Comparing HashiCorp Vault, Infisical, Doppler, and 1Password, the vendor-neutral options for database credentials that work across clouds and on-prem.

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Postgres SQL review tools compared: SQLFluff for style, Squawk for migration safety, plpgsql_check and pgTAP, and where Bytebase fits as the approval layer.

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PopSQL shuts down on September 1, 2026. Compare Bytebase and PopSQL across query collaboration, supported databases, access control, data masking, audit logging, and pricing before you migrate.

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Top PopSQL Alternatives 2026: Where to Migrate Before the Shutdown

The best multi-database MCP servers in 2026. Compare DBHub, Google's MCP Toolbox for Databases, and Bytebase on engine breadth, host neutrality, and governance for connecting AI agents to more than one database. Single-engine Postgres servers are covered in a companion post.

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Bytebase vs. SchemaHero: a side-by-side comparison for database schema migration

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Why It's So Hard to Add a Column in the Middle of a PostgreSQL Table

What a database MCP server actually hands an AI agent, how a query runs through one, and why a raw connection-string server is fine on your laptop but risky against production.

What is a Database MCP Server?

Most database MCP servers hand an agent a connection string and call it a day. The MCP server is the one place agent database access is governed or wide open.

Governed MCP vs. Raw MCP: How Agents Reach Your Database

AI agents are no longer just reading your database, they are authoring the migrations. The write path is a different risk class, and it needs its own gate.

When the Agent Writes the Migration, Who Approves It?

Generic PAM controls the database connection. Database PAM controls the SQL statement: per-query authorization and approval, SQL review, data masking, and statement-level audit. What the category means and why it exists.

What is Database PAM (Privileged Access Management)?

How to run SQL Server schema migrations safely in production, covering state-based vs migration-based workflows, online index operations, batched backfills, the expand-and-contract pattern, and CI/CD.

SQL Server Schema Migration and Change Management

CyberArk is a broad privileged access management (PAM) platform. Bytebase is a database-specific PAM for access control, masking, and SQL review. If you already run CyberArk, here is why you still need it for the database.

Bytebase vs. CyberArk: the database vertical in your PAM stack

Database credentials management best practices: store passwords and secrets in one place, rotate on a schedule, and separate the application path from the human path.

Database Credentials Management: Best Practices

The practical ways to audit MySQL activity, from the general query log to audit plugins, binlog CDC, and Bytebase, and where each one falls short.

MySQL Audit Logging Guide

Every critical asset has its system of record, except the database. Bytebase is the one. The standard for database development.

The Standard for Database Development

Dynamic data masking is chosen by access path, not product. Five approaches (engine-native, in-database, application, BI layer, and Bytebase) and which caller each one masks.

How to Implement Dynamic Data Masking: Five Approaches by Access Path

Static vs dynamic data masking, when each applies, how they differ on backups, performance, and reversibility, and when to run both.

Static vs Dynamic Data Masking: When to Use Which

The static data masking tools that produce safe non-production data, Delphix, Tonic.ai, and greenmask compared, plus how to roll your own when no tool fits.

Static Data Masking Tools (and How to Roll Your Own)

Compare BigQuery data masking options: native column-level dynamic data masking (built-in masking rules via policy tags and data policies, Dataplex catalog) and Bytebase fleet-wide masking.

BigQuery Dynamic Data Masking

Compare SQL Server data masking options, native Dynamic Data Masking (five mask types, SQL Server 2022 granular UNMASK) and Bytebase fleet-wide masking.

SQL Server Dynamic Data Masking

Compare Oracle data masking options. Native Data Redaction (five function types via DBMS_REDACT, EXEMPT REDACTION POLICY) and Bytebase fleet-wide masking.

Oracle Dynamic Data Masking

You write a one-line UPDATE against production. Here's the lane that keeps it safe: the four phases, the controls, and what each one prevents.

How to Handle Ad-hoc Database Data Changes?

Notes on the MySQL 9.7 LTS release: Hypergraph Optimizer in Community, JSON Duality View DML, Group Replication observability, and Dynamic Data Masking for Enterprise.

Notes on the MySQL 9.7 LTS release

Most DAC implementations stop at the connection. Real DAC operates at the statement and covers three vectors: machine, human, and AI agent.

What is Database Access Control (DAC)?

How to run dynamic data masking so it survives an audit: mask by role, go column-level, log unmask events, review policy changes in code, and keep environments in sync. Plus a vendor comparison and an end-to-end walkthrough.

Dynamic Data Masking Best Practices

How Bytebase audits the workflow layer: every SQL, schema change, approval, and export tied to a real user identity, with structured exports for any SIEM.

How Bytebase Handles Audit Logging

PostgreSQL 19 features I'm excited about: planner advisor framework, DDL extraction, online REPACK, pg_stat_recovery, parallel autovacuum, sequence sync, and 64-bit MultiXact.

PostgreSQL 19 features I'm excited about

Bytebase is HIPAA-compliant — independent verification that our administrative, physical, and technical safeguards meet the HIPAA Security Rule for handling Protected Health Information.

HIPAA Compliance

PAM tools gate the database connection. Databases also need SQL review, a schema change workflow, and per-statement approval. Here is where PAM stops and why most teams run it alongside Bytebase.

Bytebase vs. PAM: Why Database Teams Need More Than Privileged Access Management

What SOC 2 compliance audits actually want from your database audit log: not 'logging enabled' but evidence your auditor will accept. Lessons from going through our own audit.

SOC 2 Audit Log Requirements: Lessons From Our Own Audit

A side-by-side look at Bytebase and Atlas for database schema migration: how each one approaches migrations, their CI/CD and access control, supported databases, and what they cost. Updated for Atlas v1.1 and Bytebase 3.16.

Bytebase vs. Atlas: a side-by-side comparison for database schema migration

Database access control practices that hold up in a SOC 2 audit: least privilege, separation of duties, just-in-time access, statement-level enforcement, and the common mistakes that get flagged.

Database Access Control (DAC) Best Practices

A practical look at what SOX Section 404 expects from database changes: the four ITGC domains, the six questions auditors actually ask, and how to make compliance evidence a byproduct of your workflow.

Database Change Management for SOX Compliance

TRUNCATE and DELETE both remove rows, but they differ in speed, rollback behavior, and locking. Here is how each one behaves in PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server, and when to reach for which.

TRUNCATE vs DELETE in SQL: Differences Across PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server

A practical walk through six database design patterns you will actually meet in production: normalization, star schema, EAV, polymorphic associations, multi-tenancy, and the anti-patterns worth avoiding.

Database Design Patterns Every Developer Should Know

A practical walkthrough of pgvector: installing the extension, storing embeddings, writing similarity queries, building HNSW indexes, and knowing when plain PostgreSQL is enough.

pgvector: How to Add Vector Search to PostgreSQL

How upsert works across MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server, with the syntax for each, the edge cases worth knowing before you ship, and how upserts interact with migrations.

Upsert in SQL: INSERT ON DUPLICATE KEY vs ON CONFLICT Explained

AI agents need more than DDL. The full database lifecycle codified (schema, dependencies, ownership, history) gives LLMs the context to query correctly.

From Schema as Code to Schema as Context

How to find and fix slow MySQL queries: reading the slow query log, using EXPLAIN, tuning indexes, and rewriting queries, with a worked example for each.

How to Fix Slow MySQL Queries: A Practical Guide

Convex and Supabase are both backend-in-a-box platforms, but built on different foundations. This post compares their architecture, real-time model, data model, schema management, and pricing to help you decide.

Convex vs Supabase: Which Backend Platform Should You Choose?

Blue-green deployment is easy when your servers are stateless. The trouble starts at the database. This guide walks through why database blue-green is hard and how to do it without corrupting your data.

Database Blue-Green Deployment: A Practical Guide

A look at 10 data management tools developers and data engineers actually use in 2026: GUI clients, schema migration, pipelines, and analytics, with pricing for each.

Top 10 Data Management Tools in 2026

How to give AI agents governed access to your databases. Identity, authorization, query control, audit, and masking, applied to a new principal type.

How to Govern AI Agent Database Access

The best SQL editors built exclusively for PostgreSQL: what each one is good at, who it fits, and when a Postgres-only tool beats a multi-database client.

Enterprise Text-to-SQL: Context, Evaluation, and Governance

A practical look at the database deployment tools DevOps teams actually use in 2026, sorted by how each one defines, applies, and coordinates schema changes.

Database Deployment Tools for DevOps Teams in 2026

A walk-through of how renaming a single column can quietly break an analytics pipeline, why it happens, and how schema change detection and notification help you catch it early.

Schema Change Detection and Notification: Why a Simple Column Rename Can Break Your Data Pipeline

How to read a Postgres query plan, spot the common performance problems, and fix them without breaking other queries.

Postgres Query Plan: How to Read and Fix Performance Issues

A walk through every layer of the Postgres permission system that can raise ERROR 42501, why each one fires, and how the behavior differs from MySQL.

The Anatomy of Postgres Permission ERROR 42501

A practical look at Postgres logs: what they record, how the logging collector works, which parameters actually matter in production, and the mistakes that turn logs into expensive noise.

Postgres Logs Explained: A Practical Guide for Production

Postgres 19 widens MultiXactOffset to 64 bits, eliminating the hidden 4 billion member limit that caused catastrophic outages for high-concurrency workloads.

Postgres 19 Feature Preview: 64-bit MultiXactOffset

How to run MySQL schema migrations without blocking queries or causing downtime, covering the MySQL-specific behaviors that bite in production and the tools that work around them.

MySQL Schema Migration Best Practice

Postgres 19 introduces automatic sequence synchronization for logical replication, eliminating manual tracking and making major version upgrades and failover significantly easier.

Postgres 19 Feature Preview: Sequence Synchronization for Logical Replication

What multi-environment database deployment actually involves, the problems teams keep hitting, and the patterns (manual scripts vs GitOps) for handling them.

Database Multi-Environment Deployments - The Challenges and Patterns

A guide to open source sensitive data discovery tools, from NLP libraries like spaCy and Microsoft Presidio to multi-source scanners like Hawk-Eye and full metadata platforms like OpenMetadata.

Top Open Source Sensitive Data Discovery Tools in 2026

Database audit logging really has two layers: the infrastructure layer your cloud provider ships, and the workflow layer you have to build yourself. Here is what each one captures, and why an audit needs both.

Database Audit Logging: Two Layers, One Trail

A practical guide to HITRUST database compliance covering access control, audit logging, change management, and data protection.

Database Compliance for HITRUST: Controls, Risks, and Best Practices

What the "Require Primary Key" SQL review rule checks, the production problems a missing primary key tends to cause, and the SQL to fix tables that don't have one.

Require Primary Key: A SQL Review Rule Explained

What the "Enforce NOT VALID in CHECK" SQL Review rule does, why adding a CHECK constraint can lock your table, and how the two-step NOT VALID approach avoids it.

Enforce NOT VALID in CHECK: A SQL Review Rule Explained

The practical ways to audit a PostgreSQL database, from native logging to triggers, logical replication, pgAudit, and Bytebase, with the trade-offs of each.

Postgres Audit Logging Guide

Learn why CASCADE operations in SQL can lead to catastrophic data loss and how the "Prohibit CASCADE" review rule protects your production database.

Prohibit CASCADE: A SQL Review Rule Explained

A walkthrough of moving each Supabase piece (database, auth, storage, functions, realtime, networking) to its AWS counterpart, with a services-first order that keeps the final database cutover simple.

How to Migrate from Supabase to AWS

Six open-source PostgreSQL backup tools compared for 2026, with the language, license, interface, and best-fit use case for each, plus a note on which ones are still maintained.

What is Enterprise Database Management (EDM)?

A plain explanation of Postgres Transaction ID (XID) wraparound: what causes it, how to check how close you are, and what keeps it from taking your database offline.

Postgres Transaction ID (XID) Wraparound

How a CI/CD pipeline for database schema migration works end-to-end. What it gates, what it leaves outside, and the tools that fit.

How to Build a CI/CD Pipeline for Database Schema Migration

A practical guide to shipping features with PostgreSQL, covering my day-to-day development workflow, the tools I actually use, and real-world examples

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What LGPD means for database operations: how it actually differs from GDPR, what the ANPD sanctions in practice, and the database controls (classification, masking, retention, audit) that hold up.

Database Compliance for LGPD: Implications and Best Practices

What a Postgres LATERAL JOIN does, when to reach for one, and the patterns and gotchas you'll run into using it.

What is Postgres LATERAL JOIN?

What MySQL Online DDL actually does, how its three algorithms (INSTANT, INPLACE, and COPY) differ, and the limitations to plan around before you run a schema change in production.

MySQL Online DDL: A Practical Guide

The best open-source Postgres connection poolers in 2026. Compare PgBouncer, Odyssey, PgDoorman, and PgDog — with our pick: PgBouncer if you want free, PgDog if you want a commercial vendor.

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PostgreSQL 18 features that change how application developers write and ship code.

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Compare Snowflake Dynamic Data Masking with database views and Bytebase fleet-wide masking on edition gate, policy management, and audit trail.

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Postgres Case Sensitivity Explained

What pg_database_owner does in Postgres, why it was added, and how to use it without hitting the "cannot have explicit members" error.

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A walk through the three ways to roll back changes in Postgres: transactions and SAVEPOINT, Point-in-Time Recovery, and compensating DML, and when each one fits.

Postgres Rollback Explained

Learn how Postgres locks affect schema migrations and which DDL operations conflict with DML to achieve zero-downtime deployments.

Postgres Schema Migration without Downtime

The limitations and gotchas of gh-ost for online MySQL schema changes, and when to reach for something else instead.

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PostgreSQL best practices for application developers: connection naming, timeouts, online migrations, role separation, and UPSERT for reliable production apps.

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Learn how Bytebase enables organizations to implement comprehensive Database Security Lifecycle Management, unifying security and operations from development to production.

Database Security Lifecycle Management


<HintBlock type="info">

This post is maintained by Bytebase, an open-source database governance platform. We update the post gradually.

</HintBlock>

This is a series of articles about database schema change / database schema migration:

1. [What is a Database Schema?](/blog/what-is-database-schema/)
1. [What is a Database Schema Migration?](/blog/what-is-database-migration/)
1. [How to Handle Database Migration / Schema Change?](/blog/how-to-handle-database-schema-change/)
1. Top Database Schema Migration Tools in 2026 (this one)

---

It's year ~~2024~2025~2026, database schema migration is still the riskiest area in application development - it's tough, risky, and painful. Database schema migration tools exist to alleviate pain, and have come a long way: from the basic CLI tools to GUI tools, from simple SQL GUI clients to the all-in-one collaboration database platform.

## Command-Line Clients (CLI) - mysql / psql

`mysql` and `psql` are the native CLI for MySQL and PostgreSQL respectively. You can send commands or queries directly to MySQL or PostgreSQL servers from the command line.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/mysql.webp)

Although the CLI interface is simple, sometimes it's intimidating to the beginners.

## GUI

### phpMyAdmin, pgAdmin

phpMyAdmin and pgAdmin are classic SQL clients. phpMyAdmin is already an established tool for managing MySQL and MySQL-compatible databases (e.g. MariaDB), while pgAdmin is the PostgreSQL counterpart, which has now evolved to pgAdmin 4. Compared with CLI tools, phpMyAdmin and pgAdmin provide a UI for running and executing SQL queries, making them user friendlier.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/gui.webp)

### DBeaver

DBeaver's initial release came in 2010, this open-source SQL client supports a whole range of databases (SQL, NoSQL, and cloud DBs), and keeps up with the latest trends in the AI realm by incorporating OpenAI's GPT-capabilities, allowing natural language to be converted into SQL. In 2025, DBeaver has expanded its AI capabilities with more advanced schema optimization suggestions and enhanced query performance analysis.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/dbeaver.webp)

### DataGrip

DataGrip is another commercial SQL client developed by JetBrains. DataGrip has powerful code completion and refactoring tools for efficient database development. The AI Assistant, which became a standard feature in 2025, supports text2sql, schema optimization, code explanation, and automated migration script generation with backward compatibility analysis.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/datagrip.webp)

### Navicat

Navicat was first released back in 2001. It only supported MySQL back then, but later added more databases. Although Navicat's UI looks a bit outdated, it has complete functionality and provides a smooth overall experience when operating databases. In 2025, Navicat introduced a modernized interface with improved cloud integration features.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/navicat.webp)

GUI based SQL client is a good complementary to CLI based sql client. Fundamentally, they work in the same way. You connect to the database, and execute some SQL. Quick and convenient, on the flip side, lack of control, both in terms of database change management and data security. This [post](/blog/bytebase-vs-navicat/) goes into more details using Navicat as an example.

## GitOps / Database-as-Code

To better manage and source control database schema changes, several tools have introduced the code change process into database changes, known as Database-as-Code.

### Liquibase

Liquibase started out in 2006 as an open-source library for tracking, managing and applying database changes. Fun fact: Liquibase was acquired by a company called Datical in 2012 and rebranded to Datical, but then changed their name back to Liquibase in 2020 (wise move, have you seen anyone mention Datical on a forum?).

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/liquibase.webp)

Liquibase's main product is a Java-based CLI that allows developer teams to integrate database schema migration into their CI/CD workflows through the CLI. As of 2025, Liquibase has strengthened its enterprise offerings with enhanced security features and improved support for regulated industries requiring detailed change tracking.

### Flyway

Flyway shares similarities with Liquibase in many ways: they are both long-established, both have a customer base, and are open-source projects. Its core product is a CLI and a Java library.

The commercial entity behind Flyway is Redgate (acquired in 2019). It's got 3 editions: community, team and enterprise. You can tell that they have marked a clear boundary between the open-source and commercial offerings: Flyway's website feels more casual overall, while Redgate's way more professional.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/flyway-redgate.webp)

Liquibase and Flyway are neck and neck. The main difference lies in their respective positioning: Liquibase is more enterprise oriented, while Flyway is more developer oriented.

### Sqitch

Sqitch is a purely open-source project with no commercial offerings that's been on the market since 2012. It is pure CLI and does not have a UI.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/sqitch.webp)

Unlike Java-based Liquibase and Flyway, Sqitch is developed using Perl. In addition, Sqitch has its own philosophy on how to manage database schema changes: Liquibase and Flyway both use file naming conventions to order schema migrations (convention over configuration).

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/schema-migration.webp)

While Sqitch adopts an explicit approach to allow user to specify the order in the sqitch plan.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/appschema.webp)

### Atlas

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/atlas.webp)

Atlas is an open-source tool built by Ariga, and promotes the term "database schema-as-code".

You can tell that they have drawn lots of inspo from HashiCorp and dubbed itself "Terraform for Database Migrations" upon its first appearance on Hacker News. They also invented Atlas HCL based on HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language).

Atlas uses the modern programming language Go (unlike Liquibase/Flyway, which uses Java), and centers around CLI (similar to Liquibase/Flyway/Sqitch), but it also has a lightweight UI. Atlas Cloud is a commercial offering of the open-source version.

## All in One: GUI + GitOps / Database-as-Code + Collaboration

### Prisma

ORMs like Prisma target the domain of how code interacts with data. Although this is more of a backend topic, Prisma is an ORM with frontend roots. Frontend engineers are probably not the most proficient in SQL. To lower the barrier for managing database schemas, Prisma invents their own DSL to define data models.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/prisma.webp)

DSL is state-based (declarative), which describes the end state of the database schema instead of incremental changes, which is different from Liquibase/Flyway/Sqitch. This way, Prisma is able to provide a more comprehensive view of database management throughout the entire application development cycle.

Prisma ORM is open source and free to use, and their Data Platform offers a cloud-based collaborative platform with some advanced features (it's clear that their ambition goes beyond just an ORM and schema migration tool).

### Bytebase

Bytebase is an open-source database DevSecOps tool, covering database management scenarios from changes, queries, security, to governance with a visual web-based collaboration workspace

**Visual change workflow**

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/bytebase-issue.webp)

Bytebase provides a web-based UI where developers and DBAs can collaborate to work on database changes through the same interface.

**Database-as-Code**

To better accommodate the working habits of developers, Bytebase has integrated capabilities into [code repositories such as GitLab and GitHub](/blog/integrate-sql-review-into-github/). With the GitOps workflow enabled, developers can submit database change files to familiar code repositories, and once review is completed and committed to the repo, the deployment will be automatically triggered by Bytebase. No need to switch between multiple tools!

**Team Collaboration & Management**

You can define different [roles](https://docs.bytebase.com/concepts/roles-and-permissions/) for members at two levels: Workspace and Project. You can assign different roles to your team members, so that they have different permissions for different projects; or configure approval workflows for each project, such as specifying specific DBAs or QA responsible for this specific project.

![_](/content/blog/top-database-schema-change-tool-evolution/bytebase-roles.webp)

The difference between Prisma and Bytebase lies in the target audience. Prisma is mainly aimed at front-end/full-stack developers, while Bytebase is more focused on back-end and DBAs. Both products provide collaboration capabilities, with Prisma focusing on the collaboration between developers in a single project, while Bytebase targets the entire engineering organization, i.e. developers and DBAs / Platform Engineering / Ops teams. In 2025, Bytebase has enhanced its collaboration features and expanded its role-based permissions system to provide even more granular control for engineering organizations.

## To Sum Up

| Feature              | Liquibase | Flyway           | Atlas            | Prisma         | Bytebase |
| -------------------- | --------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | -------------- | -------- |
| Open Source          | ✅        | ✅               | ✅               | ✅             | ✅       |
| Commercial Offering  | ✅        | ✅               | ✅               | ✅             | ✅       |
| Web UI               | ❌        | ✅ (lightweight) | ✅ (lightweight) | ✅             | ✅       |
| Rollback Support     | ✅        | Limited          | ✅               | Limited        | ✅       |
| CI/CD Integration    | ✅        | ✅               | ✅               | ✅             | ✅       |
| Team Collaboration   | Limited   | Limited          | Limited          | ✅             | ✅       |
| Role-Based Access    | ❌        | ❌               | Limited          | Limited        | ✅       |
| Cloud-Native Support | Limited   | Limited          | ✅               | ✅ (expanding) | ✅       |

If you are operating the database as an individual, the classic CLI or GUI SQL clients like Navicat will suffice. If you prefer integration with code repos, there are solutions like Liquibase and Flyway. However, for a GUI and project collaboration capabilities similar to Jira or GitLab, your options are Prisma and Bytebase. And Bytebase is the only tool that offers organization-wide management capabilities to ensure data security and governance, in addition to making database changes more efficient and safer.

This wraps our database schema change series. Here at Bytebase, we are trying to deliver a schema change experience as close as to the code change experience, from both the individual perspective and the organization perspective. To give it a try, [start locally with a single command](https://docs.bytebase.com/get-started/deploy-with-docker/).


Database schema migration have come a long way, from CLI to GUI, and all the way to GitOps/Database-as-Code. Let's review the state-of-the-art of database schema change / migration tools in 2026.

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