Appwrite Ruby SDK

Installation

gem install appwrite

Setting Up the Client

require 'appwrite'

include Appwrite

client = Client.new
    .set_endpoint('https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1')
    .set_project(ENV['APPWRITE_PROJECT_ID'])
    .set_key(ENV['APPWRITE_API_KEY'])

Code Examples

User Management

users = Users.new(client)

# Create user
user = users.create(user_id: ID.unique, email: 'user@example.com', password: 'password123', name: 'User Name')

# List users
list = users.list(queries: [Query.limit(25)])

# Get user
fetched = users.get(user_id: '[USER_ID]')

# Delete user
users.delete(user_id: '[USER_ID]')

Database Operations

Note: Use TablesDB (not the deprecated Databases class) for all new code. Only use Databases if the existing codebase already relies on it or the user explicitly requests it.

Tip: Prefer keyword arguments (e.g., database_id: '...') for all SDK method calls. Only use positional arguments if the existing codebase already uses them or the user explicitly requests it.

tables_db = TablesDB.new(client)

# Create database
db = tables_db.create(database_id: ID.unique, name: 'My Database')

# Create row
doc = tables_db.create_row(
    database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]',
    table_id: '[TABLE_ID]',
    row_id: ID.unique,
    data: { title: 'Hello World' }
)

# Query rows
results = tables_db.list_rows(
    database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]',
    table_id: '[TABLE_ID]',
    queries: [Query.equal('title', 'Hello World'), Query.limit(10)]
)

# Get row
row = tables_db.get_row(database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]', table_id: '[TABLE_ID]', row_id: '[ROW_ID]')

# Update row
tables_db.update_row(
    database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]',
    table_id: '[TABLE_ID]',
    row_id: '[ROW_ID]',
    data: { title: 'Updated' }
)

# Delete row
tables_db.delete_row(database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]', table_id: '[TABLE_ID]', row_id: '[ROW_ID]')

String Column Types

Note: The legacy string type is deprecated. Use explicit column types for all new columns.

Type	Max characters	Indexing	Storage
varchar	16,383	Full index (if size ≤ 768)	Inline in row
text	16,383	Prefix only	Off-page
mediumtext	4,194,303	Prefix only	Off-page
longtext	1,073,741,823	Prefix only	Off-page

• varchar is stored inline and counts towards the 64 KB row size limit. Prefer for short, indexed fields like names, slugs, or identifiers.
• text, mediumtext, and longtext are stored off-page (only a 20-byte pointer lives in the row), so they don't consume the row size budget. size is not required for these types.

# Create table with explicit string column types
tables_db.create_table(
    database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]',
    table_id: ID.unique,
    name: 'articles',
    columns: [
        { key: 'title',    type: 'varchar',    size: 255, required: true  },  # inline, fully indexable
        { key: 'summary',  type: 'text',                  required: false },  # off-page, prefix index only
        { key: 'body',     type: 'mediumtext',            required: false },  # up to ~4 M chars
        { key: 'raw_data', type: 'longtext',              required: false },  # up to ~1 B chars
    ]
)

Query Methods

# Filtering
Query.equal('field', 'value')             # == (or pass array for IN)
Query.not_equal('field', 'value')         # !=
Query.less_than('field', 100)             # <
Query.less_than_equal('field', 100)       # <=
Query.greater_than('field', 100)          # >
Query.greater_than_equal('field', 100)    # >=
Query.between('field', 1, 100)            # 1 <= field <= 100
Query.is_null('field')                    # is null
Query.is_not_null('field')                # is not null
Query.starts_with('field', 'prefix')      # starts with
Query.ends_with('field', 'suffix')        # ends with
Query.contains('field', 'sub')            # contains
Query.search('field', 'keywords')         # full-text search (requires index)

# Sorting
Query.order_asc('field')
Query.order_desc('field')

# Pagination
Query.limit(25)                           # max rows (default 25, max 100)
Query.offset(0)                           # skip N rows
Query.cursor_after('[ROW_ID]')            # cursor pagination (preferred)
Query.cursor_before('[ROW_ID]')

# Selection & Logic
Query.select(['field1', 'field2'])        # return only specified fields
Query.or([Query.equal('a', 1), Query.equal('b', 2)])   # OR
Query.and([Query.greater_than('age', 18), Query.less_than('age', 65)])  # AND (default)

File Storage

storage = Storage.new(client)

# Upload file
file = storage.create_file(bucket_id: '[BUCKET_ID]', file_id: ID.unique, file: InputFile.from_path('/path/to/file.png'))

# List files
files = storage.list_files(bucket_id: '[BUCKET_ID]')

# Delete file
storage.delete_file(bucket_id: '[BUCKET_ID]', file_id: '[FILE_ID]')

InputFile Factory Methods

InputFile.from_path('/path/to/file.png')             # from filesystem path
InputFile.from_string('Hello world', 'hello.txt')    # from string content

Teams

teams = Teams.new(client)

# Create team
team = teams.create(team_id: ID.unique, name: 'Engineering')

# List teams
list = teams.list

# Create membership (invite user by email)
membership = teams.create_membership(
    team_id: '[TEAM_ID]',
    roles: ['editor'],
    email: 'user@example.com'
)

# List memberships
members = teams.list_memberships(team_id: '[TEAM_ID]')

# Update membership roles
teams.update_membership(team_id: '[TEAM_ID]', membership_id: '[MEMBERSHIP_ID]', roles: ['admin'])

# Delete team
teams.delete(team_id: '[TEAM_ID]')

Role-based access: Use Role.team('[TEAM_ID]') for all team members or Role.team('[TEAM_ID]', 'editor') for a specific team role when setting permissions.

Serverless Functions

functions = Functions.new(client)

# Execute function
execution = functions.create_execution(function_id: '[FUNCTION_ID]', body: '{"key": "value"}')

# List executions
executions = functions.list_executions(function_id: '[FUNCTION_ID]')

Writing a Function Handler (Ruby runtime)

# src/main.rb — Appwrite Function entry point
def main(context)
    # context.req.body         — raw body (String)
    # context.req.body_json    — parsed JSON (Hash or nil)
    # context.req.headers      — headers (Hash)
    # context.req.method       — HTTP method
    # context.req.path         — URL path
    # context.req.query        — query params (Hash)

    context.log("Processing: #{context.req.method} #{context.req.path}")

    if context.req.method == 'GET'
        return context.res.json({ message: 'Hello from Appwrite Function!' })
    end

    context.res.json({ success: true })          # JSON
    # context.res.text('Hello')                  # plain text
    # context.res.empty                          # 204
    # context.res.redirect('https://...')         # 302
end

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) Authentication

SSR apps using Ruby frameworks (Rails, Sinatra, etc.) use the server SDK to handle auth. You need two clients:

• Admin client — uses an API key, creates sessions, bypasses rate limits (reusable singleton)
• Session client — uses a session cookie, acts on behalf of a user (create per-request, never share)

require 'appwrite'
include Appwrite

# Admin client (reusable)
admin_client = Client.new
    .set_endpoint('https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1')
    .set_project('[PROJECT_ID]')
    .set_key(ENV['APPWRITE_API_KEY'])

# Session client (create per-request)
session_client = Client.new
    .set_endpoint('https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1')
    .set_project('[PROJECT_ID]')

session = cookies['a_session_[PROJECT_ID]']
session_client.set_session(session) if session

Email/Password Login (Sinatra)

post '/login' do
    account = Account.new(admin_client)
    session = account.create_email_password_session(
        email: params[:email],
        password: params[:password]
    )

    # Cookie name must be a_session_<PROJECT_ID>
    response.set_cookie('a_session_[PROJECT_ID]', {
        value: session.secret,
        httponly: true,
        secure: true,
        same_site: :strict,
        path: '/',
    })

    content_type :json
    { success: true }.to_json
end

Authenticated Requests

get '/user' do
    session = request.cookies['a_session_[PROJECT_ID]']
    halt 401, { error: 'Unauthorized' }.to_json unless session

    session_client = Client.new
        .set_endpoint('https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1')
        .set_project('[PROJECT_ID]')
        .set_session(session)

    account = Account.new(session_client)
    user = account.get

    content_type :json
    user.to_json
end

OAuth2 SSR Flow

# Step 1: Redirect to OAuth provider
get '/oauth' do
    account = Account.new(admin_client)
    redirect_url = account.create_o_auth2_token(
        provider: OAuthProvider::GITHUB,
        success: 'https://example.com/oauth/success',
        failure: 'https://example.com/oauth/failure'
    )
    redirect redirect_url
end

# Step 2: Handle callback — exchange token for session
get '/oauth/success' do
    account = Account.new(admin_client)
    session = account.create_session(
        user_id: params[:userId],
        secret: params[:secret]
    )

    response.set_cookie('a_session_[PROJECT_ID]', {
        value: session.secret,
        httponly: true, secure: true, same_site: :strict, path: '/',
    })

    content_type :json
    { success: true }.to_json
end

Cookie security: Always use httponly, secure, and same_site: :strict to prevent XSS. The cookie name must be a_session_<PROJECT_ID>.

Forwarding user agent: Call session_client.set_forwarded_user_agent(request.user_agent) to record the end-user's browser info for debugging and security.

Error Handling

require 'appwrite'
include Appwrite

begin
    row = tables_db.get_row(database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]', table_id: '[TABLE_ID]', row_id: '[ROW_ID]')
rescue Appwrite::Exception => e
    puts e.message    # human-readable message
    puts e.code       # HTTP status code (Integer)
    puts e.type       # error type (e.g. 'document_not_found')
    puts e.response   # full response body (Hash)
end

Common error codes:

Code	Meaning
401	Unauthorized — missing or invalid session/API key
403	Forbidden — insufficient permissions
404	Not found — resource does not exist
409	Conflict — duplicate ID or unique constraint
429	Rate limited — too many requests

Permissions & Roles (Critical)

Appwrite uses permission strings to control access to resources. Each permission pairs an action (read, update, delete, create, or write which grants create + update + delete) with a role target. By default, no user has access unless permissions are explicitly set at the document/file level or inherited from the collection/bucket settings. Permissions are arrays of strings built with the Permission and Role helpers.

# Permission and Role are included in the main require
require 'appwrite'
include Appwrite

Database Row with Permissions

doc = tables_db.create_row(
    database_id: '[DATABASE_ID]',
    table_id: '[TABLE_ID]',
    row_id: ID.unique,
    data: { title: 'Hello World' },
    permissions: [
        Permission.read(Role.user('[USER_ID]')),     # specific user can read
        Permission.update(Role.user('[USER_ID]')),   # specific user can update
        Permission.read(Role.team('[TEAM_ID]')),     # all team members can read
        Permission.read(Role.any),                   # anyone (including guests) can read
    ]
)

File Upload with Permissions

file = storage.create_file(
    bucket_id: '[BUCKET_ID]',
    file_id: ID.unique,
    file: InputFile.from_path('/path/to/file.png'),
    permissions: [
        Permission.read(Role.any),
        Permission.update(Role.user('[USER_ID]')),
        Permission.delete(Role.user('[USER_ID]')),
    ]
)

When to set permissions: Set document/file-level permissions when you need per-resource access control. If all documents in a collection share the same rules, configure permissions at the collection/bucket level and leave document permissions empty.

Common mistakes:

• Forgetting permissions — the resource becomes inaccessible to all users (including the creator)
• Role.any with write/update/delete — allows any user, including unauthenticated guests, to modify or remove the resource
• Permission.read(Role.any) on sensitive data — makes the resource publicly readable