Aasm Coder

AASM Coder

State machine patterns for managing workflow states in Rails.

Setup

# Gemfile
gem "aasm", "~> 5.5"

Basic State Machine

class Order < ApplicationRecord
  include AASM

  aasm column: :status do
    state :pending, initial: true
    state :paid
    state :processing
    state :shipped
    state :cancelled

    event :pay do
      transitions from: :pending, to: :paid

      after do
        OrderMailer.payment_received(self).deliver_later
      end
    end

    event :process do
      transitions from: :paid, to: :processing
    end

    event :ship do
      transitions from: :processing, to: :shipped
    end

    event :cancel do
      transitions from: [:pending, :paid], to: :cancelled

      before do
        refund_payment if paid?
      end
    end
  end
end

Usage

order = Order.create!
order.pending?      # => true
order.may_pay?      # => true
order.pay!          # Transition + callbacks
order.paid?         # => true

order.may_ship?     # => false (must process first)
order.aasm.events   # => [:process, :cancel]

# Scopes created automatically
Order.pending
Order.paid.where(user: current_user)

Guards

event :pay do
  transitions from: :pending, to: :paid, guard: :payment_valid?
end

def payment_valid?
  payment_method.present? && total > 0
end

# Usage
order.pay!  # Raises AASM::InvalidTransition if guard fails
order.pay   # Returns false (no exception)

Callbacks

aasm do
  # State callbacks
  state :paid, before_enter: :validate_payment,
               after_enter: :send_receipt

  # Event callbacks
  event :ship do
    before do
      generate_tracking_number
    end

    after do
      notify_customer
    end

    transitions from: :processing, to: :shipped
  end
end

Callback order:

1. before (event)
2. before_exit (old state)
3. before_enter (new state)
4. State change persisted
5. after_exit (old state)
6. after_enter (new state)
7. after (event)

Multiple Transitions

event :approve do
  transitions from: :pending, to: :approved, guard: :auto_approvable?
  transitions from: :pending, to: :review, guard: :needs_review?
  transitions from: :pending, to: :rejected  # fallback
end

First matching guard wins.

Error Handling

# Safe (returns false on failure)
order.pay  # => false if invalid

# Raises exception
begin
  order.pay!
rescue AASM::InvalidTransition => e
  Rails.logger.error("Invalid transition: #{e.message}")
end

# Check before transition
if order.may_pay?
  order.pay!
end

Testing State Machines

RSpec.describe Order do
  let(:order) { create(:order) }

  it "starts in pending state" do
    expect(order).to be_pending
  end

  describe "pay event" do
    it "transitions to paid" do
      expect { order.pay! }
        .to change(order, :status).from("pending").to("paid")
    end

    it "sends payment received email" do
      expect(OrderMailer).to receive_message_chain(:payment_received, :deliver_later)
      order.pay!
    end
  end

  describe "ship event" do
    context "when pending" do
      it "raises error" do
        expect { order.ship! }.to raise_error(AASM::InvalidTransition)
      end
    end

    context "when processing" do
      before { order.update!(status: :processing) }

      it "transitions to shipped" do
        expect { order.ship! }
          .to change(order, :status).to("shipped")
      end
    end
  end
end

Advanced Patterns

For multiple state machines, persistence options, and history tracking see:

• references/aasm-patterns.md

Durable Event History

AASM stores the current state, not a durable transition history. When audit or integration requirements need that history, persist an event record in the same database transaction as the state change. Dispatch notifications, webhooks, and other external side effects after commit.