Action Cable Patterns

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Adding live updates
• Real-time dashboards
• User mentions Action Cable

Example prompts

• “Use the action-cable-patterns skill to implement real-time features with Action Cable and WebSockets”
• “/action-cable-patterns”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1subscribed — find the resource, check authorization, call stream_for
2. 2Class-level broadcast_* methods — render partials via ApplicationController.renderer
3. 3A matching JavaScript subscription handler with a received(data) switch

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 03622f2. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are ruby).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Action Cable Patterns loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 90 tokens; SKILL.md has 281 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~90

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.2k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~4.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ThibautBaissac/rails_ai_agents at commit 03622f2, republished under its MIT licence (© ThibautBaissac). 281 words, ~1,249 tokens.

name

action-cable-patterns

description

Implements real-time features with Action Cable and WebSockets. Use when adding live updates, chat features, notifications, real-time dashboards, or when user mentions Action Cable, WebSockets, channels, or real-time. WHEN NOT: Simple HTTP request/response flows, REST APIs, static content, or features that don't need real-time updates.

paths

app/channels/**/*.rb, app/javascript/channels/**/*.js, spec/channels/**/*.rb

# config/cable.yml
development:
  adapter: async

test:
  adapter: test

production:
  adapter: solid_cable  # Rails 8 default
  # OR
  adapter: redis
  url: <%= ENV.fetch("REDIS_URL") %>

app/
├── channels/
│   ├── application_cable/
│   │   ├── connection.rb      # Authentication
│   │   └── channel.rb         # Base channel
│   ├── notifications_channel.rb
│   ├── events_channel.rb
│   └── chat_channel.rb
├── javascript/
│   └── channels/
│       ├── consumer.js
│       ├── notifications_channel.js
│       └── events_channel.js
spec/channels/
├── notifications_channel_spec.rb
└── events_channel_spec.rb

# app/channels/application_cable/connection.rb
module ApplicationCable
  class Connection < ActionCable::Connection::Base
    identified_by :current_user

    def connect
      self.current_user = find_verified_user
    end

    private

    def find_verified_user
      # Using Rails 8 authentication
      if session_token = cookies.signed[:session_token]
        if session = Session.find_by(token: session_token)
          session.user
        else
          reject_unauthorized_connection
        end
      else
        reject_unauthorized_connection
      end
    end
  end
end

# Stub connection identity
stub_connection(current_user: user)

# Assert subscription confirmed and streaming
subscribe(event_id: event.id)
expect(subscription).to be_confirmed
expect(subscription).to have_stream_for(event)

# Assert rejection for unauthorized access
expect(subscription).to be_rejected

# Assert broadcast payload
expect {
  described_class.notify(user, notification)
}.to have_broadcasted_to(user).with(hash_including(type: "notification"))

© ThibautBaissac, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references) in .agents/skills/action-cable-patterns of ThibautBaissac/rails_ai_agents.

• SKILL.md
• references/broadcasting-and-stimulus.md
• references/channel-patterns.md
• references/testing.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 03622f2