ABOUTME: Ruby gem development guide - structure, testing, linting, CI/CD, publishing
ABOUTME: Conventions for gemspec, RSpec, RuboCop, publishing with attestation
Ruby Gem Development
Quick Reference
bundle gem my_gem --test=rspec --ci=github --linter=rubocop
bundle install && bundle exec rspec && bundle exec rubocop -A
gem build my_gem.gemspec
gem push my_gem-1.0.0.gem --attestation
For Rails apps, use rails skill. See also: _AST_GREP.md, _PATTERNS.md, source-control
Version (determine, don't assume)
See ../_LANG_COMMON.md. Fetch the truth:
ruby -v # local interpreter
cat .ruby-version 2>/dev/null # pin file (if present)
curl -s https://endoflife.date/api/ruby.json | jq -r '.[0].latest' # latest upstream stable
Read .ruby-version / Gemfile / <gem>.gemspec (required_ruby_version) for the project's floor.
Pre-Commit Verification (MANDATORY)
make check && make test-e2e must pass (enforced by the pre-commit-gate hook; see ../_LANG_COMMON.md). What make check expands to for a gem:
bundle exec rubocop
bundle exec rspec
bundle exec bundler-audit check --update
Gem Structure
my_gem/
├── lib/my_gem.rb # Entry point
├── lib/my_gem/version.rb # VERSION constant
├── spec/ # RSpec tests
├── sig/ # RBS types (optional)
├── .github/workflows/ci.yml
├── .rubocop.yml
├── my_gem.gemspec
└── Gemfile
Entry Point (lib/my_gem.rb)
# frozen_string_literal: true
# ABOUTME: Main entry point for MyGem
# ABOUTME: Requires all components and provides configuration
require_relative "my_gem/version"
require_relative "my_gem/client"
module MyGem
class << self
attr_writer :configuration
def configuration = @configuration ||= Configuration.new
def configure = yield(configuration) if block_given?
end
end
Gemspec
# frozen_string_literal: true
Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
spec.name = "my_gem"
spec.version = MyGem::VERSION
spec.required_ruby_version = ">= <current stable minus one>" # Always specify! Check `ruby -v` / endoflife.date, do not hardcode from memory
spec.metadata = {
"rubygems_mfa_required" => "true", # Required!
"source_code_uri" => "https://github.com/you/my_gem",
"changelog_uri" => "https://github.com/you/my_gem/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md"
}
spec.files = Dir.glob(%w[lib/**/* LICENSE.txt README.md CHANGELOG.md])
# Runtime deps in gemspec, dev deps in Gemfile
end
Testing & Quality
RSpec: describe/it with expect syntax, subject(:name), WebMock for HTTP, SimpleCov >= 90%.
RuboCop: rubocop-rspec + rubocop-performance, TargetRubyVersion set to the gem's required_ruby_version floor (do not hardcode from memory), NewCops: enable, max line 120, max method 10.
Thread safety: Mutex.new + @mutex.synchronize { ... } for shared state.
For detailed testing examples, CI config, HTTP client pattern, and publishing steps, see references/ruby-patterns.md.
Code Review Checklist
| Category | Checks |
|---|---|
| Structure | frozen_string_literal, ABOUTME headers, standard layout |
| Gemspec | required_ruby_version, rubygems_mfa_required, metadata URIs |
| Testing | RSpec expect syntax, SimpleCov >= 90%, WebMock, no real HTTP |
| Quality | RuboCop passes, thread-safe if async, custom error classes |
| CI | Matrix on the two latest stable Ruby minors (check endoflife.date, do not hardcode), ruby/setup-ruby, bundler-cache |
Resources
- Bundler: Creating Gems
- RubyGems Patterns
- Ruby version changes (pick the entry for the project's Ruby version)