Migrate Heroku Postgres: Durable job state

Move PostgreSQL data from Heroku Postgres to Ample, one component at a time. Destination verified on Ample: a jobs table with a state and attempts counter, processing inside a row-locked transaction, and a second run that is a no-op (job=done attempts=1 idempotent=true).

Source Procedure

Take a logical backup with heroku pg:backups:capture and download it, or pg_dump -Fc against the credentials from heroku pg:credentials:url. Not migrated automatically: Heroku Postgres followers, forks, rollback (PITR) and dataclips have no equivalent on the managed database.

Cutover

Put the app in maintenance mode with the user's go-ahead, take the final backup, restore, validate, redeploy with the managed DATABASE_URL, keep the Heroku database until confirmed.

Rollback

Keep the source untouched until you confirm; nothing at the source is changed or deleted by this guide.

Prerequisites

• Authorized access to the Heroku Postgres source and its export tooling
• An inventory of every component in scope and out of scope
• A validated backup or copy before any cutover
• An Ample account token with servers:write, databases:read

Workflow Steps

1. Inventory the source: List what Heroku Postgres provides beyond the component you are moving. Out of scope here: Heroku Postgres followers, forks, rollback (PITR) and dataclips have no equivalent on the managed database.
2. Source step 1: Take a logical backup with heroku pg:backups:capture and download it, or pg_dump -Fc against the credentials from heroku pg:credentials:url.
3. Source step 2: Check the Postgres major version and extensions against the managed engine (PostgreSQL 16).
4. Source step 3: Restore into a scratch managed database first and compare row counts.
5. Provision and restore: Deploy the app once so a managed PostgreSQL 16 database exists (or create one with ample database create --engine postgres), then restore the dump with pg_restore using its connection string; keep migrations idempotent.
6. Validate before cutover: Run the app's own checks and, for data, compare counts and checksums; the example checks are the pattern self-tests (/p/durable-job-state).
7. Cut over: Put the app in maintenance mode with the user's go-ahead, take the final backup, restore, validate, redeploy with the managed DATABASE_URL, keep the Heroku database until confirmed.
8. Rollback: Point DNS or configuration back to the source. The source was never modified; deletion is a separate, user-executed step after validation.

Success Checks

• Destination app responds on its public URL
• Durable-job-state check from the destination example
• Data or object counts and checksums match the source

Limitations

• Documentation only: nothing is executed automatically and no execution binding is offered.
• The source-side procedure is documented from Heroku Postgres's standard tooling and was not executed in this catalog's evidence.
• No full source-product parity is claimed: Heroku Postgres followers, forks, rollback (PITR) and dataclips have no equivalent on the managed database.
• Verified on the node-22 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; region, compliance and request-duration limits are unknown.
• Managed PostgreSQL 16 only; extensions, connection limits and backup or restore procedures on the managed side are not verified beyond the pattern checks.

Cost Estimate

• Currency: USD
• Monthly Amount: 10.0
• Basis: Size prices from pricing.toml at build revision 1ac5595375130d45290090e82ed0f554ccd45405-dirty
• Components:
  • app server: s-1vcpu-1gb, quantity: 1.0, monthly amount: 5.0
  • managed PostgreSQL database: s-1vcpu-1gb, quantity: 1.0, monthly amount: 5.0
• Note: Destination always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps auto-pause when idle. Source costs are unknown to Ample.

Example

• Title: Express pattern fixture (destination)
• Description: Verified destination basis: durable job state.

Evidence Summary

• Kind: canary_run
• Summary: Destination side verified: the Express pattern fixture deployed on Ample and its checks passed.
• Last Verified At: 2026-09-21T02:34:39Z

Formats

• HTML: View Documentation
• Markdown: Download Markdown
• JSON: API Endpoint

Next Actions

• Browse the catalog index: GET /v1/catalog
• Search recipes by intent: POST /v1/catalog/search
• Prepare deployment plan: POST /v1/catalog/plan