diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_test_suite.yml b/.github/workflows/run_test_suite.yml
index dd8b0d8e..c0bc7bf2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_test_suite.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_test_suite.yml
@@ -43,20 +43,7 @@ jobs:
         # - https://guides.rubyonrails.org/maintenance_policy.html
         format: [materialized_path, materialized_path2]
         activerecord: [70, 71, 72]
-        ruby: [3.2, 3.3]
-        # additional tests
-        include:
-          # EOL 6/2022 (ruby >= 2.2.2, <2.7)
-          - ruby: 2.6
-            activerecord: 52
-          # EOL 2023
-          - ruby: 2.7
-            activerecord: 60
-          # rails 6.1 and 7.0 have different ruby versions
-          - ruby: 2.7
-            activerecord: 61
-          - ruby: "3.0"
-            activerecord: 61
+        ruby: [3.1, 3.3]
     env:
       # for the pg cli (psql, pg_isready) and possibly rails
       PGHOST: 127.0.0.1 # container is mapping it locally
@@ -97,7 +84,6 @@ jobs:
           UPDATE_STRATEGY: sql
         run: |
           bundle exec rake
-        if: ${{ matrix.activerecord != 52 }}
       - name: run pg tests (ANCESTRY_COLUMN=ancestry_alt)
         env:
           DB: pg
@@ -111,8 +97,6 @@ jobs:
           UPDATE_STRATEGY: sql
         run: |
           bundle exec rake
-          FORMAT=${{ matrix.format }} UPDATE_STRATEGY=sql bundle exec rake
-        if: ${{ matrix.activerecord != 52 }}
       - name: run mysql tests
         env:
           DB: mysql2
diff --git a/Appraisals b/Appraisals
index d6a967cc..3d6585b7 100644
--- a/Appraisals
+++ b/Appraisals
@@ -3,17 +3,12 @@
 # on a mac using:
 # bundle config --global build.mysql2 "--with-mysql-dir=$(brew --prefix mysql)"
 
-%w[5.2.8 6.0.6 6.1.7 7.0.8 7.1.3 7.2.1].each do |ar_version|
+%w[7.0.8 7.1.3 7.2.1].each do |ar_version|
   appraise "gemfile-#{ar_version.split('.').first(2).join}" do
     gem 'activerecord', "~> #{ar_version}"
-    # active record 5.2 uses ruby 2.6
-    # active record 6.x uses ruby 2.7 (sometimes 3.0)
     # so we are targeting the ruby version indirectly through active record
-    if ar_version < "7.0"
-      gem "sqlite3", "~> 1.6.9"
-    else
-      # sqlite3 v 2.0 is causing trouble with rails
-      gem "sqlite3", "< 2.0"
-    end
+
+    # sqlite3 v 2.0 is causing trouble with rails
+    gem "sqlite3", "< 2.0"
   end
 end
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index d68c3d03..bc9c7577 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
 gemspec
 
-gem "activerecord", "~> 6.1.7"
+gem "activerecord", "~> 7.2"
 gem "mysql2"
 gem "pg"
 gem "sqlite3", "~> 1.6.9"
diff --git a/bin/console b/bin/console
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..222e04eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/console
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "bundler/setup"
+require "active_support"
+require "active_record"
+require "ancestry"
+
+# models for local testing
+# Dir['./spec/support/**/*.rb'].sort.each { |f| require f }
+
+require "irb"
+IRB.start(__FILE__)
diff --git a/bin/setup b/bin/setup
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24ac65c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/setup
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+
+psql -c 'create database ancestry_test;' || echo 'db exists'
+mysql -e 'CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS 'ancestry_test';'
+
+#MAKE="make -j $(nproc)" bundle install --gemfile gemfiles/gemfile_61.gemfile