Optional Global Catalog

Optional global migration catalog modes and application release bundle workflow.

This page describes the disabled-by-default global migration catalog model and how application release bundles work when the registry is disabled.

Modes

• Default mode keeps the global migration catalog disabled.

• Enabled mode turns on upl_migrations lifecycle, audit, and registry flows.

• Runtime schema correctness always stays anchored in local _app_migrations and _mhb_migrations tables.

Flag

Use the shared flag below to switch modes:

UPL_GLOBAL_MIGRATION_CATALOG_ENABLED=false

• false or unset: skip definition-registry bootstrap and mirror writes.

• true: require the catalog to be healthy and fail closed on registry or audit errors.

Release Bundles

• Publications can now be exported as application_release_bundle artifacts from the application sync API.

• Bundle apply reuses applications.cat_applications.installed_release_metadata instead of introducing per-schema release state.

• Empty targets use the baseline/bootstrap path; existing targets use the incremental migration path with release-version checks.

Operator Guidance

1. Leave the flag disabled for local development, fresh bootstrap, and installations that do not need registry observability.

2. Enable the flag only when operators need catalog-backed doctor, export/import lifecycle tracking, or audit history.

3. If bundle apply reports a release-version mismatch, export a bundle from the currently installed release or reconcile installed_release_metadata before retrying.

Recovery Notes

• Disabled mode should never create the full upl_migrations definition registry on cold start.

• Enabled mode should be recovered by fixing the catalog health issue, not by silently downgrading to local-only writes.

• Application sync and bundle install state should always be checked first in applications.cat_applications.