active_admin_access_control is a gem designed to simplify access control management within Active Admin using roles and permissions. It provides an easy way to define roles, assign permissions, and manage user access within the Active Admin panel.

• Define roles and permissions for users.
• Assign roles to users.
• Manage permissions for each role.
• Access control directly within the Active Admin panel.

Install the gem and add to the application's Gemfile by executing:

$ bundle add active_admin_access_control

If bundler is not being used to manage dependencies, install the gem by executing:

$ gem install active_admin_access_control

$ rails generate active_admin_access_control:install

This command will set up the necessary files and configurations for access control.

Run the migrations to set up the necessary database tables:

$ rails db:migrate

In your seed file (db/seeds.rb), comment out the creation of the default Active Admin admin_user:

# db/seeds.rb
# AdminUser.create!(email: 'admin@example.com', password: 'password', password_confirmation: 'password')

Then, run the seed command:

$ rails db:seed

We need to update admin user files accordingly:

# app/admin/admin_users.rb
ActiveAdmin.register AdminUser do
  permit_params :email, :password, :password_confirmation, :role_id

  index do
    selectable_column
    id_column
    column :email
    column :role
    column :current_sign_in_at
    column :sign_in_count
    column :created_at
    actions
  end

  filter :email
  filter :current_sign_in_at
  filter :sign_in_count
  filter :created_at

  form do |f|
    f.inputs do
      f.input :email
      f.input :password
      f.input :password_confirmation
      f.input :role
    end
    f.actions
  end
end

# app/models/admin_user.rb
class AdminUser < ApplicationRecord
  # Include default devise modules. Others available are:
  # :confirmable, :lockable, :timeoutable, :trackable and :omniauthable
  devise :database_authenticatable, 
     :recoverable, :rememberable, :validatable

  belongs_to :role
end

Once everything is set up, you can access roles and permissions within the Active Admin panel. Navigate to the appropriate section to manage roles and assign permissions to users.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/rajputlakhveer/active_admin_access_control.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

This gem was inspired by the need for a simple yet powerful access control solution within Active Admin.

For any questions, issues, or feature requests, please open an issue.

Lakhveer Singh Rajput