Ruby SDK reference
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Last edited: May 13, 2022
This topic documents how to get started with the server-side Ruby SDK, and links to reference information on all of the supported features.
LaunchDarkly's SDKs are open source. In addition to this reference guide, we provide source, API reference documentation, and sample applications:
Resource | Location |
---|---|
SDK API documentation | SDK API docs |
GitHub repository | ruby-server-sdk |
Sample applications | hello-ruby (Ruby) hello-bootstrap-rails (Rails server-side bootstrapping example) |
Published module | RubyGems |
Due to a bug in recent versions of RubyGems, RubyGems versions 2.4.x are not compatible with the LaunchDarkly Ruby SDK.
Getting started
After you complete the Getting Started process, follow these instructions to start using the LaunchDarkly SDK in your Ruby application.
First, install the LaunchDarkly SDK as a dependency in your application using your application's dependency manager. Refer to the SDK releases page to identify the latest version if you want to depend on a specific version.
If you are using Bundler, you can add gem "launchdarkly-server-sdk"
to your Gemfile and run bundle install
. Otherwise, you can install the gem directly:
gem install launchdarkly-server-sdk
Next, import the LaunchDarkly client in your application code. This step may not be necessary if you are using a framework that automatically loads all dependencies, as Rails does.
Here's how:
require 'ldclient-rb'
After you install and import the SDK, create a single, shared instance of LDClient
. Specify your SDK key here to authorize your application to connect to a particular environment within LaunchDarkly.
Here's how:
client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new("YOUR_SDK_KEY")
It's important to make LDClient
a singleton. The client instance maintains internal state that allows LaunchDarkly to serve feature flags without making any remote requests. Do not instantiate a new client with every request.
You can use client
to check which variation a particular user will receive for a given feature flag.
Here's how:
show_feature = client.variation("your.flag.key", {key: "user@test.com"}, false)if show_feature# application code to show the featureelse# the code to run if the feature is off
Lastly, when your application is about to terminate, shut down client
. To learn more, read Shutting down.
Initializing LDClient in a Rails Application
To use LaunchDarkly in a Rails application, initialize the client in config/initializers/launchdarkly.rb
:
Rails.configuration.client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new("your_sdk_key")
To use LaunchDarkly with the Rails application preloader Spring, we recommend using an after_fork
callback in the config/spring.rb file:
Spring.after_fork doRails.configuration.client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new('SDK KEY')end
Similarly, with Unicorn, you'll need to specify an after_fork
hook in your unicorn.rb config file:
after_fork do |server,worker|Rails.configuration.client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new('SDK KEY')end
If you use the Puma web server, we recommend initializing the client in on_worker_boot
, as well as initializing in the Rails app:
on_worker_boot doRails.configuration.client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new('SDK KEY')end
If you use the Passenger web server, we recommend initializing the client in config.ru
, or from any code called while loading config.ru
:
if defined?(PhusionPassenger)PhusionPassenger.on_event(:starting_worker_process) do |forked|Rails.configuration.client = LaunchDarkly::LDClient.new('SDK KEY')endend
Lastly, shut down the client when your application terminates. To learn more, read Shutting down.
Supported features
This SDK supports the following features:
- Aliasing users
- Big Segments
- Configuration
- Evaluating flags
- Flag evaluation reasons
- Flushing events
- Getting all flags
- Identifying and changing users
- Logging configuration
- Offline mode
- Reading flags from a file
- Relay Proxy configuration
- Secure mode
- Sending custom events
- Shutting down
- Storing data
- Test data sources
- User configuration
- Web proxy configuration