dry-monads-patterns

Overview

Status: MANDATORY for all new service objects in kw-app
Replaces: Custom Result, Success, Failure classes (DEPRECATED)

dry-monads provides railway-oriented programming with Success and Failure monads, enabling clean error handling without exceptions.

Why We Use dry-monads

• ✅ Explicit success/failure paths - No hidden control flow
• ✅ Composable operations - Chain operations with do notation
• ✅ Type safety - Clear contracts for success/failure data
• ✅ Industry standard - Well-maintained, battle-tested gem
• ✅ Pattern matching - Ruby 3+ pattern matching support

Installation

Already in Gemfile:

gem 'dry-monads', '~> 1.6'

Basic Pattern

Include the Monad

class Users::Operation::Create
  include Dry::Monads[:result, :do]
  
  def call(params:)
    # Your implementation
  end
end

What this gives you:

• Success(value) - Wrap successful results
• Failure(error) - Wrap failures
• yield - Unwrap Success, short-circuit on Failure (do-notation)

Core Patterns

Pattern 1: Simple Success/Failure

class Users::Operation::Activate
  include Dry::Monads[:result]
  
  def call(user_id:)
    user = User.find_by(id: user_id)
    return Failure(:user_not_found) unless user
    
    user.update!(active: true)
    Success(user)
  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => e
    Failure([:validation_failed, e.message])
  end
end

# Usage
result = Users::Operation::Activate.new.call(user_id: 123)

case result
in Success(user)
  puts "Activated: #{user.email}"
in Failure(:user_not_found)
  puts "User not found"
in Failure([:validation_failed, message])
  puts "Error: #{message}"
end

Pattern 2: Do-Notation (Railway Pattern)

Best for chaining multiple operations:

class Users::Operation::Create
  include Dry::Monads[:result, :do]
  
  def call(params:)
    validated = yield validate(params)
    user      = yield persist(validated)
    _sent     = yield send_welcome_email(user)
    
    Success(user)
  end
  
  private
  
  def validate(params)
    contract = Users::Contract::Create.new.call(params)
    return Failure(contract.errors.to_h) unless contract.success?
    Success(contract.to_h)
  end
  
  def persist(attrs)
    user = User.create(attrs)
    user.persisted? ? Success(user) : Failure(user.errors)
  end
  
  def send_welcome_email(user)
    UserMailer.welcome(user).deliver_later
    Success(:email_queued)
  rescue => e
    Failure([:email_failed, e.message])
  end
end

How yield works:

• If result is Success(value), extracts value and continues
• If result is Failure(error), immediately returns Failure(error) (short-circuit)

Pattern 3: Multiple Failure Types

class Payments::Operation::Charge
  include Dry::Monads[:result, :do]
  
  def call(user_id:, amount:)
    user         = yield find_user(user_id)
    payment_info = yield fetch_payment_info(user)
    charge       = yield process_charge(payment_info, amount)
    
    Success(charge)
  end
  
  private
  
  def find_user(user_id)
    user = User.find_by(id: user_id)
    user ? Success(user) : Failure([:not_found, "User #{user_id} not found"])
  end
  
  def fetch_payment_info(user)
    return Failure([:no_payment_method, "User has no payment method"]) if user.payment_methods.empty?
    Success(user.payment_methods.first)
  end
  
  def process_charge(payment_info, amount)
    return Failure([:invalid_amount, "Amount must be positive"]) if amount <= 0
    
    charge = PaymentGateway.charge(payment_info, amount)
    Success(charge)
  rescue PaymentGateway::Error => e
    Failure([:gateway_error, e.message])
  end
end

# Usage with pattern matching
result = Payments::Operation::Charge.new.call(user_id: 1, amount: 100)

case result
in Success(charge)
  redirect_to charge, notice: "Payment processed"
in Failure([:not_found, message])
  render_error(message, status: :not_found)
in Failure([:no_payment_method, message])
  redirect_to add_payment_path, alert: message
in Failure([:invalid_amount, message])
  render_error(message, status: :unprocessable_entity)
in Failure([:gateway_error, message])
  render_error("Payment failed: #{message}", status: :bad_gateway)
end

Controller Integration

Standard Pattern

class UsersController < ApplicationController
  def create
    result = Users::Operation::Create.new.call(params: user_params)
    
    case result
    in Success(user)
      redirect_to user, notice: 'User created successfully'
    in Failure(errors)
      @errors = errors
      render :new, status: :unprocessable_entity
    end
  end
  
  private
  
  def user_params
    params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name)
  end
end

With Detailed Error Handling

class PaymentsController < ApplicationController
  def create
    result = Payments::Operation::Charge.new.call(
      user_id: current_user.id,
      amount: params[:amount]
    )
    
    case result
    in Success(charge)
      redirect_to charge, notice: "Payment successful"
    in Failure([:not_found, message])
      render json: { error: message }, status: :not_found
    in Failure([:no_payment_method, _])
      redirect_to add_payment_path, alert: "Please add a payment method"
    in Failure([:invalid_amount, message])
      render json: { error: message }, status: :unprocessable_entity
    in Failure([:gateway_error, message])
      Bugsnag.notify(message) # Log to error tracker
      render json: { error: "Payment failed" }, status: :bad_gateway
    end
  end
end

Testing Patterns

Basic Spec

RSpec.describe Users::Operation::Create do
  subject(:operation) { described_class.new }
  
  describe '#call' do
    context 'with valid params' do
      let(:params) { { email: 'test@example.com', name: 'Test' } }
      
      it 'returns Success with user' do
        result = operation.call(params: params)
        
        expect(result).to be_success
        expect(result.success).to be_a(User)
        expect(result.success.email).to eq('test@example.com')
      end
    end
    
    context 'with invalid params' do
      let(:params) { { email: '', name: '' } }
      
      it 'returns Failure with errors' do
        result = operation.call(params: params)
        
        expect(result).to be_failure
        expect(result.failure).to include(:email, :name)
      end
    end
  end
end

Pattern Matching in Specs

RSpec.describe Payments::Operation::Charge do
  subject(:operation) { described_class.new }
  
  describe '#call' do
    let(:user) { create(:user, :with_payment_method) }
    
    context 'successful charge' do
      it 'returns Success with charge' do
        result = operation.call(user_id: user.id, amount: 100)
        
        case result
        in Success(charge)
          expect(charge.amount).to eq(100)
        else
          fail "Expected Success, got #{result}"
        end
      end
    end
    
    context 'user not found' do
      it 'returns Failure with not_found code' do
        result = operation.call(user_id: 99999, amount: 100)
        
        case result
        in Failure([:not_found, message])
          expect(message).to include("User 99999 not found")
        else
          fail "Expected Failure[:not_found], got #{result}"
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

Migration from Custom Result Classes

❌ Old Pattern (DEPRECATED)

require 'result'  # Custom class - DON'T USE

class Users::SomeService
  def call
    return Failure(:invalid, errors: {}) unless valid?
    Success(:success)
  end
end

✅ New Pattern (CURRENT)

class Users::Operation::SomeOperation
  include Dry::Monads[:result, :do]
  
  def call
    return Failure([:invalid, {}]) unless valid?
    Success(:success)
  end
end

Common Mistakes

❌ Mistake 1: Not including :do

class MyOperation
  include Dry::Monads[:result]  # Missing :do
  
  def call
    user = yield find_user  # ERROR: yield without :do notation
    Success(user)
  end
end

Fix:

class MyOperation
  include Dry::Monads[:result, :do]  # Include :do
  
  def call
    user = yield find_user
    Success(user)
  end
end

❌ Mistake 2: Mixing exceptions with monads

def call
  user = yield find_user
  raise "Invalid user" unless user.valid?  # BAD: mixing paradigms
  Success(user)
end

Fix:

def call
  user = yield find_user
  return Failure(:invalid_user) unless user.valid?
  Success(user)
end

❌ Mistake 3: Not handling Failure in controller

# BAD: Assumes always success
def create
  result = MyOperation.new.call(params: params)
  redirect_to result.success  # Crashes on Failure!
end

Fix:

def create
  result = MyOperation.new.call(params: params)
  
  case result
  in Success(data)
    redirect_to data
  in Failure(error)
    render :new, alert: error
  end
end

Quick Reference

| Operation | Code | Returns | |-----------|------|---------| | Wrap success | Success(value) | Success<T> | | Wrap failure | Failure(error) | Failure<E> | | Check if success | result.success? | true/false | | Check if failure | result.failure? | true/false | | Unwrap success | result.success or result.value! | T or raises | | Unwrap failure | result.failure or result.error | E or raises | | Chain operations | yield result | Unwrap or short-circuit |

Decision Tree

Should I use dry-monads for this?
├─ Is it a service object? → YES, use dry-monads
├─ Complex business logic with multiple steps? → YES, use dry-monads with :do
├─ Simple model method? → NO, use standard Ruby
└─ Controller action? → NO, but call operations that use dry-monads

References

• Official docs: https://dry-rb.org/gems/dry-monads/
• kw-app policy: See CLAUDE.md section on dry-monads
• Migration guide: See KNOWN_ISSUES.md for legacy Result classes

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Status: MANDATORY
Version: 2.0
Last Updated: 2024-01