Run SQLite migrations in transactions by default

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 - Update the declared MSRV of `sea-orm-cli` to Rust 1.94, matching its existing SQLx 0.9 dependency requirement https://github.com/SeaQL/sea-orm/pull/3187
 
+- SQLite migrations now run in transactions by default
+
+    Existing SQLite migrations that change `PRAGMA foreign_keys` may be affected, as SQLite silently ignores such changes within a transaction.
+
 ## [2.0.4](changelog/2.0.4.md) - 2026-09-27
 
 `select_except`, `save_as` casts for `eq_any` / `ne_all`, linked-join alias and `condition_type` fixes, MySQL schema-sync index drop fix, arrow 60

sea-orm-migration/src/lib.rs

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ pub trait MigrationTrait: MigrationName + Send + Sync {
 
     /// Control whether this migration runs inside a transaction.
     ///
-    /// - `None` (default): follow backend convention (Postgres = transaction, MySQL/SQLite = no transaction)
+    /// - `None` (default): follow backend convention: use transaction on Postgres and SQLite
     /// - `Some(true)`: force wrapping in a transaction on any backend
     /// - `Some(false)`: disable automatic transaction wrapping (use `manager.begin()` for manual control)
     fn use_transaction(&self) -> Option<bool> {

sea-orm-migration/src/migrator/exec.rs

@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ async fn drop_everything_impl<C: ConnectionTrait>(db: &C) -> Result<(), DbErr> {
 fn should_use_transaction(migration: &dyn crate::MigrationTrait, backend: DbBackend) -> bool {
     match migration.use_transaction() {
         Some(v) => v,
-        None => backend == DbBackend::Postgres,
+        None => matches!(backend, DbBackend::Postgres | DbBackend::Sqlite),
     }
 }
 

sea-orm-migration/tests/common/migration/m20250101_000001_create_test_table.rs

@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ impl MigrationTrait for Migration {
     }
 
     async fn up(&self, manager: &SchemaManager) -> Result<(), DbErr> {
-        let expect_txn = self
-            .use_transaction
-            .unwrap_or(manager.get_database_backend() == DbBackend::Postgres);
+        let expect_txn = self.use_transaction.unwrap_or(matches!(
+            manager.get_database_backend(),
+            DbBackend::Postgres | DbBackend::Sqlite
+        ));
         assert_eq!(
             manager.get_connection().is_transaction(),
             expect_txn,
@@ -47,9 +48,10 @@ impl MigrationTrait for Migration {
     }
 
     async fn down(&self, manager: &SchemaManager) -> Result<(), DbErr> {
-        let expect_txn = self
-            .use_transaction
-            .unwrap_or(manager.get_database_backend() == DbBackend::Postgres);
+        let expect_txn = self.use_transaction.unwrap_or(matches!(
+            manager.get_database_backend(),
+            DbBackend::Postgres | DbBackend::Sqlite
+        ));
         assert_eq!(
             manager.get_connection().is_transaction(),
             expect_txn,

sea-orm-migration/tests/main.rs

@@ -241,10 +241,13 @@ where
     assert!(!manager.has_table("cake").await?);
     assert!(!manager.has_table("fruit").await?);
 
-    // Tests rolling back a failing migration on Postgres.
+    // Tests rolling back a failing migration on Postgres and SQLite.
     // With per-migration transactions, only the failing migration is rolled back;
     // earlier migrations that committed successfully are preserved.
-    if matches!(db.get_database_backend(), DbBackend::Postgres) {
+    if matches!(
+        db.get_database_backend(),
+        DbBackend::Postgres | DbBackend::Sqlite
+    ) {
         println!("\nRoll back changes when encounter errors");
 
         // Set a flag to throw error inside `m20230109_000001_seed_cake_table.rs`
@@ -269,6 +272,8 @@ where
         assert!(manager.has_table("cake").await?);
         assert!(manager.has_table("fruit").await?);
 
+        assert_eq!(migrator.get_applied_migrations(db).await?.len(), 5);
+
         // Unset the flag
         unsafe {
             std::env::remove_var("ABORT_MIGRATION");
@@ -298,12 +303,15 @@ where
     assert!(manager.has_column("cake", "name").await?);
     assert!(manager.has_column("fruit", "cake_id").await?);
 
-    // Tests rolling back a failing migration-down on Postgres.
+    // Tests rolling back a failing migration-down on Postgres and SQLite.
     // With per-migration transactions, rollbacks happen one at a time in reverse.
     // Migrations 6-2 roll back and commit successfully. Migration 1 (drops cake
     // then ABORTs) fails, so its DROP is restored. But migration 2's DROP of
     // the fruit table already committed.
-    if matches!(db.get_database_backend(), DbBackend::Postgres) {
+    if matches!(
+        db.get_database_backend(),
+        DbBackend::Postgres | DbBackend::Sqlite
+    ) {
         println!("\nRoll back changes when encounter errors");
 
         // Set a flag to throw error inside `m20220118_000001_create_cake_table.rs`
@@ -328,6 +336,8 @@ where
         assert!(manager.has_table("cake").await?);
         assert!(!manager.has_table("fruit").await?);
 
+        assert_eq!(migrator.get_applied_migrations(db).await?.len(), 1);
+
         // Unset the flag
         unsafe {
             std::env::remove_var("ABORT_MIGRATION");
@@ -374,7 +384,7 @@ async fn run_transaction_test(url: &str, db_name: &str, schema: &str) -> Result<
     let backend = db.get_database_backend();
     let manager = SchemaManager::new(db);
 
-    // use_transaction = None: Postgres wraps by default, others don't.
+    // use_transaction = None: Postgres and SQLite wrap by default.
     // The assertion happens inside the migration's up()/down() body.
     println!("\nTransaction test: use_transaction = None");
     let m = transaction_test::Migrator {