= Sinatra Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort: # myapp.rb require 'sinatra' get '/' do 'Hello world!' end Install the gem and run with: gem install sinatra ruby -rubygems myapp.rb View at: http://localhost:4567 It is recommended to also run gem install thin, which Sinatra will pick up if available. == Routes In Sinatra, a route is an HTTP method paired with a URL-matching pattern. Each route is associated with a block: get '/' do .. show something .. end post '/' do .. create something .. end put '/' do .. replace something .. end patch '/' do .. modify something .. end delete '/' do .. annihilate something .. end options '/' do .. appease something .. end Routes are matched in the order they are defined. The first route that matches the request is invoked. Route patterns may include named parameters, accessible via the params hash: get '/hello/:name' do # matches "GET /hello/foo" and "GET /hello/bar" # params[:name] is 'foo' or 'bar' "Hello #{params[:name]}!" end You can also access named parameters via block parameters: get '/hello/:name' do |n| "Hello #{n}!" end Route patterns may also include splat (or wildcard) parameters, accessible via the params[:splat] array: get '/say/*/to/*' do # matches /say/hello/to/world params[:splat] # => ["hello", "world"] end get '/download/*.*' do # matches /download/path/to/file.xml params[:splat] # => ["path/to/file", "xml"] end Route matching with Regular Expressions: get %r{/hello/([\w]+)} do "Hello, #{params[:captures].first}!" end Or with a block parameter: get %r{/hello/([\w]+)} do |c| "Hello, #{c}!" end === Conditions Routes may include a variety of matching conditions, such as the user agent: get '/foo', :agent => /Songbird (\d\.\d)[\d\/]*?/ do "You're using Songbird version #{params[:agent][0]}" end get '/foo' do # Matches non-songbird browsers end Other available conditions are +host_name+ and +provides+: get '/', :host_name => /^admin\./ do "Admin Area, Access denied!" end get '/', :provides => 'html' do haml :index end get '/', :provides => ['rss', 'atom', 'xml'] do builder :feed end You can easily define your own conditions: set(:probability) { |value| condition { rand <= value } } get '/win_a_car', :probability => 0.1 do "You won!" end get '/win_a_car' do "Sorry, you lost." end === Return Values The return value of a route block determines at least the response body passed on to the HTTP client, or at least the next middleware in the Rack stack. Most commonly, this is a string, as in the above examples. But other values are also accepted. You can return any object that would either be a valid Rack response, Rack body object or HTTP status code: * An Array with three elements: [status (Fixnum), headers (Hash), response body (responds to #each)] * An Array with two elements: [status (Fixnum), response body (responds to #each)] * An object that responds to #each and passes nothing but strings to the given block * A Fixnum representing the status code That way we can, for instance, easily implement a streaming example: class Stream def each 100.times { |i| yield "#{i}\n" } end end get('/') { Stream.new } === Custom Route Matchers As shown above, Sinatra ships with built-in support for using String patterns and regular expressions as route matches. However, it does not stop there. You can easily define your own matchers: class AllButPattern Match = Struct.new(:captures) def initialize(except) @except = except @captures = Match.new([]) end def match(str) @captures unless @except === str end end def all_but(pattern) AllButPattern.new(pattern) end get all_but("/index") do # ... end Note that the above example might be over-engineered, as it can also be expressed as: get // do pass if request.path_info == "/index" # ... end Or, using negative look ahead: get %r{^(?!/index$)} do # ... end == Static Files Static files are served from the ./public directory. You can specify a different location by setting the :public option: set :public, File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/static' Note that the public directory name is not included in the URL. A file ./public/css/style.css is made available as http://example.com/css/style.css. == Views / Templates Templates are assumed to be located directly under the ./views directory. To use a different views directory: set :views, File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/templates' One important thing to remember is that you always have to reference templates with symbols, even if they're in a subdirectory (in this case, use :'subdir/template'). You must use a symbol because otherwise rendering methods will render any strings passed to them directly. === Haml Templates The haml gem/library is required to render HAML templates: # You'll need to require haml in your app require 'haml' get '/' do haml :index end Renders ./views/index.haml. {Haml's options}[http://haml-lang.com/docs/yardoc/file.HAML_REFERENCE.html#options] can be set globally through Sinatra's configurations, see {Options and Configurations}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/configuration.html], and overridden on an individual basis. set :haml, :format => :html5 # default Haml format is :xhtml get '/' do haml :index, :format => :html4 # overridden end === Erb Templates # You'll need to require erb in your app require 'erb' get '/' do erb :index end Renders ./views/index.erb. === Builder Templates The builder gem/library is required to render builder templates: # You'll need to require builder in your app require 'builder' get '/' do builder :index end Renders ./views/index.builder. === Nokogiri Templates The nokogiri gem/library is required to render nokogiri templates: # You'll need to require nokogiri in your app require 'nokogiri' get '/' do nokogiri :index end Renders ./views/index.nokogiri. === Sass Templates The haml or sass gem/library is required to render Sass templates: # You'll need to require haml or sass in your app require 'sass' get '/stylesheet.css' do sass :stylesheet end Renders ./views/stylesheet.sass. {Sass's options}[http://sass-lang.com/docs/yardoc/file.SASS_REFERENCE.html#options] can be set globally through Sinatra's configurations, see {Options and Configurations}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/configuration.html], and overridden on an individual basis. set :sass, :style => :compact # default Sass style is :nested get '/stylesheet.css' do sass :stylesheet, :style => :expanded # overridden end === Scss Templates The haml or sass gem/library is required to render Scss templates: # You'll need to require haml or sass in your app require 'sass' get '/stylesheet.css' do scss :stylesheet end Renders ./views/stylesheet.scss. {Scss's options}[http://sass-lang.com/docs/yardoc/file.SASS_REFERENCE.html#options] can be set globally through Sinatra's configurations, see {Options and Configurations}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/configuration.html], and overridden on an individual basis. set :scss, :style => :compact # default Scss style is :nested get '/stylesheet.css' do scss :stylesheet, :style => :expanded # overridden end === Less Templates The less gem/library is required to render Less templates: # You'll need to require less in your app require 'less' get '/stylesheet.css' do less :stylesheet end Renders ./views/stylesheet.less. === Liquid Templates The liquid gem/library is required to render Liquid templates: # You'll need to require liquid in your app require 'liquid' get '/' do liquid :index end Renders ./views/index.liquid. Since you cannot call Ruby methods (except for +yield+) from a Liquid template, you almost always want to pass locals to it: liquid :index, :locals => { :key => 'value' } === Markdown Templates The rdiscount gem/library is required to render Markdown templates: # You'll need to require rdiscount in your app require "rdiscount" get '/' do markdown :index end Renders ./views/index.markdown (+md+ and +mkd+ are also valid file extensions). It is not possible to call methods from markdown, nor to pass locals to it. You therefore will usually use it in combination with another rendering engine: erb :overview, :locals => { :text => markdown(:introduction) } Note that you may also call the +markdown+ method from within other templates: %h1 Hello From Haml! %p= markdown(:greetings) Since you cannot call Ruby from Markdown, you cannot use layouts written in Markdown. However, it is possible to use another rendering engine for the template than for the layout by passing the :layout_engine option: get '/' do markdown :index, :layout_engine => :erb end This will render ./views/index.md with ./views/layout.erb as layout. Remember that you can set such rendering options globally: set :markdown, :layout_engine => :haml, :layout => :post get '/' do markdown :index end This will render ./views/index.md (and any other Markdown template) with ./views/post.haml as layout. It is also possible to parse Markdown with BlueCloth rather than RDiscount: require 'bluecloth' Tilt.register 'markdown', BlueClothTemplate Tilt.register 'mkd', BlueClothTemplate Tilt.register 'md', BlueClothTemplate get '/' do markdown :index end Renders ./views/index.md with BlueCloth. === Textile Templates The RedCloth gem/library is required to render Textile templates: # You'll need to require redcloth in your app require "redcloth" get '/' do textile :index end Renders ./views/index.textile. It is not possible to call methods from textile, nor to pass locals to it. You therefore will usually use it in combination with another rendering engine: erb :overview, :locals => { :text => textile(:introduction) } Note that you may also call the +textile+ method from within other templates: %h1 Hello From Haml! %p= textile(:greetings) Since you cannot call Ruby from Textile, you cannot use layouts written in Textile. However, it is possible to use another rendering engine for the template than for the layout by passing the :layout_engine option: get '/' do textile :index, :layout_engine => :erb end This will render ./views/index.textile with ./views/layout.erb as layout. Remember that you can set such rendering options globally: set :textile, :layout_engine => :haml, :layout => :post get '/' do textile :index end This will render ./views/index.textile (and any other Textile template) with ./views/post.haml as layout. === RDoc Templates The rdoc gem/library is required to render RDoc templates: # You'll need to require rdoc/markup/to_html in your app require "rdoc/markup/to_html" get '/' do rdoc :index end Renders ./views/index.rdoc. It is not possible to call methods from rdoc, nor to pass locals to it. You therefore will usually use it in combination with another rendering engine: erb :overview, :locals => { :text => rdoc(:introduction) } Note that you may also call the +rdoc+ method from within other templates: %h1 Hello From Haml! %p= rdoc(:greetings) Since you cannot call Ruby from RDoc, you cannot use layouts written in RDoc. However, it is possible to use another rendering engine for the template than for the layout by passing the :layout_engine option: get '/' do rdoc :index, :layout_engine => :erb end This will render ./views/index.rdoc with ./views/layout.erb as layout. Remember that you can set such rendering options globally: set :rdoc, :layout_engine => :haml, :layout => :post get '/' do rdoc :index end This will render ./views/index.rdoc (and any other RDoc template) with ./views/post.haml as layout. === Radius Templates The radius gem/library is required to render Radius templates: # You'll need to require radius in your app require 'radius' get '/' do radius :index end Renders ./views/index.radius. Since you cannot call Ruby methods (except for +yield+) from a Radius template, you almost always want to pass locals to it: radius :index, :locals => { :key => 'value' } === Markaby Templates The markaby gem/library is required to render Markaby templates: # You'll need to require markaby in your app require 'markaby' get '/' do markaby :index end Renders ./views/index.mab. You may also use inline Markaby: get '/' do markaby { h1 "Welcome!" } end === Slim Templates The slim gem/library is required to render Slim templates: # You'll need to require slim in your app require 'slim' get '/' do slim :index end Renders ./views/index.slim. === CoffeeScript Templates The coffee-script gem/library and at least one of the following options to execute JavaScript: * +node+ (from Node.js) in your path * you must be running on OSX * +therubyracer+ gem/library See http://github.com/josh/ruby-coffee-script for an updated list of options. Now you can render CoffeeScript templates: # You'll need to require coffee-script in your app require 'coffee-script' get '/application.js' do coffee :application end Renders ./views/application.coffee. === Embedded Templates get '/' do haml '%div.title Hello World' end Renders the embedded template string. === Accessing Variables in Templates Templates are evaluated within the same context as route handlers. Instance variables set in route handlers are directly accessible by templates: get '/:id' do @foo = Foo.find(params[:id]) haml '%h1= @foo.name' end Or, specify an explicit Hash of local variables: get '/:id' do foo = Foo.find(params[:id]) haml '%h1= foo.name', :locals => { :foo => foo } end This is typically used when rendering templates as partials from within other templates. === Inline Templates Templates may be defined at the end of the source file: require 'sinatra' get '/' do haml :index end __END__ @@ layout %html = yield @@ index %div.title Hello world!!!!! NOTE: Inline templates defined in the source file that requires sinatra are automatically loaded. Call enable :inline_templates explicitly if you have inline templates in other source files. === Named Templates Templates may also be defined using the top-level template method: template :layout do "%html\n =yield\n" end template :index do '%div.title Hello World!' end get '/' do haml :index end If a template named "layout" exists, it will be used each time a template is rendered. You can individually disable layouts by passing :layout => false or disable them by default via set :haml, :layout => false: get '/' do haml :index, :layout => !request.xhr? end === Associating File Extensions To associate a file extension with a template engine, use Tilt.register. For instance, if you like to use the file extension +tt+ for Textile templates, you can do the following: Tilt.register :tt, Tilt[:textile] === Adding Your Own Template Engine First, register your engine with Tilt, then create a rendering method: Tilt.register :myat, MyAwesomeTemplateEngine helpers do def myat(*args) render(:myat, *args) end end get '/' do myat :index end Renders ./views/index.myat. See https://github.com/rtomayko/tilt to learn more about Tilt. == Filters Before filters are evaluated before each request within the same context as the routes will be and can modify the request and response. Instance variables set in filters are accessible by routes and templates: before do @note = 'Hi!' request.path_info = '/foo/bar/baz' end get '/foo/*' do @note #=> 'Hi!' params[:splat] #=> 'bar/baz' end After filters are evaluated after each request within the same context and can also modify the request and response. Instance variables set in before filters and routes are accessible by after filters: after do puts response.status end Note: Unless you use the +body+ method rather than just returning a String from the routes, the body will not yet be available in the after filter, since it is generated later on. Filters optionally take a pattern, causing them to be evaluated only if the request path matches that pattern: before '/protected/*' do authenticate! end after '/create/:slug' do |slug| session[:last_slug] = slug end Like routes, filters also take conditions: before :agent => /Songbird/ do # ... end after '/blog/*', :host_name => 'example.com' do # ... end == Helpers Use the top-level helpers method to define helper methods for use in route handlers and templates: helpers do def bar(name) "#{name}bar" end end get '/:name' do bar(params[:name]) end === Using Sessions A session is used to keep state during requests. If activated, you have one session hash per user session: enable :sessions get '/' do "value = " << session[:value].inspect end get '/:value' do session[:value] = params[:value] end Note that enable :sessions actually stores all data in a cookie. This might not always be what you want (storing lots of data will increase your traffic, for instance). You can use any Rack session middleware, in order to do so, do *not* call enable :sessions, but instead pull in your middleware of choice how you would any other middleware: use Rack::Session::Pool, :expire_after => 2592000 get '/' do "value = " << session[:value].inspect end get '/:value' do session[:value] = params[:value] end To improve security, the session data in the cookie is signed with a session secret. A random secret is generate for you by Sinatra. However, since this secret will change with every start of your application, you might want to set the secret yourself, so all your application instances share it: set :session_secret, 'super secret' If you want to configure it further, you may also store a hash with options in the +sessions+ setting: set :sessions, :domain => 'foo.com' === Halting To immediately stop a request within a filter or route use: halt You can also specify the status when halting: halt 410 Or the body: halt 'this will be the body' Or both: halt 401, 'go away!' With headers: halt 402, {'Content-Type' => 'text/plain'}, 'revenge' It is of course possible to combine a template with +halt+: halt erb(:error) === Passing A route can punt processing to the next matching route using pass: get '/guess/:who' do pass unless params[:who] == 'Frank' 'You got me!' end get '/guess/*' do 'You missed!' end The route block is immediately exited and control continues with the next matching route. If no matching route is found, a 404 is returned. === Triggering Another Route Sometimes +pass+ is not what you want, instead you would like to get the result of calling another route. Simply use +call+ to achieve this: get '/foo' do status, headers, body = call request.env.merge("PATH_INFO" => '/bar') [status, body.upcase] end get '/bar' do "bar" end Note that in the example above, you would ease testing and increase performance by simply moving "bar" into a helper used by both /foo and /bar. If you want the request to be sent to the same application instance rather than a duplicate, use call! instead of call. Check out the Rack specification if you want to learn more about call. === Setting Body, Status Code and Headers It is possible and recommended to set the status code and response body with the return value of the route block. However, in some scenarios you might want to set the body at an arbitrary point in the execution flow. You can do so with the +body+ helper method. If you do so, you can use that method from there on to access the body: get '/foo' do body "bar" end after do puts body end It is also possible to pass a block to +body+, which will be executed by the Rack handler (this can be used to implement streaming, see "Return Values"). Similar to the body, you can also set the status code and headers: get '/foo' do status 418 headers \ "Allow" => "BREW, POST, GET, PROPFIND, WHEN" "Refresh" => "Refresh: 20; http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2324.txt" body "I'm a tea pot!" end Like +body+, +headers+ and +status+ with no arguments can be used to access their current values. === Logging In the request scope, the +logger+ helper exposes a +Logger+ instance: get '/' do logger.info "loading data" # ... end This logger will automatically take your Rack handler's logging settings into account. If logging is disabled, this method will return a dummy object, so you do not have to worry in your routes and filters about it. Note that logging is only enabled for Sinatra::Application by default, so if you inherit from Sinatra::Base, you probably want to enable it yourself: class MyApp < Sinatra::Base configure(:production, :development) do enable :logging end end === Mime Types When using send_file or static files you may have mime types Sinatra doesn't understand. Use +mime_type+ to register them by file extension: mime_type :foo, 'text/foo' You can also use it with the +content_type+ helper: get '/' do content_type :foo "foo foo foo" end === Generating URLs For generating URLs you should use the +url+ helper method, for instance, in Haml: %a{:href => url('/foo')} foo It takes reverse proxies and Rack routers into account, if present. This method is also aliased to +to+ (see below for an example). === Browser Redirect You can trigger a browser redirect with the +redirect+ helper method: get '/foo' do redirect to('/bar') end Any additional parameters are handled like arguments passed to +halt+: redirect to('/bar'), 303 redirect 'http://google.com', 'wrong place, buddy' You can also easily redirect back to the page the user came from with redirect back: get '/foo' do "do something" end get '/bar' do do_something redirect back end To pass arguments with a redirect, either add them to the query: redirect to('/bar?sum=42') Or use a session: enable :session get '/foo' do session[:secret] = 'foo' redirect to('/bar') end get '/bar' do session[:secret] end === Cache Control Setting your headers correctly is the foundation for proper HTTP caching. You can easily set the Cache-Control header with like this: get '/' do cache_control :public "cache it!" end Pro tip: Set up caching in a before filter: before do cache_control :public, :must_revalidate, :max_age => 60 end If you are using the +expires+ helper to set the corresponding header, Cache-Control will be set automatically for you: before do expires 500, :public, :must_revalidate end To properly use caches, you should consider using +etag+ and +last_modified+. It is recommended to call those helpers *before* doing heavy lifting, as they will immediately flush a response if the client already has the current version in its cache: get '/article/:id' do @article = Article.find params[:id] last_modified @article.updated_at etag @article.sha1 erb :article end It is also possible to use a {weak ETag}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_ETag#Strong_and_weak_validation]: etag @article.sha1, :weak These helpers will not do any caching for you, but rather feed the necessary information to your cache. If you are looking for a quick caching solutions, try {rack-cache}[http://rtomayko.github.com/rack-cache/]: require "rack/cache" require "sinatra" use Rack::Cache get '/' do cache_control :public, :max_age => 36000 sleep 5 "hello" end === Sending Files For sending files, you can use the send_file helper method: get '/' do send_file 'foo.png' end It also takes a couple of options: send_file 'foo.png', :type => :jpg The options are: [filename] file name, in response, defaults to the real file name. [last_modified] value for Last-Modified header, defaults to the file's mtime. [type] content type to use, guessed from the file extension if missing. [disposition] used for Content-Disposition, possible values: +nil+ (default), :attachment and :inline [length] Content-Length header, defaults to file size. If supported by the Rack handler, other means than streaming from the Ruby process will be used. If you use this helper method, Sinatra will automatically handle range requests. === Accessing the Request Object The incoming request object can be accessed from request level (filter, routes, error handlers) through the request method: # app running on http://example.com/example get '/foo' do t = %w[text/css text/html application/javascript] request.accept # ['text/html', '*/*'] request.accept? 'text/xml' # true request.preferred_type(t) # 'text/html' request.body # request body sent by the client (see below) request.scheme # "http" request.script_name # "/example" request.path_info # "/foo" request.port # 80 request.request_method # "GET" request.query_string # "" request.content_length # length of request.body request.media_type # media type of request.body request.host # "example.com" request.get? # true (similar methods for other verbs) request.form_data? # false request["SOME_HEADER"] # value of SOME_HEADER header request.referrer # the referrer of the client or '/' request.user_agent # user agent (used by :agent condition) request.cookies # hash of browser cookies request.xhr? # is this an ajax request? request.url # "http://example.com/example/foo" request.path # "/example/foo" request.ip # client IP address request.secure? # false (would be true over ssl) request.forwarded? # true (if running behind a reverse proxy) request.env # raw env hash handed in by Rack end Some options, like script_name or path_info, can also be written: before { request.path_info = "/" } get "/" do "all requests end up here" end The request.body is an IO or StringIO object: post "/api" do request.body.rewind # in case someone already read it data = JSON.parse request.body.read "Hello #{data['name']}!" end === Attachments You can use the +attachment+ helper to tell the browser the response should be stored on disk rather than displayed in the browser: get '/' do attachment "store it!" end You can also pass it a file name: get '/' do attachment "info.txt" "store it!" end === Looking Up Template Files The find_template helper is used to find template files for rendering: find_template settings.views, 'foo', Tilt[:haml] do |file| puts "could be #{file}" end This is not really useful. But it is useful that you can actually override this method to hook in your own lookup mechanism. For instance, if you want to be able to use more than one view directory: set :views, ['views', 'templates'] helpers do def find_template(views, name, engine, &block) Array(views).each { |v| super(v, name, engine, &block) } end end Another example would be using different directories for different engines: set :views, :sass => 'views/sass', :haml => 'templates', :default => 'views' helpers do def find_template(views, name, engine, &block) _, folder = views.detect { |k,v| engine == Tilt[k] } folder ||= views[:default] super(folder, name, engine, &block) end end You can also easily wrap this up in an extension and share with others! Note that find_template does not check if the file really exists but rather calls the given block for all possible paths. This is not a performance issue, since +render+ will use +break+ as soon as a file is found. Also, template locations (and content) will be cached if you are not running in development mode. You should keep that in mind if you write a really crazy method. == Configuration Run once, at startup, in any environment: configure do # setting one option set :option, 'value' # setting multiple options set :a => 1, :b => 2 # same as `set :option, true` enable :option # same as `set :option, false` disable :option # you can also have dynamic settings with blocks set(:css_dir) { File.join(views, 'css') } end Run only when the environment (RACK_ENV environment variable) is set to :production: configure :production do ... end Run when the environment is set to either :production or :test: configure :production, :test do ... end You can access those options via settings: configure do set :foo, 'bar' end get '/' do settings.foo? # => true settings.foo # => 'bar' ... end === Available Settings [absolute_redirects] If disabled, Sinatra will allow relative redirects, however, Sinatra will no longer conform with RFC 2616 (HTTP 1.1), which only allows absolute redirects. Enable if your app is running behind a reverse proxy that has not been set up properly. Note that the +url+ helper will still produce absolute URLs, unless you pass in +false+ as second parameter. Disabled per default. [add_charsets] mime types the content_type helper will automatically add the charset info to. You should add to it rather than overriding this option: settings.add_charsets << "application/foobar" [app_file] main application file, used to detect project root, views and public folder and inline templates. [bind] IP address to bind to (default: 0.0.0.0). Only used for built-in server. [default_encoding] encoding to assume if unknown (defaults to "utf-8"). [dump_errors] display errors in the log. [environment] current environment, defaults to ENV['RACK_ENV'], or "development" if not available. [logging] use the logger. [lock] Places a lock around every request, only running processing on request per Ruby process concurrently. Enabled if your app is not thread-safe. Disabled per default. [method_override] use _method magic to allow put/delete forms in browsers that don't support it. [port] Port to listen on. Only used for built-in server. [prefixed_redirects] Whether or not to insert request.script_name into redirects if no absolute path is given. That way redirect '/foo' would behave like redirect to('/foo'). Disabled per default. [public] folder public files are served from [reload_templates] whether or not to reload templates between requests. Enabled in development mode. [root] project root folder. [raise_errors] raise exceptions (will stop application). [run] if enabled, Sinatra will handle starting the web server, do not enable if using rackup or other means. [running] is the built-in server running now? do not change this setting! [server] server or list of servers to use for built-in server. defaults to ['thin', 'mongrel', 'webrick'], order indicates priority. [sessions] enable cookie based sessions. [show_exceptions] show a stack trace in the browser. [static] Whether Sinatra should handle serving static files. Disable when using a Server able to do this on its own. Disabling will boost performance. Enabled per default. [views] views folder. == Error Handling Error handlers run within the same context as routes and before filters, which means you get all the goodies it has to offer, like haml, erb, halt, etc. === Not Found When a Sinatra::NotFound exception is raised, or the response's status code is 404, the not_found handler is invoked: not_found do 'This is nowhere to be found.' end === Error The +error+ handler is invoked any time an exception is raised from a route block or a filter. The exception object can be obtained from the sinatra.error Rack variable: error do 'Sorry there was a nasty error - ' + env['sinatra.error'].name end Custom errors: error MyCustomError do 'So what happened was...' + request.env['sinatra.error'].message end Then, if this happens: get '/' do raise MyCustomError, 'something bad' end You get this: So what happened was... something bad Alternatively, you can install an error handler for a status code: error 403 do 'Access forbidden' end get '/secret' do 403 end Or a range: error 400..510 do 'Boom' end Sinatra installs special not_found and error handlers when running under the development environment. == Rack Middleware Sinatra rides on Rack[http://rack.rubyforge.org/], a minimal standard interface for Ruby web frameworks. One of Rack's most interesting capabilities for application developers is support for "middleware" -- components that sit between the server and your application monitoring and/or manipulating the HTTP request/response to provide various types of common functionality. Sinatra makes building Rack middleware pipelines a cinch via a top-level +use+ method: require 'sinatra' require 'my_custom_middleware' use Rack::Lint use MyCustomMiddleware get '/hello' do 'Hello World' end The semantics of +use+ are identical to those defined for the Rack::Builder[http://rack.rubyforge.org/doc/classes/Rack/Builder.html] DSL (most frequently used from rackup files). For example, the +use+ method accepts multiple/variable args as well as blocks: use Rack::Auth::Basic do |username, password| username == 'admin' && password == 'secret' end Rack is distributed with a variety of standard middleware for logging, debugging, URL routing, authentication, and session handling. Sinatra uses many of these components automatically based on configuration so you typically don't have to +use+ them explicitly. == Testing Sinatra tests can be written using any Rack-based testing library or framework. {Rack::Test}[http://gitrdoc.com/brynary/rack-test] is recommended: require 'my_sinatra_app' require 'test/unit' require 'rack/test' class MyAppTest < Test::Unit::TestCase include Rack::Test::Methods def app Sinatra::Application end def test_my_default get '/' assert_equal 'Hello World!', last_response.body end def test_with_params get '/meet', :name => 'Frank' assert_equal 'Hello Frank!', last_response.body end def test_with_rack_env get '/', {}, 'HTTP_USER_AGENT' => 'Songbird' assert_equal "You're using Songbird!", last_response.body end end NOTE: The built-in Sinatra::Test module and Sinatra::TestHarness class are deprecated as of the 0.9.2 release. == Sinatra::Base - Middleware, Libraries, and Modular Apps Defining your app at the top-level works well for micro-apps but has considerable drawbacks when building reusable components such as Rack middleware, Rails metal, simple libraries with a server component, or even Sinatra extensions. The top-level DSL pollutes the Object namespace and assumes a micro-app style configuration (e.g., a single application file, ./public and ./views directories, logging, exception detail page, etc.). That's where Sinatra::Base comes into play: require 'sinatra/base' class MyApp < Sinatra::Base set :sessions, true set :foo, 'bar' get '/' do 'Hello world!' end end The methods available to Sinatra::Base subclasses are exactly as those available via the top-level DSL. Most top-level apps can be converted to Sinatra::Base components with two modifications: * Your file should require sinatra/base instead of +sinatra+; otherwise, all of Sinatra's DSL methods are imported into the main namespace. * Put your app's routes, error handlers, filters, and options in a subclass of Sinatra::Base. Sinatra::Base is a blank slate. Most options are disabled by default, including the built-in server. See {Options and Configuration}[http://sinatra.github.com/configuration.html] for details on available options and their behavior. === Modular vs. Classic Style Contrary to common belief, there is nothing wrong with classic style. If it suits your application, you do not have to switch to a modular application. There are only two downsides compared with modular style: * You may only have one Sinatra application per Ruby process. If you plan to use more, switch to modular style. * Classic style pollutes Object with delegator methods. If you plan to ship your application in a library/gem, switch to modular style. There is no reason you cannot mix modular and classic style. If switching from one style to the other, you should be aware of slightly different default settings: Setting Classic Modular app_file file loading sinatra nil run $0 == app_file false logging true false method_override true false inline_templates true false === Serving a Modular Application There are two common options for starting a modular app, actively starting with run!: # my_app.rb require 'sinatra/base' class MyApp < Sinatra::Base # ... app code here ... # start the server if ruby file executed directly run! if app_file == $0 end Start with: ruby my_app.rb Or with a config.ru, which allows using any Rack handler: # config.ru require 'my_app' run MyApp Run: rackup -p 4567 === Using a Classic Style Application with a config.ru Write your app file: # app.rb require 'sinatra' get '/' do 'Hello world!' end And a corresponding config.ru: require 'app' run Sinatra::Application === When to use a config.ru? Good signs you probably want to use a config.ru: * You want to deploy with a different Rack handler (Passenger, Unicorn, Heroku, ...). * You want to use more than one subclass of Sinatra::Base. * You want to use Sinatra only for middleware, but not as endpoint. There is no need to switch to a config.ru only because you switched to modular style, and you don't have to use modular style for running with a config.ru. === Using Sinatra as Middleware Not only is Sinatra able to use other Rack middleware, any Sinatra application can in turn be added in front of any Rack endpoint as middleware itself. This endpoint could be another Sinatra application, or any other Rack-based application (Rails/Ramaze/Camping/...): require 'sinatra/base' class LoginScreen < Sinatra::Base enable :sessions get('/login') { haml :login } post('/login') do if params[:name] = 'admin' and params[:password] = 'admin' session['user_name'] = params[:name] else redirect '/login' end end end class MyApp < Sinatra::Base # middleware will run before filters use LoginScreen before do unless session['user_name'] halt "Access denied, please login." end end get('/') { "Hello #{session['user_name']}." } end === Dynamic Application Creation Sometimes you want to create new applications at runtime without having to assign them to a constant, you can do this with `Sinatra.new`: require 'sinatra/base' my_app = Sinatra.new { get('/') { "hi" } } my_app.run! It takes the application to inherit from as optional argument: require 'sinatra/base' controller = Sinatra.new do enable :logging helpers MyHelpers end map('/a') do run Sinatra.new(controller) { get('/') { 'a' } } end map('/b') do run Sinatra.new(controller) { get('/') { 'b' } } end This is especially useful for testing Sinatra extensions or using Sinatra in your own library. This also makes using Sinatra as middleware extremely easy: require 'sinatra/base' use Sinatra do get('/') { ... } end run RailsProject::Application == Scopes and Binding The scope you are currently in determines what methods and variables are available. === Application/Class Scope Every Sinatra application corresponds to a subclass of Sinatra::Base. If you are using the top-level DSL (require 'sinatra'), then this class is Sinatra::Application, otherwise it is the subclass you created explicitly. At class level you have methods like +get+ or +before+, but you cannot access the +request+ object or the +session+, as there only is a single application class for all requests. Options created via +set+ are methods at class level: class MyApp < Sinatra::Base # Hey, I'm in the application scope! set :foo, 42 foo # => 42 get '/foo' do # Hey, I'm no longer in the application scope! end end You have the application scope binding inside: * Your application class body * Methods defined by extensions * The block passed to +helpers+ * Procs/blocks used as value for +set+ * The block passed to Sinatra.new You can reach the scope object (the class) like this: * Via the object passed to configure blocks (configure { |c| ... }) * +settings+ from within request scope === Request/Instance Scope For every incoming request, a new instance of your application class is created and all handler blocks run in that scope. From within this scope you can access the +request+ and +session+ object or call rendering methods like +erb+ or +haml+. You can access the application scope from within the request scope via the +settings+ helper: class MyApp < Sinatra::Base # Hey, I'm in the application scope! get '/define_route/:name' do # Request scope for '/define_route/:name' @value = 42 settings.get("/#{params[:name]}") do # Request scope for "/#{params[:name]}" @value # => nil (not the same request) end "Route defined!" end end You have the request scope binding inside: * get/head/post/put/delete/options blocks * before/after filters * helper methods * templates/views === Delegation Scope The delegation scope just forwards methods to the class scope. However, it does not behave 100% like the class scope, as you do not have the class binding. Only methods explicitly marked for delegation are available and you do not share variables/state with the class scope (read: you have a different +self+). You can explicitly add method delegations by calling Sinatra::Delegator.delegate :method_name. You have the delegate scope binding inside: * The top level binding, if you did require "sinatra" * An object extended with the Sinatra::Delegator mixin Have a look at the code for yourself: here's the {Sinatra::Delegator mixin}[http://github.com/sinatra/sinatra/blob/ceac46f0bc129a6e994a06100aa854f606fe5992/lib/sinatra/base.rb#L1128] being {included into the main namespace}[http://github.com/sinatra/sinatra/blob/ceac46f0bc129a6e994a06100aa854f606fe5992/lib/sinatra/main.rb#L28]. == Command Line Sinatra applications can be run directly: ruby myapp.rb [-h] [-x] [-e ENVIRONMENT] [-p PORT] [-o HOST] [-s HANDLER] Options are: -h # help -p # set the port (default is 4567) -o # set the host (default is 0.0.0.0) -e # set the environment (default is development) -s # specify rack server/handler (default is thin) -x # turn on the mutex lock (default is off) == Requirement The following Ruby versions are officially supported: [ Ruby 1.8.7 ] 1.8.7 is fully supported, however, if nothing is keeping you from it, we recommend upgrading to 1.9.2 or switching to JRuby or Rubinius. [ Ruby 1.9.2 ] 1.9.2 is supported and recommended. Note that Radius and Markaby are currently not 1.9 compatible. Do not use 1.9.2p0, it is known to cause segmentation faults when using Sinatra. [ Rubinius ] Rubinius is officially supported (Rubinius >= 1.2.3), everything, including all template languages, works. [ JRuby ] JRuby is officially supported (JRuby >= 1.6.0). No issues with third party template libraries are known, however, if you choose to use JRuby, please look into JRuby rack handlers, as the Thin web server is not fully supported on JRuby. JRuby's support for C extensions is still experimental, which only affects RDiscount at the moment. Ruby 1.8.6 is no longer supported. We also keep an eye on upcoming Ruby versions. The following Ruby implementations are not officially supported but still are known to run Sinatra: * Older versions of JRuby and Rubinius * MacRuby, Maglev, IronRuby * Ruby 1.9.0 and 1.9.1 * Ruby 1.8.6 with {backports}[https://github.com/marcandre/backports/#readme] Not being officially supported means if things only break there and not on a supported platform, we assume it's not our issue but theirs. We also run our CI against ruby-head (the upcoming 1.9.3), but we can't guarantee anything, since it is constantly moving. Expect 1.9.3p0 to be supported. Sinatra should work on any operating system supported by the chosen Ruby implementation. == The Bleeding Edge If you would like to use Sinatra's latest bleeding code, feel free to run your application against the master branch, it should be rather stable. We also push out prerelease gems from time to time, so you can do a gem install sinatra --pre To get some of the latest features. === With Bundler If you want to run your application with the latest Sinatra, using {Bundler}[http://gembundler.com/] is the recommended way. First, install bundler, if you haven't: gem install bundler Then, in your project directory, create a +Gemfile+: source :rubygems gem 'sinatra', :git => "git://github.com/sinatra/sinatra.git" # other dependencies gem 'haml' # for instance, if you use haml gem 'activerecord', '~> 3.0' # maybe you also need ActiveRecord 3.x Note that you will have to list all your applications dependencies in there. Sinatra's direct dependencies (Rack and Tilt) will, however, be automatically fetched and added by Bundler. Now you can run your app like this: bundle exec ruby myapp.rb === Roll Your Own Create a local clone and run your app with the sinatra/lib directory on the $LOAD_PATH: cd myapp git clone git://github.com/sinatra/sinatra.git ruby -Isinatra/lib myapp.rb To update the Sinatra sources in the future: cd myapp/sinatra git pull === Install Globally You can build the gem on your own: git clone git://github.com/sinatra/sinatra.git cd sinatra rake sinatra.gemspec rake install If you install gems as root, the last step should be sudo rake install == Versioning Sinatra follows {Semantic Versioning}[http://semver.org/], both SemVer and SemVerTag. == Further Reading * {Project Website}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/] - Additional documentation, news, and links to other resources. * {Contributing}[http://www.sinatrarb.com/contributing] - Find a bug? Need help? Have a patch? * {Issue tracker}[http://github.com/sinatra/sinatra/issues] * {Twitter}[http://twitter.com/sinatra] * {Mailing List}[http://groups.google.com/group/sinatrarb/topics] * {IRC: #sinatra}[irc://chat.freenode.net/#sinatra] on http://freenode.net * API documentation for the {latest release}[http://rubydoc.info/gems/sinatra] or the {current HEAD}[http://rubydoc.info/github/sinatra/sinatra] on http://rubydoc.info/