When building a FastAPI project with PostgreSQL, you need a reliable way to manage your database schema over time. As your application evolves, simple table creation is not enough. You need a way to safely apply, track, and roll back changes.

Alembic provides a structured, version-controlled approach to database migrations. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up Alembic with FastAPI, SQLModel, and PostgreSQL, including common issues you’ll run into when working with Docker.