activeadmin_favorites

Saved filter favorites, per-resource view lens defaults, and a cogwheel personalization UI for ActiveAdmin 4 index and show pages.

Requirements

Ruby 3.2+ (CI matrix: Ruby 3.4, 4.0, and TruffleRuby)
Rails 7.2+ (Rails 7.2 and 8.1 tested in CI)
ActiveAdmin 4.0.0.beta13+
PostgreSQL for production migrations (jsonb columns and concurrent index helpers)

Install

Add the gem to your Gemfile:

gem "activeadmin_favorites"

Run the install generator:

bin/rails generate activeadmin_favorites:install
bin/rails db:migrate

Or copy migrations manually:

bin/rails activeadmin_favorites:install:migrations
bin/rails db:migrate

Greenfield apps pick up engine migrations automatically when no matching version exists in db/migrate/.

Configure the host app (the generator writes config/initializers/activeadmin_favorites.rb with neutral defaults):

ActiveAdmin::Favorites.configure do |config|
  config.user_class = "User"
  config.user_foreign_key = :user_id
  config.user_association_name = :user
  config.user_label_method = :email
  config.current_user_method = :current_user
end

Add ActiveAdmin::Favorites::FavoritePolicy in the host app (the generator copies a template). Point has_many :favorites on your user model at ActiveAdmin::Favorites::Favorite.

Configure the table name when needed:

ActiveAdmin::Favorites.configure do |config|
  config.table_name = "admin_favorites"
end

When using ActionPolicy, add save_lens_favorite? and reset? to ActiveAdmin::PagePolicy (or equivalent) so the view lens preference page actions authorize correctly.

Locales

English ships with the gem. Copy config/locales/activeadmin_favorites.host.yml.example into your locale files and translate active_admin.favorites keys.

Favorite kinds

Kind	Stores
`filters`	scope, sort, ransack query, macros
`lens`	hidden columns, filters, panels, rows, action items
`combined`	filters and layout together

View lens layout schema

{
  "version": 1,
  "hidden": {
    "columns": ["created_at"],
    "filters": ["status"],
    "action_items": ["new"],
    "panels": ["details"],
    "show_rows": ["author"]
  }
}

Version 1 supports show/hide only. Column reorder is deferred.

Catalog entries are discovered at render time from ActiveAdmin columns, filters, panels, and show rows. Use lens_id: on custom columns or panels when auto ids are unstable. Block columns without a title receive stable block_column_N ids automatically. Personalization catalog data is injected on every index layout, not only table indexes.

Personalization UI

The gem installs:

Add to favorites on index pages (saved filters)
Personalize page cogwheel on index and show pages
Favorites hub with type tabs (all, filters, lens, combined)

Defaults are stored in active_admin_view_lens_defaults. Named lens favorites and combined favorites use admin_favorites.layout.

Development

bundle install
bundle exec appraisal install
make lint
make test

See spec/README.md for focused runs and coverage notes.

If native extensions fail to load after switching Ruby installs (for example mise vs rbenv with the same version), wipe and reinstall both bundle trees with one active Ruby:

rm -rf vendor/bundle
bundle install

rm -rf gemfiles/vendor/bundle
bundle exec appraisal install

License

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