Database Policy

When making any changes to the database schema or data, a strictly no data loss policy must be followed. This means:

Never DROP columns, tables, or indexes that contain data without first migrating that data elsewhere
All schema changes must be additive or safe migrations (e.g. ADD COLUMN, rename via copy+verify+drop)
Always backup or verify row counts before and after any bulk UPDATE or DELETE
Destructive operations require explicit user confirmation before executing