validation_hints

Proactive validation hints derived from model validators — complementary to Rails errors (which react after valid? fails).

Requirements: Ruby >= 3.2, Rails / Active Record 7.0.x (>= 7.0, < 7.1). Used by inline_forms.

Install

# Gemfile
gem "validation_hints", "~> 6.2"

Rails apps load the gem via ValidationHints::Railtie (no manual require).

Example

class Person < ApplicationRecord
  validates :name, presence: true
  validates :password, length: { within: 1...5 }
end

Person.new.hints[:name]      # => ["can't be blank"]
Person.new.hints[:password]  # => ["must be between 1 and 4 characters"]

Person.new.hints.full_messages_for(:name)  # => ["Name can't be blank"]
Person.new.has_validations_for?(:name)     # => true

API (stable)

Method	Description
model.hints	ActiveModel::Hints for the instance
hints[:attribute]	Short hint strings for an attribute
hints.full_messages_for(attr)	Attribute label + hint (used by inline_forms tooltips)
has_validations? / has_validations_for?(attr)	Whether to show hint UI

I18n

Default copy lives in the gem at lib/validation_hints/locale/en.yml under the hints namespace.

Lookup order mirrors Rails errors, but uses hints instead of errors:

1. activerecord.hints.models.<model>.attributes.<attr>.<type>
2. activerecord.hints.models.<model>.<type>
3. activerecord.hints.messages.<type>
4. activemodel.hints.messages.<type>
5. hints.attributes.<attr>.<type>
6. hints.messages.<type>

Full messages (full_messages_for) use hints.format with the same scoping (activerecord.hints.format, activemodel.hints.format, hints.format).

App overrides

Add a locale file, e.g. config/locales/validation_hints.en.yml:

en:
  activerecord:
    hints:
      format: "%{attribute}: %{message}"
      messages:
        presence: "is required"
      models:
        apartment:
          attributes:
            name:
              presence: "enter a name for this apartment"

Per-attribute overrides without a model block:

en:
  hints:
    attributes:
      name:
        presence: "is required"

Attribute labels in full messages come from the normal Rails path (activerecord.attributes.<model>.<attr>), same as errors.

Tests

bundle exec rake test

History

See CHANGELOG.md.