LowFile-scopePHP Plug & play

Use deterministic ordering in queries

Always specify ORDER BY when the processing logic relies on a particular order.

Why this matters

DBs may return rows in arbitrary order; explicit ordering ensures repeatable behavior.

Side-by-side examples engineers can pattern-match during review.

Avoid

$rows = $pdo->query('SELECT * FROM events')->fetchAll();

Prefer

$rows = $pdo->query('SELECT * FROM events ORDER BY occurred_at DESC')->fetchAll();

Bad

SELECT * FROM t

Good

SELECT * FROM t ORDER BY created_at DESC

From the same buckets as this rule.

Critical
Block risky database migrations (locking ops, downtime risk)
Review SQL/database migrations for operations that can lock large tables or cause downtime. Examples: creating indexes without CONCURRENTLY (Postgres), ALTER COLUMN TYPE on big tables, adding NOT NULL without backfill, long-running updates without batching. Require an online migration strategy (CONCURRENTLY, backfill in batches, dual-write/expand-contract) and a rollback plan.
migrations-backward-compatdatabase-query-performance
High
Add database indexes for query optimization
Index frequently filtered or joined columns and verify with query plans.
database-query-performanceperformance-efficiency
High
Add database indexes for query performance
Index columns used in WHERE/JOIN/ORDER and enforce uniqueness where applicable.
database-query-performance