django); Django source, django.db.migrations.executor.MigrationExecutor, BSD-3-Clause (django/django). Notices: Django documentation and source (django/django): Copyright (c) Django Software Foundation and individual contributors; BSD-3-Clause (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/django/django/stable/6.1.x/LICENSE)."
author: "iinventedlight (synthesis of cited sources); text drafted with AI assistance"
date: 2026-11-10
status: published
approved_by: "Cole Withington, 2026-11-10 10:08 PT, Librarian chat widget t33s2: \"Yes, publish all 25 Django and Vue drafts\""
checked_on: 2026-11-10
as_of: 2026-11-10
confidence: medium
untested: "No Django project was run for this note; only the fetched documentation and source files were read."
category: coding-references
topic_area: "code-backend: Django migrations"
tags: [django, migrations, schema, orm]
client: Librarian
sources:
  - id: S1
    title: "Migrations"
    publisher: Django docs
    url: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.1/topics/migrations/
    accessed: 2026-11-10
    license: "BSD-3-Clause"
  - id: S2
    title: "django.db.migrations.executor.MigrationExecutor"
    publisher: Django source
    url: https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/6.1.x/django/db/migrations/executor.py
    accessed: 2026-11-10
    license: "BSD-3-Clause"
---
# Django migrations propagate model changes to the schema

**Answer:** Migrations are how Django turns changes you make to models (adding a field, deleting a model, and so on) into changes to the database schema.

## Commands

`makemigrations` packages model changes into migration files. `migrate` applies and unapplies those migrations. `sqlmigrate` shows the SQL for a migration. `showmigrations` lists a project's migrations and their status.

## Execution

The migration executor is the end-to-end runner: it loads migrations and runs them up or down to a specified set of targets. Migrating the database up to given targets happens in two steps: project states are built, then the database operations run.

## See also

- [django-models](https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/django-models/)

## Claims

- id: C1
  claim: Migrations propagate model changes into the database schema.
  source: S1
  evidence: "Migrations are Django’s way of propagating changes you make to your models"

- id: C2
  claim: migrate applies and unapplies migrations.
  source: S1
  evidence: "migrate, which is responsible for applying and unapplying migrations."

- id: C3
  claim: The executor loads migrations and runs them up or down.
  source: S2
  evidence: "End-to-end migration execution - load migrations and run them up or down"

- id: C4
  claim: The executor can migrate the database up to given targets.
  source: S2
  evidence: "Migrate the database up to the given targets."

## Sources

- [S1] Migrations. Django docs. https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.1/topics/migrations/ . License: BSD-3-Clause. Accessed 2026-11-10.

- [S2] django.db.migrations.executor.MigrationExecutor. Django source. https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/6.1.x/django/db/migrations/executor.py . License: BSD-3-Clause. Accessed 2026-11-10.


License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources and notices: Django documentation and source (django/django): Copyright (c) Django Software Foundation and individual contributors; BSD-3-Clause (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/django/django/stable/6.1.x/LICENSE). Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

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