userlist

Userlist for Ruby

This gem helps with integrating Userlist into Ruby applications.

To integrate Userlist into a Ruby on Rails application, please use userlist-rails

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'userlist'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install userlist

Configuration

The only required configuration is the Push API key. You can get your Push API key via the Push API settings in your Userlist account.

Configuration values can either be set via the Userlist.configure method or as environment variables. The environment variables take precedence over configuration values from the initializer.

Configuration via environment variables:

USERLIST_PUSH_KEY=VvB7pjDrv0V2hoaOCeZ5rIiUEPbEhSUN
USERLIST_PUSH_ID=6vPkJl44cm82y4aLBIzaOhuEHJd0Bm7b

Configuration via an initializer:

Userlist.configure do |config|
  config.push_key = 'VvB7pjDrv0V2hoaOCeZ5rIiUEPbEhSUN'
  config.push_id = '6vPkJl44cm82y4aLBIzaOhuEHJd0Bm7b'
end

The possible configuration values are listed in the table below.

Name	Default value	Description
push_key	nil	The push key for your account. See Push API settings.
push_id	nil	The push id for your account. See Push API settings.
push_endpoint	https://push.userlist.com/	The HTTP endpoint that the library will send data to.
push_strategy	:threaded	The strategy to use to send data to the HTTP endpoint. Possible values are :threaded, :sidekiq, :active_job, :direct, and :null.
push_strategy_options	{}	Any additional options for the push strategy.
log_level	:warn	The log level for Userlist related log messages. Possible values are :debug, :error, :fatal, :info, and :warn
token_lifetime	3600	The lifetime of generated in-app messages tokens in seconds

Disabling in development and test environments

As sending test and development data into data into Userlist isn't very desirable, you can disable transmissions by setting the push strategy to :null.

Userlist.configure do |config|
  config.push_strategy = :null
end

Usage

This library is a wrapper for Userlist's Push API. For details about the accepted payloads, please check its documentation.

Tracking Users

To manually send user data into Userlist, use the Userlist::Push.users.push method.

Userlist::Push.users.push(
  identifier: 'user-1',
  email: '[e-mail]',
  properties: {
    first_name: 'Foo',
    last_name: 'Example'
  }
)

It's also possible to delete a user from Userlist, using the Userlist::Push.users.delete method.

Userlist::Push.users.delete('user-1')

Tracking Companies

To manually send company data into Userlist, use the Userlist::Push.companies.push method.

Userlist::Push.companies.push(
  identifier: 'company-1',
  email: 'Example, Inc.',
  properties: {
    industry: 'Software Testing'
  }
)

It's also possible to delete a user from Userlist, using the Userlist::Push.companies.delete method.

Userlist::Push.companies.delete('user-1')

Tracking Relationships

Tracking relationships can either be done using nested properties in user or company payloads or via the Userlist::Push.relationships.push method.

Userlist::Push.relationships.push(
  user: 'user-1',
  company: 'company-1',
  properties: {
    role: 'owner'
  }
)

This is equivalent to specifying the relationship on the user model.

Userlist::Push.users.push(
  identifier: 'user-1',
  relationships: [
    {
      company: 'company-1',
      properties: {
        role: 'owner'
      }
    }
  ]
)

It's also equivalent specifying the relationship on the company model.

Userlist::Push.companies.push(
  identifier: 'company-1',
  relationships: [
    {
      user: 'user-1',
      properties: {
        role: 'owner'
      }
    }
  ]
)

Tracking Events

To track custom events use the Userlist::Push.events.push method.

Userlist::Push.events.push(
  name: 'project_created',
  user: 'user-1',
  properties: {
    project_name: 'Example project'
  }
)

Instead of just sending a user or company identifier, it's also possible to expand the properties into objects. This will update the user / company record as well as trigger the event in one operation.

Userlist::Push.events.push(
  name: 'project_created',
  user: {
    identifier: 'user-1',
    properties: {
      projects: 5
    }
  },
  properties: {
    project_name: 'Example project'
  }
)

Tokens for in-app messages

In order to use in-app messages, you must create a JWT token for the currently signed in user on the server side. To do this, please configure both the push_key and the push_id configuration variables. Afterwards, you can use the Userlist::Token.generate method to get a signed token for the given user identifier.

Userlist::Token.generate('user-1')
# => "eyJraWQiOiI2dlBrSmw0NGNtODJ5NGFMQkl6YU9odU...kPGe8KX8JZBTQ"

Development

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. Then, run rake spec to run the tests. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/userlist/userlist-ruby. This project is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for collaboration, and contributors are expected to adhere to the Contributor Covenant code of conduct.

License

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

Code of Conduct

Everyone interacting in the Userlist project’s codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.

What is Userlist?

Userlist allows you to onboard and engage your SaaS users with targeted behavior-based campaigns using email or in-app messages.

Userlist was started in 2017 as an alternative to bulky enterprise messaging tools. We believe that running SaaS products should be more enjoyable. Learn more about us.