Rendered from the source repository. Headings, examples, code, tables, links, and referenced images are preserved.
ActiveInteraction Coder
Typed business operations as the structured alternative to service objects.
Why ActiveInteraction Over Service Objects
| Service Objects | ActiveInteraction |
|---|---|
| No standard interface | Consistent .run / .run! |
| Manual type checking | Built-in type declarations |
| Manual validation | Standard Rails validations |
| Hard to compose | Native composition |
| Verbose boilerplate | Clean, self-documenting |
Setup
# Gemfile
gem "active_interaction", "~> 5.3"Simple Interaction
# app/interactions/users/create.rb
module Users
class Create < ActiveInteraction::Base
# Typed inputs
string :email
string :name
string :password, default: nil
# Validations
validates :email, presence: true, format: { with: URI::MailTo::EMAIL_REGEXP }
validates :name, presence: true
# Main logic
def execute
user = User.create!(
email: email,
name: name,
password: password || SecureRandom.alphanumeric(32)
)
UserMailer.welcome(user).deliver_later
user # Return value becomes outcome.result
end
end
endRunning Interactions
# In controller
def create
outcome = Users::Create.run(
email: params[:email],
name: params[:name]
)
if outcome.valid?
redirect_to outcome.result, notice: "User created"
else
@errors = outcome.errors
render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
# With bang method (raises on error)
user = Users::Create.run!(email: "user@example.com", name: "John")Input Types
class MyInteraction < ActiveInteraction::Base
# Primitives
string :name
integer :age
float :price
boolean :active
symbol :status
# Date/Time
date :birthday
time :created_at
date_time :scheduled_at
# Complex types
array :tags
hash :metadata
# Model instances
object :user, class: User
# Typed arrays
array :emails, default: [] do
string
end
# Optional with default
string :optional_field, default: nil
integer :count, default: 0
endComposing Interactions
module Users
class Register < ActiveInteraction::Base
string :email, :name, :password
def execute
# Compose calls another interaction
user = compose(Users::Create,
email: email,
name: name,
password: password
)
# Errors automatically merged if nested fails
compose(Users::SendWelcomeEmail, user: user)
user
end
end
endController Pattern
class ArticlesController < ApplicationController
def create
outcome = Articles::Create.run(
title: params[:article][:title],
body: params[:article][:body],
author: current_user
)
if outcome.valid?
redirect_to article_path(outcome.result), notice: "Article created"
else
@article = Article.new(article_params)
@article.errors.merge!(outcome.errors)
render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
endTesting Interactions
RSpec.describe Users::Create do
let(:valid_params) { { email: "user@example.com", name: "John" } }
it "creates user with valid inputs" do
expect { described_class.run(valid_params) }
.to change(User, :count).by(1)
end
it "returns valid outcome" do
outcome = described_class.run(valid_params)
expect(outcome).to be_valid
expect(outcome.result).to be_a(User)
end
it "validates email format" do
outcome = described_class.run(valid_params.merge(email: "invalid"))
expect(outcome).not_to be_valid
expect(outcome.errors[:email]).to be_present
end
endAdvanced Patterns
For composition, error handling, and custom types see:
references/active-interaction.md

