Migrating Motoko Enhanced

Enhanced Multi-Migration

Manage canister state evolution through a chain of migration modules. Each migration captures one logical change (add, rename, drop, transform a field) and the compiler verifies the entire chain is consistent.

When to Use

• Adding, removing, or renaming persistent actor fields
• Changing a field's type
• Restructuring state across canister upgrades
• Project has [canisters..migrations] configured in mops.toml

Critical Rules

• Never use stable keyword, preupgrade/postupgrade, or inline (with migration = ...)
• Actor variables are declared without initializers — values come from the migration chain
• The actor body must be static (no top-level side effects except `` calls like timers)
• Each migration file exports public func migration({...}) : {...}
• Files are applied in lexicographic order — use timestamp prefixes

Directory Layout

backend/
├── main.mo
├── types.mo
├── lib/
├── mixins/
└── migrations/
    ├── 20250101_000000_Init.mo
    ├── 20250315_120000_AddProfile.mo
    └── 20250601_090000_RenameField.mo

Actor Syntax

With enhanced migration, actor variables have no initializer:

actor {
  var name : Text;       // value comes from migration chain
  var balance : Nat;     // likewise
  let frozen : Bool;     // let bindings can also be uninitialized

  public func greet() : async Text {
    "Hello, " # name # "! Balance: " # debug_show balance;
  };
};

Migration Module Structure

Each migration module takes a record of input fields and returns a record of output fields:

// migrations/20250101_000000_Init.mo
module {
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { name : Text; balance : Nat } {
    { name = ""; balance = 0 }
  }
}

Input / Output Field Semantics

| Field appears in | Effect | | ---------------- | ------ | | Input and output | Field is transformed (old value read, new value produced) | | Output only | New field added to state | | Input only | Field consumed and removed from state | | Neither | Field carried through unchanged |

Given state {a : Nat; b : Text; c : Bool} and migration:

module {
  public func migration(old : { a : Nat; b : Text }) : { a : Int; d : Float } {
    { a = old.a; d = 1.0 }
  }
}

• a: transformed Nat → Int
• b: consumed (removed)
• c: carried through unchanged
• d: newly introduced
• Result: {a : Int; c : Bool; d : Float}

Common Patterns

Initialize state (first migration, always required)

// migrations/20250101_000000_Init.mo
module {
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { count : Nat; header : Text } {
    { count = 0; header = "default" }
  }
}

Add a field

// migrations/20250201_000000_AddEmail.mo
module {
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { email : Text } {
    { email = "" }
  }
}

Add an optional field

module {
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { assignee : ?Principal } {
    { assignee = null }
  }
}

Change a field's type

// migrations/20250301_000000_CountToInt.mo
module {
  public func migration(old : { count : Nat }) : { count : Int } {
    { count = old.count }
  }
}

Rename a field

// migrations/20250401_000000_RenameHeader.mo
module {
  public func migration(old : { header : Text }) : { title : Text } {
    { title = old.header }
  }
}

Remove a field

// migrations/20250501_000000_DropEmail.mo
module {
  public func migration(_ : { email : Text }) : {} {
    {}
  }
}

Transform data (split a field)

// migrations/20250601_000000_SplitName.mo
import Text "mo:core/Text";

module {
  public func migration(old : { name : Text }) : { firstName : Text; lastName : Text } {
    let parts = old.name.split(#char ' ');
    let first = switch (parts.next()) { case (?f) f; case (null) "" };
    let last = switch (parts.next()) { case (?l) l; case (null) "" };
    { firstName = first; lastName = last }
  }
}

Bool to variant

module {
  public func migration(old : { var completed : Bool }) : { var status : { #pending; #completed } } {
    { var status = if (old.completed) { #completed } else { #pending } }
  }
}

Map over a collection

import Map "mo:core/Map";

module {
  type OldTask = { id : Nat; title : Text; var completed : Bool };
  type NewTask = { id : Nat; title : Text; var status : { #pending; #completed } };

  public func migration(old : { var tasks : Map.Map })
    : { var tasks : Map.Map } {
    let tasks = old.tasks.map(
      func(_, task) {
        {
          id = task.id;
          title = task.title;
          var status = if (task.completed) { #completed } else { #pending };
        }
      }
    );
    { var tasks }
  }
}

Add field to each record in a Map

import Map "mo:core/Map";

module {
  type OldUser = { name : Text; email : Text };
  type NewUser = { name : Text; email : Text; bio : Text };

  public func migration(old : { users : Map.Map })
    : { users : Map.Map } {
    let users = old.users.map(
      func(_, u) { { u with bio = "" } }
    );
    { users }
  }
}

How Migrations Compose

Migrations form a chain. The compiler verifies each migration's input is compatible with the state produced by all preceding migrations.

| Migration | Input | Output | Effect | | ------------- | ---------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------- | | Init | {} | {name : Text; balance : Nat} | Initializes both fields | | AddProfile | {} | {profile : Text} | Adds a new field | | RenameField | {name : Text} | {displayName : Text} | Renames name → displayName|

After the full chain: {displayName : Text; balance : Nat; profile : Text}. The actor must declare fields compatible with this final state.

Lifecycle Example: Todo App

Shows how patterns combine across four deployments.

// migrations/20250101_000000_Init.mo
module {
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { var nextId : Nat } {
    { var nextId = 0 }
  }
}

// migrations/20250201_000000_AddTasks.mo
import Map "mo:core/Map";
module {
  type Task = { id : Nat; text : Text; completed : Bool };
  public func migration(_ : {}) : { tasks : Map.Map } {
    { tasks = Map.empty() }
  }
}

// migrations/20250301_000000_TaskStatus.mo — transform Bool → variant
import Map "mo:core/Map";
module {
  type OldTask = { id : Nat; text : Text; completed : Bool };
  type NewTask = { id : Nat; text : Text; status : { #pending; #inProgress; #completed } };
  public func migration(old : { tasks : Map.Map })
    : { tasks : Map.Map } {
    let tasks = old.tasks.map(
      func(_, task) {
        { id = task.id; text = task.text;
          status = if (task.completed) #completed else #pending }
      }
    );
    { tasks }
  }
}

// migrations/20250401_000000_AddDueDate.mo — add field to each record
import Map "mo:core/Map";
module {
  type Status = { #pending; #inProgress; #completed };
  type OldTask = { id : Nat; text : Text; status : Status };
  type NewTask = { id : Nat; text : Text; status : Status; due : Int };
  public func migration(old : { tasks : Map.Map })
    : { tasks : Map.Map } {
    let tasks = old.tasks.map(
      func(_, task) { { task with due = 0 } }
    );
    { tasks }
  }
}

Final state: { var nextId : Nat; tasks : Map.Map }

Runtime Behavior

• On fresh deploy: all migrations run in order
• On upgrade: only not-yet-applied migrations run (already-applied are skipped)
• Fast-forward: safe to skip intermediate deployments — all unapplied migrations run sequentially
• If a migration traps, the upgrade is aborted and the canister stays on the old version

mops.toml Setup

[moc]
args = ["--default-persistent-actors"]

[canisters.backend]
main = "src/backend/main.mo"

[canisters.backend.migrations]
chain = "src/backend/migrations"

When [canisters..migrations] is configured, mops auto-injects --enhanced-migration into check/build/check-stable. Do not add --enhanced-migration to [canisters.].args — mops will error.

--enhanced-orthogonal-persistence is on by default.

Then mops check --fix and mops build work as usual. Add new migration files directly under migrations/ with timestamp prefixes.

Restrictions

• Cannot combine --enhanced-migration with inline (with migration = ...)
• Requires enhanced orthogonal persistence
• Actor variables must not have initializers
• Actor body must be static (no top-level side effects except `` calls)
• State after each migration must be compatible with the next migration's input
• Final state must match the actor's declared fields
• Fields in last migration's output not declared in the actor are rejected

Checklist

• [ ] migrations/ directory exists next to actor source
• [ ] First migration initializes all fields (Init.mo with empty input)
• [ ] Files named with timestamp prefixes for correct ordering
• [ ] Each file exports public func migration({...}) : {...}
• [ ] Actor variables declared without initializers
• [ ] [canisters..migrations] configured in mops.toml (mops injects --enhanced-migration)
• [ ] Run mops check --fix to verify chain consistency
• [ ] Run mops build to compile

Additional References

• Load motoko for general Motoko language reference and mo:core APIs
• Load migrating-motoko for inline migration without --enhanced-migration
• Load mops-cli for mops check, mops build, and toolchain setup

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: dfinity
• Source: dfinity/icskills
• License: Apache-2.0
• Homepage: https://skills.internetcomputer.org

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.