RailsSchemaCleaner

Overview

rails_schema_cleaner is a Ruby gem that helps keep your Rails database schema clean by identifying and removing orphaned tables (tables that do not have corresponding ActiveRecord models). It generates a migration file to drop these unused tables safely.

Installation

Add this gem to your Gemfile:

gem "rails_schema_cleaner"

Then run:

bundle install

Alternatively, install it manually:

gem install rails_schema_cleaner

Usage

1. Detect Orphaned Tables

To list all tables in the database that do not have an associated model, run:

bundle exec rails_schema_cleaner detect

This will return an array of orphaned table names.

2. Generate Migration to Drop Orphaned Tables

To create a Rails migration file that drops these tables, run:

bundle exec rails_schema_cleaner clean

This will generate a timestamped migration file in db/migrate/, e.g.:

db/migrate/20240228123456_drop_orphaned_tables.rb

3. Run the Migration

Execute the migration to drop the orphaned tables:

rails db:migrate

Compatibility

• Works with Rails >=5.0
• Supports SQLite, PostgreSQL, and MySQL

How It Works

1. Fetches all database tables using ActiveRecord::Base.connection.tables
2. Fetches all existing model table names using ActiveRecord::Base.descendants.map(&:table_name)
3. Compares both lists and identifies tables that do not have an associated model
4. Generates a Rails migration file to drop those tables

Running Tests

Run RSpec tests with:

rspec

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributions

Pull requests are welcome! Please open an issue to discuss any significant changes before submitting a PR.

Author

Created by Hassan Murtaza.