PlanetScale says new move-tables CLI commands will replace pscale workflow

PlanetScale announced on September 29, 2026 that its pscale command-line tool can now run Vitess MoveTables workflows through a new set of commands under pscale branch vtctl move-tables.

The subcommands cover the life of a workflow. "List" shows workflows on a branch across every keyspace, "create" starts copying tables into a target keyspace, and "status" reports copy progress and which keyspace is serving traffic. "Start" and "stop" resume or pause a workflow. "Switch-traffic" moves reads and writes to the target keyspace, and "reverse-traffic" moves them back. "Complete" finishes a workflow, while "cancel" abandons one still in progress.

PlanetScale recommends checking data with pscale branch vtctl vdiff before switching traffic. The company also says the Workflows page in its dashboard shows each workflow's live state as reported by Vitess.

What is new is the change in the CLI surface. PlanetScale says the commands replace the existing pscale workflow commands, which it says will be deprecated along with the /workflows API endpoints. The announcement gives no date for deprecation or removal, so the old commands are announced for retirement rather than confirmed as retired.

PlanetScale's stated reason is control: it says the new commands give users more control over each step and expose more of what Vitess can do, because they run the same MoveTables commands that Vitess runs through vtctld. That is the company's description; we have not tested the commands or compared them with the old behavior.

Why it matters: teams that script table moves or migrations between keyspaces with pscale workflow should expect to change those scripts. Because no timeline is published in the announcement, it is worth checking PlanetScale's CLI documentation and release notes for dates before depending on either command set.

Only one credible source, PlanetScale's own changelog, supports this report. We found no independent coverage; other PlanetScale pages exist, but they come from the same company and do not count as a second source. Details such as exact flags, version numbers and behavior in practice are not covered in the changelog entry and remain unverified here.

Revised 16 October 2026: Guth re-read the original sources and rewrote this article. Correction: the earlier version said PlanetScale deprecates the pscale workflow commands. The source says they will be deprecated (along with the /workflows API endpoints), with no date given. The earlier version remains available as revision 1.