DBDiff · jasdeepkhalsa · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026 · Mar 3, 2026
diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # This file contains configurable environment variables for the test runner
 
 # Individual PHP Versions
-PHP_VERSION_74=7.4
 PHP_VERSION_83=8.3
 PHP_VERSION_84=8.4
 PHP_VERSION_85=8.5

diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,32 @@ on:
     branches: [ master ]
 
 jobs:
+  # ── Unit tests (no DB needed — fast feedback) ────────────────────────────────
+  unit-tests:
+    name: Unit / PHP ${{ matrix.php-version }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        php-version: ['8.0', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Setup PHP
+      uses: shivammathur/setup-php@44454db4f0199b8b9685a5d763dc37cbf79108e1 # v2
+      with:
+        php-version: ${{ matrix.php-version }}
+        extensions: pdo, pdo_sqlite, json
+        coverage: none
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: composer install --prefer-dist --no-progress
+
+    - name: Run unit tests
+      run: ./scripts/run-tests.sh --unit
+
   # ── MySQL matrix ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   test:
     name: PHP ${{ matrix.php-version }} / MySQL ${{ matrix.mysql-version }}
@@ -15,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        php-version: ['7.4', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
+        php-version: ['8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
         mysql-version: ['8.0', '8.4', '9.3', '9.6']
 
     env:
@@ -67,7 +93,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        php-version: ['7.4', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
+        php-version: ['8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -96,7 +122,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        php-version: ['7.4', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
+        php-version: ['8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
         postgres-version: ['14', '15', '16', '17', '18']
 
     env:

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ dist
 .phpunit.cache
 tests/logs/
 .env
+docs/
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
diff --git a/DOCKER.md b/DOCKER.md
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ Podman runs containers as your own user by default. If port binding below 1024 f
 ## Available Configurations
 
 ### PHP Versions
-- PHP 7.4
 - PHP 8.3
 - PHP 8.4
 - PHP 8.5
@@ -94,9 +93,6 @@ Podman runs containers as your own user by default. If port binding below 1024 f
 ## Services
 
 ### CLI Services (for running DBDiff)
-- `cli-php74-mysql80` - PHP 7.4 with MySQL 8.0
-- `cli-php74-mysql84` - PHP 7.4 with MySQL 8.4
-- `cli-php74-mysql93` - PHP 7.4 with MySQL 9.3
 - `cli-php83-mysql80` - PHP 8.3 with MySQL 8.0
 - `cli-php83-mysql84` - PHP 8.3 with MySQL 8.4
 - `cli-php83-mysql93` - PHP 8.3 with MySQL 9.3
@@ -133,9 +129,6 @@ docker-compose up -d db-mysql93 phpmyadmin-mysql93
 
 ### Run DBDiff with specific PHP/MySQL combination
 ```bash
-# PHP 7.4 with MySQL 8.0
-docker-compose run --rm cli-php74-mysql80 server1.php server2.php database1 database2
-
 # PHP 8.3 with MySQL 8.0
 docker-compose run --rm cli-php83-mysql80 server1.php server2.php database1 database2
 
@@ -160,9 +153,6 @@ docker-compose run --rm cli-php83-postgres16 \
 
 ### Run PHPUnit tests with specific combination
 ```bash
-# Run tests with PHP 7.4 and MySQL 8.0
-docker-compose run --rm cli-php74-mysql80 phpunit
-
 # Run tests with PHP 8.3 and MySQL 8.0
 docker-compose run --rm cli-php83-mysql80 phpunit
 
@@ -293,7 +283,7 @@ Default MySQL credentials (configurable via `.env`):
 The project uses GitHub Actions to ensure full compatibility across all supported versions on every pull request.
 
 **Matrix Grid:**
-- **PHP**: 7.4, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5
+- **PHP**: 8.3, 8.4, 8.5
 - **MySQL**: 8.0, 8.4, 9.3, 9.6
 - **PostgreSQL**: 16
 - **SQLite**: bundled (runs in every MySQL CLI container via `pdo_sqlite`)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -33,12 +33,11 @@
 ## Pre-requisites
 1. You will need to have access to the command-line (Terminal/CMD/PowerShell)
 2. You will need to have git installed
-3. You will need to have PHP installed (version 7.4.x, 8.3.x, 8.4.x, or 8.5.x)
+3. You will need to have PHP installed (version 8.3.x, 8.4.x, or 8.5.x)
 4. You will need to have Composer installed
 
 _Note: Make a note of where `composer.phar` is installed as we will need it later on during Setup_
 
-* PHP 7.4.x
 * PHP 8.3.x
 * PHP 8.4.x
 * PHP 8.5.x
@@ -76,6 +75,55 @@ Use the `--supabase` shorthand flag — it sets `driver=pgsql` and enables SSL a
 ./dbdiff --supabase --server1=user:[email protected]:5432 server1.mydb:server1.mydb
 ```
 
+## Compatible Database Variants
+
+The databases below work with DBDiff's existing drivers with no code changes, because they speak standard MySQL or PostgreSQL wire protocols. **Unless otherwise noted, these have not been tested by the core team.** Feel free to open a PR to add official support.
+
+### MySQL-compatible — use `--driver=mysql` (the default)
+
+| Database | Connection | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| MariaDB 10.x / 11.x | `--server1=user:pass@host:3306` | MySQL wire protocol; minor DDL dialect differences |
+| AWS Aurora MySQL | `--server1=user:pass@cluster-endpoint:3306` | Standard MySQL protocol |
+| PlanetScale | `--server1=user:pass@host:3306` | MySQL-compatible SaaS |
+| Vitess / VTGate | `--server1=user:pass@vtgate-host:3306` | MySQL wire protocol via VTGate |
+| Percona XtraDB Cluster | `--server1=user:pass@host:3306` | MySQL-compatible; Galera replication metadata ignored |
+| TiDB | `--server1=user:pass@host:4000` | MySQL-compatible; default port 4000 |
+
+### PostgreSQL-compatible — use `--driver=pgsql`
+
+| Database | Connection | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| AWS Aurora PostgreSQL | `--server1-url postgres://user:pass@cluster:5432/db` | Standard pgsql connection |
+| AWS RDS PostgreSQL | `--server1-url postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db` | Standard pgsql connection |
+| [Neon](https://neon.tech) | `--server1-url postgres://user:[email protected]:5432/db` | Standard pgsql; see Neon Branching below |
+| AlloyDB (Google Cloud) | `--server1-url postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db` | Google's Postgres-compatible offering |
+| CockroachDB | `--server1-url postgresql://user:pass@host:26257/db` | Postgres wire protocol; some DDL differences |
+| YugabyteDB | `--server1-url postgres://user:pass@host:5433/db` | Postgres-compatible YSQL layer |
+| Multigres | `--server1-url postgres://user:pass@multigres-host:5432/db` | Transparent Postgres proxy; no changes needed |
+| TimescaleDB | `--driver=pgsql` as normal | Postgres extension; hypertable DDL diffs natively |
+| pgvector | `--driver=pgsql` as normal | `vector(N)` column types and HNSW/IVFFlat indexes diff natively |
+
+### Neon Branching
+
+Neon's instant copy-on-write branching lets you diff any two branches directly — each branch is an independent PostgreSQL endpoint:
+
+```bash
+./dbdiff \
+  --server1-url postgres://user:[email protected]/mydb \
+  --server2-url postgres://user:[email protected]/mydb \
+  --format=flyway --description=my_feature
+```
+
+### Dolt (Git for Databases)
+
+[Dolt](https://github.com/dolthub/dolt) is a MySQL-compatible database with full Git-style branching. DBDiff's MySQL adapter connects to a Dolt server directly — each Dolt branch is exposed as a separate database:
+
+```bash
+# Start a Dolt server, then diff two branches
+./dbdiff server1.main:server1.feature_add_users
+```
+
 ## Installation
 On the command-line, use `git` to clone the ssh version:
 
@@ -132,7 +180,7 @@ Please ensure you have one of the following installed locally, as well as a down
 
 _Note: Please run these commands from the root of the DBDiff folder. Also the commands may need to be prepended with `sudo` on some systems._
 
-### Docker Standalone DBDiff CLI with PHP 7.3
+### Docker Standalone DBDiff CLI
 
 ```bash
 # Build DBDiff CLI Image
@@ -299,12 +347,60 @@ The following comparisons run in exactly the following order:
 
 ## Compatible Migration Tools
 
-| Project | Language / Package Manager | Description |
-|---------|--------|-------------|
-| [Simple DB Migrate](https://github.com/guilhermechapiewski/simple-db-migrate)          | Python / PIP | Generic database migration tool inpired on Rails migrations |
-| [Flyway](https://github.com/flyway/flyway)                | Java / Maven | Database Migrations Made Easy |
-
-Please do [let us know](https://akalsoftware.com/) if you're using any other migration tools with DBDiff, other than the ones listed here, so we can add it.
+DBDiff supports multiple output formats via the `--format` flag. Add `--description=<slug>` to customise the generated file name.
+
+| `--format` | Tool | Output file | `--include` support |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `native` (default) | Plain SQL / any tool | `migration.sql` | `up`, `down`, `both` |
+| `flyway` | [Flyway](https://flywaydb.org) | `V{timestamp}__{desc}.sql` | `up` required; `down` adds `U{ts}__{desc}.sql` (Flyway Teams) |
+| `liquibase-xml` | [Liquibase](https://liquibase.com) | `changelog.xml` | Both directions in one file (`<sql>` + `<rollback>`) |
+| `liquibase-yaml` | [Liquibase](https://liquibase.com) | `changelog.yaml` | Both directions in one file |
+| `laravel` | [Laravel Migrations](https://laravel.com/docs/migrations) | `YYYY_MM_DD_HHMMSS_{desc}.php` | Both directions in one file (`up()`/`down()`) |
+
+### Flyway
+
+```bash
+./dbdiff --format=flyway --description=add_users server1.mydb:server2.mydb
+```
+
+Move the generated `V{timestamp}__add_users.sql` into your Flyway `sql/` migrations directory, then run `flyway migrate`.
+
+### Liquibase
+
+```bash
+# XML
+./dbdiff --format=liquibase-xml --description=add_users server1.mydb:server2.mydb
+
+# YAML
+./dbdiff --format=liquibase-yaml --description=add_users server1.mydb:server2.mydb
+```
+
+Add the generated `changelog.xml` (or `.yaml`) to your Liquibase master changelog, then run `liquibase update`.
+
+### Laravel
+
+```bash
+./dbdiff --format=laravel --description=add_users server1.mydb:server2.mydb
+```
+
+Move the generated `YYYY_MM_DD_HHMMSS_add_users.php` into `database/migrations/`, then run `php artisan migrate`.
+
+### Simple DB Migrate
+
+Use the bundled template with the legacy `--template` flag:
+
+```bash
+./dbdiff --template=templates/simple-db-migrate.tmpl server1.mydb:server2.mydb
+```
+
+| Project | Language | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| [Flyway](https://github.com/flyway/flyway) | Java / Maven | Database migrations made easy |
+| [Liquibase](https://github.com/liquibase/liquibase) | Java / Maven | Database changelog and migration tool |
+| [Laravel Migrations](https://laravel.com/docs/migrations) | PHP / Composer | Schema migrations built into the Laravel framework |
+| [Simple DB Migrate](https://github.com/guilhermechapiewski/simple-db-migrate) | Python / PIP | Rails-inspired database migration tool |
+
+Please [let us know](https://akalsoftware.com/) if you're using DBDiff with other migration tools so we can add them here.
 
 ## Questions & Support 💡
 

diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
@@ -16,10 +16,16 @@
         }
     },
     "prefer-stable": true,
+    "config": {
+        "platform": {
+            "php": "8.0"
+        }
+    },
     "require": {
-        "php": ">=7.3",
+        "php": ">=8.0",
         "ext-json": "*",
         "aura/cli": "2.*@dev",
+        "symfony/console": "^5.4|^6.0|^7.0",
         "symfony/yaml": "^5.1|^6.0|^7.0",
         "illuminate/database": "^8|^9|^10|^11",
         "illuminate/view": "^8|^9|^10|^11",
-Original file line number
+Diff line change
@@ Expand Up / @@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ dist @@
     .phpunit.cache
     tests/logs/
     .env
+    docs/