code-realign

To safely rename an enum state in Rails with persisted rows, you must use a versioned data migration to remap the stored strings. This process requires an explicit old-to-new value mapping to prevent corrupted data and maintain consistent behavior across your application.

Realigning a state machine changes the business meaning of persisted vocabulary and requires a tracked data migration, whereas refactoring preserves behavior and requires no data changes. Realigning explicitly handles collapsed, dropped, or newly introduced states.

To migrate SQLite rows during an enum meaning change, you create a versioned migration using your project's conventions instead of inline updates. You must define an explicit old-to-new value mapping to safely update the persisted status and state strings.

No, you should never perform inline data migrations during a type-root rename. Inline updates create hybrid vocabularies and untracked rewrites; you must use a proper versioned migration workflow after agreeing on the explicit old-to-new state mapping.

After renaming a state machine enum at the type root, you hunt non-typed string leaks by sweeping the codebase via type checking. This identifies old status strings lingering in payloads, UI labels, and external integrations that require updating to the new vocabulary.

The best way to handle dropped or collapsed values in an enum migration is to produce an explicit old-value to new-value mapping table. This ensures all persisted database rows, payloads, and integrations are safely transitioned before executing the versioned migration workflow.