Vanilla Rails Naming
37signals naming conventions from production Basecamp codebases.
The Naming Cascade
Every state change flows through this cascade:
| Layer |
Pattern |
Example |
| Concern |
Adjective (-able/-ible) |
Card::Closeable |
| State model |
Noun |
Closure |
| Controller |
Plural noun |
ClosuresController |
| Route |
Singular resource |
resource :closure |
| Method |
Plain verb (no !) |
card.close |
| Async enqueue |
*_later |
notify_watchers_later |
| Sync execute |
*_now or plain |
notify_watchers_now |
If the cascade doesn't flow, the naming is wrong.
Concern Names: -able/-ible ONLY
# Wrong
Card::Closing # verb
Card::PinManager # Manager/Handler/Service
Card::Closed # past participle
# Right
Card::Closeable
Card::Pinnable
Card::Assignable
If concern name doesn't end in -able/-ible, STOP and rename immediately. No -ing, -er, -ish, Logic, Management, Handler, Service.
State Methods: No Bangs
Plain verbs for state changes. ! only when non-bang counterpart exists.
# Wrong # Right
card.close! card.close
card.pin! card.pin_by(user)
card.archive! card.archive
Async: _later/_now
_later always at the end of compound verbs:
notify_watchers_later # enqueues job
notify_watchers_now # actual logic (called by job)
pin_and_notify_later # compound verb
File Locations
app/models/card/closeable.rb # Model-specific concern
app/models/concerns/eventable.rb # Shared concern
app/models/closure.rb # State record
app/controllers/cards/closures_controller.rb
Commit Messages
Present tense, lowercase, no type prefixes:
add pin feature to cards
extract closeable concern
fix closure validation
Not: feat:, fix:, [FEATURE], past tense, title case.
Red Flags
| Red flag |
Fix |
| Concern not -able/-ible |
Rename immediately |
State method with ! |
Remove bang |
post :close in routes |
resource :closure |
Async without _later |
Add suffix |
ClosureController (singular) |
ClosuresController (plural) |
Commit with feat: prefix |
Present tense, no prefix |
