Andrew Kane Resources

Primary Documentation

• Gem Patterns Article: https://ankane.org/gem-patterns
• Kane's own documentation of patterns used across his gems
• Covers configuration, Rails integration, error handling

Top Ruby Gems by Stars

Search & Data

Gem	Stars	Description	Source
Searchkick	6.6k+	Intelligent search for Rails	https://github.com/ankane/searchkick
Chartkick	6.4k+	Beautiful charts in Ruby	https://github.com/ankane/chartkick
Groupdate	3.8k+	Group by day, week, month	https://github.com/ankane/groupdate
Blazer	4.6k+	SQL dashboard for Rails	https://github.com/ankane/blazer

Database & Migrations

Gem	Stars	Description	Source
PgHero	8.2k+	PostgreSQL insights	https://github.com/ankane/pghero
Strong Migrations	4.1k+	Safe migration checks	https://github.com/ankane/strong_migrations
Dexter	1.8k+	Auto index advisor	https://github.com/ankane/dexter
PgSync	1.5k+	Sync Postgres data	https://github.com/ankane/pgsync

Security & Encryption

Gem	Stars	Description	Source
Lockbox	1.5k+	Application-level encryption	https://github.com/ankane/lockbox
Blind Index	1.0k+	Encrypted search	https://github.com/ankane/blind_index
Secure Headers	—	Contributed patterns	Referenced in gems

Analytics & ML

Gem	Stars	Description	Source
Ahoy	4.2k+	Analytics for Rails	https://github.com/ankane/ahoy
Neighbor	1.1k+	Vector search for Rails	https://github.com/ankane/neighbor
Rover	700+	DataFrames for Ruby	https://github.com/ankane/rover
Tomoto	200+	Topic modeling	https://github.com/ankane/tomoto-ruby

Utilities

Gem	Stars	Description	Source
Pretender	2.0k+	Login as another user	https://github.com/ankane/pretender
Authtrail	900+	Login activity tracking	https://github.com/ankane/authtrail
Notable	200+	Track notable requests	https://github.com/ankane/notable
Logstop	200+	Filter sensitive logs	https://github.com/ankane/logstop

Key Source Files to Study

Entry Point Patterns

• https://github.com/ankane/searchkick/blob/master/lib/searchkick.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/pghero/blob/master/lib/pghero.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/strong_migrations/blob/master/lib/strong_migrations.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/lockbox/blob/master/lib/lockbox.rb

Class Macro Implementations

• https://github.com/ankane/searchkick/blob/master/lib/searchkick/model.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/lockbox/blob/master/lib/lockbox/model.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/neighbor/blob/master/lib/neighbor/model.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/blind_index/blob/master/lib/blind_index/model.rb

Rails Integration (Railtie/Engine)

• https://github.com/ankane/pghero/blob/master/lib/pghero/engine.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/searchkick/blob/master/lib/searchkick/railtie.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/ahoy/blob/master/lib/ahoy/engine.rb
• https://github.com/ankane/blazer/blob/master/lib/blazer/engine.rb

Database Adapters

• https://github.com/ankane/strong_migrations/tree/master/lib/strong_migrations/adapters
• https://github.com/ankane/groupdate/tree/master/lib/groupdate/adapters
• https://github.com/ankane/neighbor/tree/master/lib/neighbor

Error Messages (Template Pattern)

• https://github.com/ankane/strong_migrations/blob/master/lib/strong_migrations/error_messages.rb

Gemspec Examples

• https://github.com/ankane/searchkick/blob/master/searchkick.gemspec
• https://github.com/ankane/neighbor/blob/master/neighbor.gemspec
• https://github.com/ankane/ahoy/blob/master/ahoy_matey.gemspec

Test Setups

• https://github.com/ankane/searchkick/tree/master/test
• https://github.com/ankane/lockbox/tree/master/test
• https://github.com/ankane/strong_migrations/tree/master/test

GitHub Profile

• Profile: https://github.com/ankane
• All Ruby Repos: https://github.com/ankane?tab=repositories&q=&type=&language=ruby&sort=stargazers
• RubyGems Profile: https://rubygems.org/profiles/ankane

Blog Posts & Articles

• ankane.org: https://ankane.org/
• Gem Patterns: https://ankane.org/gem-patterns (essential reading)
• Postgres Performance: https://ankane.org/introducing-pghero
• Search Tips: https://ankane.org/search-rails

Design Philosophy Summary

From studying 100+ gems, Kane's consistent principles:

1. Zero dependencies when possible - Each dep is a maintenance burden
2. ActiveSupport.on_load always - Never require Rails gems directly
3. Class macro DSLs - Single method configures everything
4. Explicit over magic - No method_missing, define methods directly
5. Minitest only - Simple, sufficient, no RSpec
6. Multi-version testing - Support broad Rails/Ruby versions
7. Helpful errors - Template-based messages with fix suggestions
8. Abstract adapters - Clean multi-database support
9. Engine isolation - isolate_namespace for mountable gems
10. Minimal documentation - Code is self-documenting, README is examples