---
title: "Branching databases like code: a CI/CD pattern for Lakebase, in production at Glaspoort"
description: "Glaspoort replaced a sprawl of outdated, one-off BI reports with a custom application that combines Databricks analytical tools with Lakebase, a serverless Postgres OLTP database. The application keeps curated lakehouse data in a read-only schema while application state occupies a separate schema, and supports development, acceptance, and production environments. Its CI/CD pattern treats database branches like code: long-lived environments branch directly from production, each pull request receives an ephemeral production-shaped branch, migrations are replayed, and a staging app image runs the full test suite against it. This topology makes periodic resets cheap, avoids deleting dependent branches, and preserves fresh test data; the team chose stacked promotion for velocity, retaining a separate crisis pipeline for urgent fixes."
---

# Branching databases like code: a CI/CD pattern for Lakebase, in production at Glaspoort

[Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/company/databricks) · Hadi Farhat, Gideon Spierings, Ricardo de Vries, Raymon Veldman · Jul 20, 2026

**Type:** Problem & solution

## Summary

Glaspoort replaced a sprawl of outdated, one-off BI reports with a custom application that combines Databricks analytical tools with Lakebase, a serverless Postgres OLTP database. The application keeps curated lakehouse data in a read-only schema while application state occupies a separate schema, and supports development, acceptance, and production environments. Its CI/CD pattern treats database branches like code: long-lived environments branch directly from production, each pull request receives an ephemeral production-shaped branch, migrations are replayed, and a staging app image runs the full test suite against it. This topology makes periodic resets cheap, avoids deleting dependent branches, and preserves fresh test data; the team chose stacked promotion for velocity, retaining a separate crisis pipeline for urgent fixes.

## Context

Glaspoort’s reporting process produced one-off reports whose questions were outdated when completed, leaving users without a way to pursue follow-up questions. The database workflow also risked stale environments, shared-database conflicts, and costly resets caused by branches depending on one another.

## Approach / What changed

The design uses Lakebase branches as database counterparts to Git branches. Development and acceptance branch directly from production, while each pull request gets a disposable production-shaped branch where migrations and the application image are tested together before gated promotion. Database migrations serve as the single source of truth for schema changes.

## Takeaways

- Development and acceptance are sibling branches of production rather than parent and child; resetting either branch therefore does not require deleting dependent environments, rewiring connection strings, or reapplying inherited grants.
- CI creates a fresh production-based branch for each PR, replays migrations when the Git diff requires it, deploys the new application image to a staging slot, and runs the full test suite before the branch is archived when the PR closes.
- The team chose stacked promotion because it suits overlapping work in a small team; every promotion gate validates stacked migrations against a fresh production fork, while a separate crisis pipeline provides an urgent-fix path.

**Tags:** [CI/CD](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ci-cd), [Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/topic/databricks), [Lakebase](https://yomu.fyi/topic/lakebase), [Postgres](https://yomu.fyi/topic/postgres)

- Source: [Databricks](https://www.databricks.com/blog/branching-databases-code-cicd-pattern-lakebase-production-glaspoort)
- Source URL: https://www.databricks.com/blog/branching-databases-code-cicd-pattern-lakebase-production-glaspoort
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-30T16:53:59.896Z

[Read original post](https://www.databricks.com/blog/branching-databases-code-cicd-pattern-lakebase-production-glaspoort)