warn-not-enforced-constraint

What triggers it

A regex match for NOT\s+ENFORCED against the statement's raw originalSql text, checked only when ctx.pgVersion is 18 or higher.

What does not

Any migration targeting PostgreSQL below 18 returns immediately, and any statement whose SQL text doesn't contain the literal phrase NOT ENFORCED.

Where it applies

Applies to PostgreSQL 18 and later. It works on the SQL text alone — no database connection needed.

The lock, and what it blocks

None — NOT ENFORCED constraints exist purely as catalog metadata, so there's no lock behavior for this rule to describe.

Why it matters

PostgreSQL 18 NOT ENFORCED constraints exist only as metadata hints for the query planner. The database will NOT reject invalid data. Useful for documentation or gradual migration, but dangerous if you expect enforcement.

Unsafe, and safe

ALTER TABLE orders ADD CONSTRAINT fk_user
  FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) NOT ENFORCED;
-- Invalid user_id values will NOT be rejected!

-- If you need enforcement:
ALTER TABLE orders ADD CONSTRAINT fk_user
  FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) NOT VALID;
ALTER TABLE orders VALIDATE CONSTRAINT fk_user;

What it assumes

Assumes NOT ENFORCED is worth flagging every time, but it's a legitimate tool for documenting an invariant the application already guarantees, or for staging a constraint mid-migration — the rule can't tell that deliberate use apart from an accidental one. The match is also on raw text rather than the constraint's own AST node, so it doesn't distinguish the clause on a real constraint from the same phrase inside a comment.

What backs this rule

Every rule is a claim about PostgreSQL, so it carries what the claim rests on: a handbook chapter that cites the manual, the incidents that put it there, and the version it was last checked against.

What the CLI prints

No sample output: the flagged example uses PostgreSQL 18 syntax the bundled parser cannot read yet, so the CLI reports a parse error rather than this finding. See the limitation above.

Turning it off

For one statement, put a comment on the line before it:

-- migrationpilot-disable MP082
ALTER TABLE orders ADD CONSTRAINT fk_user

For the whole project, in .migrationpilotrc.yml — by name or by id:

rules:
  MP082: false

# or keep it, and downgrade it
rules:
  MP082:
    severity: warning

Try it

Open this rule's flagged example in the playground. It runs in your browser — edit it and watch the finding appear and disappear.