Rails Concern

Rails Concern Generator (TDD)

Creates concerns (ActiveSupport::Concern modules) for shared behavior with specs first.

Quick Start

1. Write failing spec testing the concern behavior
2. Run spec to confirm RED
3. Implement concern in app/models/concerns/ or app/controllers/concerns/
4. Run spec to confirm GREEN

When to Use Concerns

Good use cases:

• Shared validations across multiple models
• Common scopes used by several models
• Shared callbacks (e.g., UUID generation)
• Controller authentication/authorization helpers
• Pagination or filtering logic

Avoid concerns when:

• Logic is only used in one place (YAGNI)
• Creating "god" concerns with unrelated methods
• Logic should be a service object instead

TDD Workflow

Step 1: Create Concern Spec (RED)

For Model Concerns, test via a model that includes it:

# spec/models/concerns/[concern_name]_spec.rb
RSpec.describe [ConcernName] do
  # Create a test class that includes the concern
  let(:test_class) do
    Class.new(ApplicationRecord) do
      self.table_name = "events"  # Use existing table
      include [ConcernName]
    end
  end

  let(:instance) { test_class.new }

  describe "included behavior" do
    it "adds the expected methods" do
      expect(instance).to respond_to(:method_from_concern)
    end
  end

  describe "#method_from_concern" do
    it "behaves as expected" do
      expect(instance.method_from_concern).to eq(expected_value)
    end
  end

  describe "class methods" do
    it "adds scope" do
      expect(test_class).to respond_to(:scope_name)
    end
  end
end

Alternative: Test through an actual model that uses the concern:

# spec/models/event_spec.rb
RSpec.describe Event, type: :model do
  describe "[ConcernName] behavior" do
    describe "#method_from_concern" do
      let(:event) { build(:event) }

      it "does something" do
        expect(event.method_from_concern).to eq(expected)
      end
    end
  end
end

For Controller Concerns, test via request specs:

# spec/requests/[feature]_spec.rb
RSpec.describe "[Feature]", type: :request do
  describe "pagination (from Paginatable concern)" do
    let(:user) { create(:user) }
    before { sign_in user }

    it "paginates results" do
      create_list(:resource, 30, account: user.account)
      get resources_path
      expect(response.body).to include("page")
    end
  end
end

Step 2: Run Spec (Confirm RED)

bundle exec rspec spec/models/concerns/[concern_name]_spec.rb
# OR
bundle exec rspec spec/models/[model]_spec.rb

Step 3: Implement Concern (GREEN)

Model Concern:

# app/models/concerns/[concern_name].rb
module [ConcernName]
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  included do
    # Callbacks
    before_validation :generate_uuid, on: :create

    # Validations
    validates :uuid, presence: true, uniqueness: true

    # Scopes
    scope :with_uuid, ->(uuid) { where(uuid: uuid) }
    scope :recent, -> { order(created_at: :desc) }
  end

  # Class methods
  class_methods do
    def find_by_uuid!(uuid)
      find_by!(uuid: uuid)
    end
  end

  # Instance methods
  def generate_uuid
    self.uuid ||= SecureRandom.uuid
  end

  def short_uuid
    uuid&.split("-")&.first
  end
end

Controller Concern:

# app/controllers/concerns/[concern_name].rb
module [ConcernName]
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  included do
    before_action :set_locale
    helper_method :current_locale
  end

  class_methods do
    def skip_locale_for(*actions)
      skip_before_action :set_locale, only: actions
    end
  end

  private

  def set_locale
    I18n.locale = params[:locale] || I18n.default_locale
  end

  def current_locale
    I18n.locale
  end
end

Step 4: Run Spec (Confirm GREEN)

bundle exec rspec spec/models/concerns/[concern_name]_spec.rb

Common Concern Patterns

Pattern 1: UUID Generation

# app/models/concerns/has_uuid.rb
module HasUuid
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  included do
    before_validation :generate_uuid, on: :create
    validates :uuid, presence: true, uniqueness: true
  end

  private

  def generate_uuid
    self.uuid ||= SecureRandom.uuid
  end
end

Pattern 2: Soft Delete

# app/models/concerns/soft_deletable.rb
module SoftDeletable
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  included do
    scope :active, -> { where(deleted_at: nil) }
    scope :deleted, -> { where.not(deleted_at: nil) }

    default_scope { active }
  end

  def soft_delete
    update(deleted_at: Time.current)
  end

  def restore
    update(deleted_at: nil)
  end

  def deleted?
    deleted_at.present?
  end
end

Pattern 3: Searchable

# app/models/concerns/searchable.rb
module Searchable
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  class_methods do
    def search(query)
      return all if query.blank?

      where("name ILIKE :q OR email ILIKE :q", q: "%#{query}%")
    end
  end
end

Pattern 4: Auditable

# app/models/concerns/auditable.rb
module Auditable
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  included do
    has_many :audit_logs, as: :auditable, dependent: :destroy

    after_create :log_creation
    after_update :log_update
  end

  private

  def log_creation
    audit_logs.create(action: "created", changes: attributes)
  end

  def log_update
    return unless saved_changes.any?
    audit_logs.create(action: "updated", changes: saved_changes)
  end
end

Pattern 5: Controller Filterable

# app/controllers/concerns/filterable.rb
module Filterable
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  private

  def apply_filters(scope, allowed_filters)
    allowed_filters.each do |filter|
      if params[filter].present?
        scope = scope.where(filter => params[filter])
      end
    end
    scope
  end
end

Usage

In Models:

class Event < ApplicationRecord
  include HasUuid
  include SoftDeletable
  include Searchable
end

In Controllers:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  include Filterable
end

Checklist

• Spec written first (RED)
• Uses extend ActiveSupport::Concern
• included block for callbacks/validations/scopes
• class_methods block for class-level methods
• Instance methods outside blocks
• Single responsibility (one purpose per concern)
• Well-named (describes what it adds)
• All specs GREEN