Skeema.io Blog

Skeema v2 updates and timeline

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:26:00 -0400

As the community looks ahead to new LTS releases of both MySQL and MariaDB over the next couple months, the timeline for Skeema v2 has finally taken shape. In this post, we’ll reveal the preliminary schedule, and also cover some important changes to EOL database support, download URLs, and more.

Skeema 1.13 released

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 11:46:00 -0400

Skeema v1.13 has been released! This new version provides significant performance improvements, and adds support for recent database server versions such as MariaDB 11.8 LTS. It also includes important deprecation logging to help you prepare for upcoming changes in Skeema v2.

Request for comments: Skeema v2 changes

Mon, 12 May 2025 16:29:00 -0400

Throughout Skeema’s nine-year development history, we’ve avoided backwards-incompatible changes in our periodic v1.x feature releases. However, the time has finally come to iron out some old wrinkles in a v2 release. We’re avoiding any overly-drastic breaking changes, but there may be a few minor adjustments which affect your configuration.

Using TLS with MySQL 5.7 in Golang

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 16:29:00 -0500

New versions of the Go programming language are released every six months, and occasionally these releases tighten and modernize the standard library’s defaults for encryption behavior. Although these new defaults improve security, they can be problematic when connecting to older server software, such as MySQL 5.7, which is no longer being updated.

Managing Data Migrations and other Imperative Changes

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 14:55:00 -0400

Skeema uses a declarative design for schema management, representing the desired state of database objects as a collection of CREATE statements. This model works extremely well for DDL, but it doesn’t directly capture imperative changes, such as row data migrations. In this post, we’ll cover the underlying concepts and show a few approaches for managing imperative changes when using Skeema.

Skeema 1.12 released

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:28:00 -0400

Skeema v1.12 is now available! Our newest release adds support for the latest MySQL and MariaDB LTS version series, managing scheduled events in the Premium CLI, and automatic detection of index renaming in diffs.

Five Surprises in MySQL 8.4 LTS

Tue, 14 May 2024 17:27:00 -0400

MySQL’s latest long-term support (LTS) version series, MySQL 8.4, had its first release in April 2024. In this post, we’ll review a few unexpected developments in this version.

MySQL 5.7 to 8.0: Schema and DDL Changes

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 11:35:00 -0500

MySQL 5.7 reached its end-of-life in October 2023, and managed database products such as Amazon RDS are starting to transition to expensive “extended support” pricing for 5.7 users. Before you jump on a last-minute MySQL 8 upgrade, it is essential to understand the major functional differences between these database versions. In this post, we’ll provide a deep-dive on the upgrade implications for schema management and DDL operations.

Versioning and Deploying Stored Procedures

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 10:41:00 -0400

Stored procedures are a powerful database feature. However, they’re also somewhat controversial, in part due to operational challenges with their development workflow and lifecycle. In this post, we’ll review Git version control and deployment concepts for stored procedures, along with practical solutions when using Skeema.

Skeema 1.11 released

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 15:22:00 -0400

Skeema v1.11 has been released! This new version includes spatial index support, safe trigger DDL operations with table locking, new options to ignore some types of table differences, and additional safety guardrails.

MySQL vs MariaDB: Tables and DDL

Wed, 10 May 2023 10:18:00 -0400

Although MySQL and MariaDB share a common ancestry, their functionality has diverged in subtle ways over the years. In this post, we’ll explore the differences in DDL and schema-related features of these two database servers, as well as operational concerns when performing schema changes.

Skeema v1.10.0 released

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 17:48:00 -0400

Skeema v1.10.0 is now available! Our latest release adds support for managing seed data in the Premium CLI, as well as several linter enhancements and more.

Skeema v1.9.0 released

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 17:48:00 -0500

Skeema v1.9.0 has been released! This new version includes support for environment variables in option files, temp-schema workspace offloading in Premium CLI, improved ignore regex options, and support for this month’s new MariaDB releases including MariaDB 10.10.

Understanding MySQL's lower_case_table_names

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 16:03:00 -0400

When running database servers on multiple operating systems, data and schema portability can be a challenge, due to differences in identifier case sensitivity. The lower_case_table_names server variable in MySQL and MariaDB can help, but it is often misunderstood. In this post, we’ll provide in-depth guidance on this tricky subject, and show how Skeema’s linter can assist.

Skeema v1.8.0 released

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 18:48:00 -0400

Skeema v1.8.0 is now available! This new release adds support for non-Linux database servers, SSH tunnels in the Premium CLI, and MariaDB 10.8 support.

Exploring AWS Aurora v3 for MySQL 8

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:08:00 -0500

AWS unveiled Aurora v3 a couple months ago, finally including support for MySQL 8 in their premium database-as-a-service offering. In this post, we’ll review some of its functionality, with a focus on DDL functionality and schema design.

Skeema v1.7.0 released

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 19:11:00 -0500

Skeema v1.7.0 has been released! This new version adds support for Aurora MySQL 8 and MariaDB 10.7, 64-bit Linux ARM builds, self-update functionality in the Premium CLI, and more.

Skeema v1.6.0 released

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:24:00 -0500

Skeema v1.6.0 is now available! This release adds new SSL / TLS options; premium improvements for routines, views, and triggers such as definer stripping; and new builds for M1 Macs and packages for Alpine Linux.

Safely switching MySQL charsets using Skeema

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 10:12:00 -0400

Converting your database to a different character set can be a difficult and perilous process. In this post, we’ll cover several ways that Skeema can help simplify this task.

Announcing the Premium CLI

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 11:00:00 -0400

We are pleased to announce the release of the Premium edition of the Skeema CLI, with support for views, triggers, AWS Aurora, native Windows build, and more!

Skeema v1.5.0 released

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:31:00 -0500

Skeema v1.5.0 has been released! This new version adds diff support for tables with check constraints, and also includes major enhancements to Skeema’s internal connection and query behaviors.

New online command reference

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 11:50:00 -0500

Skeema’s documentation has received a major overhaul, including a brand new command reference.

DB AMA video session with live demos

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 17:37:00 -0400

Join Skeema’s creator, Evan Elias, for a video discussion on August 11 at 8am PT! The session is part of the DB AMA series, and will include live demos and Q&A.

Skeema v1.4.0 released

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 15:27:00 -0500

Skeema v1.4.0 has been released! This new version includes diff support for partitioned tables and generated columns. Several other enhancements are included, especially for users with large-scale database deployments.

Skeema v1.3.0 released

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 18:12:00 -0400

Skeema v1.3.0 has been released! This new version primarily focuses on significant enhancements to Skeema’s linter, allowing users to customize the safeguards in their schema change workflow.

Skeema v1.2.0 released

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:22:00 -0400

Skeema v1.2.0 has been released, including two major new features: support for stored procedures and functions, and improved linter functionality.

Coming soon: GitHub API Integration

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 13:50:46 -0500

Skeema’s command-line client is currently a stateless tool, typically run manually as needed. Some companies are starting to use it in an automated fashion, as part of a CI/CD pipeline, but this can be complex to configure.

Fortunately, automated CI/CD using Skeema is about to become a lot easier!

Benefits of declarative schema management

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 13:50:46 -0500

Skeema uses a declarative approach to schema management: the repository reflects a desired end-state of table and object definitions, and the tool figures out how to convert any live database into this state.

This contrasts with most preexisting schema management systems, which instead are based on a concept of migrations: an incremental series of files, each defining a schema change operation and its corresponding rollback. In this post, we’ll discuss the differences in these approaches.