Prevent Renaming Habits With Existing Logs (Clone Instead)

[BrayanMQ]

Problem

Currently, EditHabitModal.tsx allows users to freely change a habit’s name (title).

This creates a data integrity issue:

• A habit like "Drink water" can be renamed to "Read in the morning"
• All existing logs (e.g. 40 days) are then incorrectly associated with the new meaning
• This rewrites the user’s historical data and breaks trust

A habit with existing logs should not change its meaning, only its presentation.

---

Goal

Preserve historical accuracy by preventing direct renaming of habits that already have logs.

Instead, when a habit has logs and the user changes its name:

• The original habit remains unchanged
• A new habit is created with the new name
• The streak and logs start fresh for the new habit

---

Proposed Solution (Option A)

Business Rule

• ✅ If a habit has no logs → allow editing the name normally
• ❌ If a habit has at least one log → do NOT rename it

When logs exist and the title is changed:

1. Show a confirmation modal explaining the consequence
2. If confirmed:
   • Create a new habit with the updated title
   • Keep the old habit and its logs intact

---

UX Behavior

When the user tries to change the name of a habit with existing logs:

Modal message (example):

This habit already has recorded history.
Changing its name will create a new habit and keep the previous history intact.

Actions:

• Cancel
• Create new habit

---

Technical Notes

Location

• EditHabitModal.tsx

Required Checks

Before updating the habit title:

SELECT 1
FROM habit_logs
WHERE habit_id = $1
LIMIT 1;

Logic Flow

• If no logs → update habit normally
• If logs exist AND title changed:
  • Prevent direct update
  • Prompt confirmation
  • On confirm:
    • Insert new row into habits
    • Do not modify the original habit

No database migrations are required.

---

Acceptance Criteria

• Habits with existing logs cannot have their title directly renamed
• A confirmation modal is shown when renaming is attempted
• Confirming creates a new habit instead of updating the existing one
• Existing logs remain associated with the original habit
• Habits without logs can still be renamed normally

---

Future Considerations

This approach intentionally avoids habit versioning for now.

A future improvement could introduce:

• Habit versioning
• Archived habits
• More granular edit rules

This issue focuses on data integrity and minimal schema changes.