Routing Guide

Important: These docs are for the outdated Jets 5 versions and below. For the latest Jets docs: docs.rubyonjets.com

1. Introduction

Jets routing translates your routes.rb file into API Gateway resources and connects them to your Lambda functions. It also generates helper methods for URL paths for your convenience.

2. Resources

Jets routing leverages a REST architecture design by default. A key component of a REST are resources. With HTTP, we can take actions like GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE on resources. Jets uses HTTP verbs and RESTful resources to achieve the common CRUD pattern: Create, Read, Update, and Delete.

With the resources method, Jets creates CRUD-related routes. Example:

config/routes.rb:

resources :posts

Results in:

+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /posts             | posts#index       |
| posts       | POST   | /posts             | posts#create      |
| new_post    | GET    | /posts/new         | posts#new         |
| edit_post   | GET    | /posts/:id/edit    | posts#edit        |
| post        | GET    | /posts/:id         | posts#show        |
| post        | PUT    | /posts/:id         | posts#update      |
| post        | PATCH  | /posts/:id         | posts#update      |
| post        | DELETE | /posts/:id         | posts#destroy     |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

2.1 only and except options

You can use the only and except options with the resources method to select which routes you want to create.

Here’s an example with only:

resources :posts, only: %w[index show]

Results in:

+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET  | /posts             | posts#index       |
| post        | GET  | /posts/:id         | posts#show        |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

Here’s an example with except:

resources :posts, except: %w[new delete edit update]

Results in:

+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /posts             | posts#index       |
| posts       | POST   | /posts             | posts#create      |
| post        | GET    | /posts/:id         | posts#show        |
| post        | DELETE | /posts/:id         | posts#destroy     |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

2.2 resources options

Resources supports several options: module, prefix, as, controller.

  • module: adds a module name to the controller
  • path: adds a prefix to the path
  • as: changes the name of the generated helper methods
  • controller: changes controller that it maps to

module example:

resources :posts, module: "admin"

Results in:

+-------------+--------+--------------------+---------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) |  Controller#action  |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+---------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /posts             | admin/posts#index   |
| posts       | POST   | /posts             | admin/posts#create  |
| new_post    | GET    | /posts/new         | admin/posts#new     |
| edit_post   | GET    | /posts/:id/edit    | admin/posts#edit    |
| post        | GET    | /posts/:id         | admin/posts#show    |
| post        | PUT    | /posts/:id         | admin/posts#update  |
| post        | PATCH  | /posts/:id         | admin/posts#update  |
| post        | DELETE | /posts/:id         | admin/posts#destroy |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+---------------------+

prefix example:

resources :posts, path: "v1"

Results in:

+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /v1                | posts#index       |
| posts       | POST   | /v1                | posts#create      |
| new_post    | GET    | /v1/new            | posts#new         |
| edit_post   | GET    | /v1/:id/edit       | posts#edit        |
| post        | GET    | /v1/:id            | posts#show        |
| post        | PUT    | /v1/:id            | posts#update      |
| post        | PATCH  | /v1/:id            | posts#update      |
| post        | DELETE | /v1/:id            | posts#destroy     |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

as example:

resources :posts, as: "articles"

Results in:

+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix)  |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| articles     | GET    | /posts             | posts#index       |
| articles     | POST   | /posts             | posts#create      |
| new_article  | GET    | /posts/new         | posts#new         |
| edit_article | GET    | /posts/:id/edit    | posts#edit        |
| article      | GET    | /posts/:id         | posts#show        |
| article      | PUT    | /posts/:id         | posts#update      |
| article      | PATCH  | /posts/:id         | posts#update      |
| article      | DELETE | /posts/:id         | posts#destroy     |
+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

controller example:

resources :posts, controller: "articles"

Results in:

+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /posts             | articles#index    |
| posts       | POST   | /posts             | articles#create   |
| new_post    | GET    | /posts/new         | articles#new      |
| edit_post   | GET    | /posts/:id/edit    | articles#edit     |
| post        | GET    | /posts/:id         | articles#show     |
| post        | PUT    | /posts/:id         | articles#update   |
| post        | PATCH  | /posts/:id         | articles#update   |
| post        | DELETE | /posts/:id         | articles#destroy  |
+-------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

The options can be provided directly to resources method. You may also want to look at using the scope, prefix which can provide similar results with less duplication by making use of blocks. The scope and prefix docs are below.

2.3 param identifier

You can change the variable identifier in the path with the param option. Example:

resources :posts, param: :my_post_id

Results in:

+-------------+--------+-------------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  |   Path (URI Pattern)    | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+-------------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /posts                  | posts#index       |
| posts       | POST   | /posts                  | posts#create      |
| new_post    | GET    | /posts/new              | posts#new         |
| edit_post   | GET    | /posts/:my_post_id/edit | posts#edit        |
| post        | GET    | /posts/:my_post_id      | posts#show        |
| post        | PUT    | /posts/:my_post_id      | posts#update      |
| post        | PATCH  | /posts/:my_post_id      | posts#update      |
| post        | DELETE | /posts/:my_post_id      | posts#destroy     |
+-------------+--------+-------------------------+-------------------+

Generally, it is recommended to not override the param identifier default.

3. Named Routes Helper Methods

Jets automatically generates named routes helper methods from your routes declarations. Named route helpers are generated for these CRUD-related controller actions: index, new, edit, show.

The As column in the previous routes table shows the prefix of the named route helper name. They map to generated named routes helper methods:

As / Prefix Helper
posts posts_path
new_post new_post_path
post post_path(id)
edit_post edit_post_path(id)

Named routes helper methods are also generated when you use the as option explicitly.

3.1 as option

get "list", to: "posts#index", as: :list
get "hit", to: "posts#hit" # will not generate a named route helper
get "view/:id", to: "posts#view", as: "view"

Generates:

+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| list        | GET  | /list              | posts#index       |
| hit         | GET  | /hit               | posts#hit         |
| view        | GET  | /view/:id          | posts#view        |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

Here are their named routes helper methods.

As / Prefix Helper
list list_path
hit hit_path
view view_path(id)

3.2 member and collection options

Named routes helper methods are also generated when you use the member or collection keywords with your route. Refer to the members and collections docs below for examples.

3.3 Named routes path and url helper

For each _path method there is a corresponding _url method. The _url method includes the host. Here’s a table with examples:

As / Prefix Path Helper Url Helper
posts posts_path => /posts posts_url => localhost:8888/posts
new_post new_post_path => /posts/new new_post_url => localhost:8888/posts/new
post post_path(1) => /posts/1 post_url(1) => localhost:8888/posts/1
edit_post edit_post_path(1) => /posts/1/edit edit_post_url(1) => localhost:8888/posts/1/edit

3.4 Disable generated url helpers

You can disable the generation of the url helper with as: :disabled. Example:

get "posts", to: "posts#index", as: :disabled

You may want to do this if 2 generated url helpers happen to step on each other.

4. Singular Resource

There are sometimes resources that always look up the same id. A good example of this is a profile resource. The profile resource always looks up the currently logged-in user. We do not need to have the user id as a part of the url path. The singular resource method is useful here. Example:

resource :profile

Results in:

+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix)  |  Verb  | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+
| profile      | POST   | /profile           | profiles#create   |
| new_profile  | GET    | /profile/new       | profiles#new      |
| edit_profile | GET    | /profile/edit      | profiles#edit     |
| profile      | GET    | /profile           | profiles#show     |
| profile      | PUT    | /profile           | profiles#update   |
| profile      | PATCH  | /profile           | profiles#update   |
| profile      | DELETE | /profile           | profiles#destroy  |
+--------------+--------+--------------------+-------------------+

Here are the generated named routes helpers:

As / Prefix Helper
new_profile new_profile_path
profile profile_path
edit_profile edit_profile_path

There are no arguments for any of the generated helper methods. They are not needed. Also notice, there is no index action route.

5. Nested Resources

Nesting resources are supported. Example:

resources :posts do
  resources :comments
end

Results in:

+-------------------+--------+-----------------------------------+-------------------+
|    As (Prefix)    |  Verb  |        Path (URI Pattern)         | Controller#action |
+-------------------+--------+-----------------------------------+-------------------+
| posts             | GET    | /posts                            | posts#index       |
| posts             | POST   | /posts                            | posts#create      |
| new_post          | GET    | /posts/new                        | posts#new         |
| edit_post         | GET    | /posts/:id/edit                   | posts#edit        |
| post              | GET    | /posts/:id                        | posts#show        |
| post              | PUT    | /posts/:id                        | posts#update      |
| post              | PATCH  | /posts/:id                        | posts#update      |
| post              | DELETE | /posts/:id                        | posts#destroy     |
| post_comments     | GET    | /posts/:post_id/comments          | comments#index    |
| post_comments     | POST   | /posts/:post_id/comments          | comments#create   |
| new_post_comment  | GET    | /posts/:post_id/comments/new      | comments#new      |
| edit_post_comment | GET    | /posts/:post_id/comments/:id/edit | comments#edit     |
| post_comment      | GET    | /posts/:post_id/comments/:id      | comments#show     |
| post_comment      | PUT    | /posts/:post_id/comments/:id      | comments#update   |
| post_comment      | PATCH  | /posts/:post_id/comments/:id      | comments#update   |
| post_comment      | DELETE | /posts/:post_id/comments/:id      | comments#destroy  |
+-------------------+--------+-----------------------------------+-------------------+

This makes for nice clean URLs. For example, we can get all the comments that belong to a post with /posts/1/comments.

Here are the generated named routes helpers:

As / Prefix Helper
posts posts_path
new_post new_post_path
post post_path(post_id)
edit_post edit_post_path(post_id)
post_comments post_comments_path(post_id)
new_post_comment new_post_comment_path(post_id)
post_comment post_comment_path(post_id, id)
edit_post_comment edit_post_comment_path(post_id, id)

Note: When resources are nested the parent path variable names all become :post_id. This is because path variable siblings must all be the same for API Gateway. More details here: API Gateway Considerations.

6. Resource Members and Collections

Within the resources block you can use the member or collection options as a shorthand to create additional resource related routes. Example:

resources :posts, only: [] do
  get "preview", on: :member
  get "list", on: :collection
end

Generates:

+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix)  | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| preview_post | GET  | /posts/:id/preview | posts#preview     |
| list_posts   | GET  | /posts/list        | posts#list        |
+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

And their corresponding named routes helper methods.

As / Prefix Helper
preview_post preview_post_path(post_id)
list_posts list_posts_path

If you have multiple routes to add, you can also use the block form of member or resources:

resources :posts, only: [] do
  member do
    get "preview"
  end
  collection do
    get "list"
  end
end

Also results in:

+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix)  | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| preview_post | GET  | /posts/:id/preview | posts#preview     |
| list_posts   | GET  | /posts/list        | posts#list        |
+--------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

7. Namespace

Namespacing is also supported. Unlike nested resources, namespaces do not manage or create any resource. For example, there’s no :admin_id variable. Namespacing is useful for organizing code. Example:

namespace :admin do
  resources :posts
end

Generates:

+-----------------+--------+-----------------------+---------------------+
|   As (Prefix)   |  Verb  |  Path (URI Pattern)   |  Controller#action  |
+-----------------+--------+-----------------------+---------------------+
| admin_posts     | GET    | /admin/posts          | admin/posts#index   |
| admin_posts     | POST   | /admin/posts          | admin/posts#create  |
| new_admin_post  | GET    | /admin/posts/new      | admin/posts#new     |
| edit_admin_post | GET    | /admin/posts/:id/edit | admin/posts#edit    |
| admin_post      | GET    | /admin/posts/:id      | admin/posts#show    |
| admin_post      | PUT    | /admin/posts/:id      | admin/posts#update  |
| admin_post      | PATCH  | /admin/posts/:id      | admin/posts#update  |
| admin_post      | DELETE | /admin/posts/:id      | admin/posts#destroy |
+-----------------+--------+-----------------------+---------------------+

Namespacing affects:

  1. as helper method name: It adds an admin to the names.
  2. path: The path gets an admin prefix
  3. controller namespace: The controllers are within an admin module.

The namespace method uses a more general scope method. namespace is a scope declaration with the as, prefix, and module options set to the namespace value.

8. Path Prefix

If you only want to add a path prefix to your resources paths, the path method can be used. Example:

path :admin do
  resources :posts
end

Results in:

+-------------+--------+-----------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) |  Verb  |  Path (URI Pattern)   | Controller#action |
+-------------+--------+-----------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET    | /admin/posts          | posts#index       |
| posts       | POST   | /admin/posts          | posts#create      |
| new_post    | GET    | /admin/posts/new      | posts#new         |
| edit_post   | GET    | /admin/posts/:id/edit | posts#edit        |
| post        | GET    | /admin/posts/:id      | posts#show        |
| post        | PUT    | /admin/posts/:id      | posts#update      |
| post        | PATCH  | /admin/posts/:id      | posts#update      |
| post        | DELETE | /admin/posts/:id      | posts#destroy     |
+-------------+--------+-----------------------+-------------------+

9. Scope

Scope is the more general method in the routes DSL. You can use it to set the as, prefix, and module. Some examples to help explain:

9.1 path prefix example

scope path: :admin do
  get "posts", to: "posts#index"
end

Results in:

+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET  | /admin/posts       | posts#index       |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

Notice, only the path is affected. You can also set the scope prefix with a string or symbol option. IE: scope :admin

9.2 as example

scope(as: :admin) do
  get "posts/:id/edit", to: "posts#edit"
end

Results in:

+-----------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
|   As (Prefix)   | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-----------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| edit_admin_post | GET  | /posts/:id/edit    | posts#edit        |
+-----------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

Only the generated helper method is affected.

9.3 module example

scope(module: :admin) do
  get "posts", to: "posts#index"
end

Results in:

+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| As (Prefix) | Verb | Path (URI Pattern) | Controller#action |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+
| posts       | GET  | /posts             | admin/posts#index |
+-------------+------+--------------------+-------------------+

Only the controller module is affected.

10. Mount Rack Apps

Jets supports mounting Rack applications. This allows you to run most Rack compatible on serverless with little effort. Example:

config/routes.rb

Jets.application.routes.draw do
  mount RackApp, at: 'rack'  # app/racks/rack_app
end

More info: Mount Rack Apps docs

11. Root

You can specify the root or homepage path with the root method.

config/routes.rb

Jets.application.routes.draw do
  root to: "articles#index"
end

You can also provide just a string to the root method:

Jets.application.routes.draw do
  root "home#index"
end