Renaming deploy_requests to deploy_approval_requests

During development of another one of our projects, we needed to rename deploy_requests to deploy_approval_requests to better reflect the feature’s purpose. This refactoring spanned:

• 31 files across multiple languages (Go, TypeScript, SQL, JSON, Markdown)
• 607 content matches across 14 different case styles
• 12 file renames
• Database migrations, API schemas, handlers, and frontend components

A manual find-and-replace would take a lot of work, requiring careful attention to:

• PascalCase types like DeployRequest → DeployApprovalRequest
• camelCase functions like getAdminDeployRequests → getAdminDeployApprovalRequests
• kebab-case routes like deploy-requests → deploy-approval-requests
• Database table names and indexes
• Singular and plural variants

The Solution

With Renamify, this complex refactoring became a single command:

renamify rename --include-styles space-separated \
  deploy_requests deploy_approval_requests \
  --dry-run --preview summary

What Renamify Found

The preview showed exactly what would change:

[PLAN SUMMARY]
Search: deploy_requests
Replace: deploy_approval_requests
Matches: 607
Files: 31
Paths: 12

Case Style Coverage

Renamify automatically detected and transformed variants across multiple case styles:

Case Style	Example	Transformed To
snake_case	deploy_requests	deploy_approval_requests
kebab-case	deploy-requests	deploy-approval-requests
camelCase	deployRequest	deployApprovalRequest
PascalCase	DeployRequest	DeployApprovalRequest
Title Case	Deploy Request	Deploy Approval Request
Sentence case	deploy request	deploy approval request
Train-Case	Deploy-Requests	Deploy-Approval-Requests
lower sentence	deploy request	deploy approval request

Smart Context Detection

Beyond simple standalone matches, Renamify intelligently found and renamed identifiers embedded within larger compound names:

In TypeScript filenames and types:

• handlersCreateDeployRequestRequest.ts → handlersCreateDeployApprovalRequestRequest.ts
• GetAdminDeployRequestsParams → GetAdminDeployApprovalRequestsParams
• PostAdminDeployRequestsIdApproveResult → PostAdminDeployApprovalRequestsIdApproveResult

In function and method names:

• ListDeployRequests → ListDeployApprovalRequests
• getAdminDeployRequests → getAdminDeployApprovalRequests
• postAdminDeployRequestsIdApprove → postAdminDeployApprovalRequestsIdApprove
• postDeployRequests → postDeployApprovalRequests

In SQL index names:

• idx_deploy_requests_active → idx_deploy_approval_requests_active
• idx_deploy_requests_message_active → idx_deploy_approval_requests_message_active

This context-aware matching means Renamify detects the identifier pattern regardless of where it appears, even when it’s part of a much larger compound word. It automatically adjusts the case transformation to fit the surrounding context, preserving the structure of complex identifiers like postAdminDeployRequestsIdApprove while correctly inserting “Approval” in the right place.

Highlights from the Refactoring

API Handler (Go):

internal/gateway/handlers/deploy_requests.go

// 116 matches across multiple case styles:
// - Deploy request: 5
// - DeployRequest: 66
// - DeployRequests: 7
// - ListDeployRequests: 3
// - deploy request: 13
// - deploy-request: 15
// - deploy-requests: 6

Database Migration (SQL):

-- 20251101090000_add_deploy_requests.sql
-- Handles table names, indexes, and comments:
-- - deploy_requests (table name)
-- - idx_deploy_requests_active
-- - idx_deploy_requests_token
-- - "Deploy requests" (in comments)

Frontend Components (TypeScript):

web/src/api/generated.ts

// 47 matches including complex generated types:
// - GetAdminDeployRequestsParams
// - PostAdminDeployRequestsIdApproveResult
// - getAdminDeployRequests()
// - postAdminDeployRequestsIdReject()

File Renames:

internal/gateway/db/deploy_requests.go
  → internal/gateway/db/deploy_approval_requests.go

web/src/api/schemas/getAdminDeployRequestsParams.ts
  → web/src/api/schemas/getAdminDeployApprovalRequestsParams.ts

web/src/pages/deploy-requests-page.tsx
  → web/src/pages/deploy-approval-requests-page.tsx

The Result

After reviewing the dry-run output, we performed the rename:

renamify rename --include-styles space-separated \
  deploy_requests deploy_approval_requests

✓ Applied 607 replacements across 31 files
✓ Renamed 12 items
Undo with: renamify undo b52d614ba6a0a9a2

The entire refactoring was:

• Atomic: All changes applied together or rolled back if any failed
• Accurate: Every variant correctly transformed across all case styles
• Reversible: Complete undo capability with a single command
• Fast: Completed in under a second

This type of refactoring is exactly where Renamify shines, touching database schemas, API handlers, frontend components, and documentation. Instead of manually hunting through dozens of files and worrying about missing edge cases, we had confidence that every variant was caught and correctly transformed.

Here’s a screenshot of the complete preview in the terminal: