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authorize_me¶ ↑

authorize_me is a gem for Rails to handle simple role-based authorization. It is similar in style to can-can. The largest difference is that authorization rules are defined in the model they protect rather than one centralized location.

Set up the user model¶ ↑

Tell the gem which model to treat as the “user”.

class User
  authorize_me
end

The following methods are generated:

User#can_create?(obj)
User#can_read?(obj)
User#can_update?(obj)
User#can_destroy?(obj)

Each of these methods can take a model class, instance, or symbol.

The user model is expected to have a role method that returns a string or symbol. It could be a DB column or a method you define. Here is an example:

def role
  if admin?
    :admin
  else
    user_type
  end
end

Declare authorization rules¶ ↑

Authorization rules are declared in each model where they apply

class Article
  authorization do |role|
    role.admin     :can => :manage
    role.publisher :can => :manage, :if => :author?
    role.publisher :can => [:read, :create]
    role.any       :can => :read
  end
end

In this example a publisher can always read and create articles, but they can only manage articles for which they are the author.

This declaration assumes there is an Article#author? method which takes a user argument and returns a boolean.

:manage is shorthand for [:create, :read, :update, :destroy]

In your controllers¶ ↑

The unauthorized! method simply raises an AuthorizeMe::Unauthorized exception for you to handle as you choose.

def show
  @article = Article.find(params[:id])
  unauthorized! unless current_user.can_read?(@article)
end

In your views¶ ↑

<% if current_user.can_update?(@article) %>
  <%= link_to 'edit', edit_article_path(@article) %>
<% end %>