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Ruby

Dynamic Regex since v1.0

🔴 Tracks public/private visibility as it scans. Methods before a private marker are public. initialize excluded.

.rb

What gets detected

The public surface spec-sync tracks for Ruby.

  • class and module declarations (always public at namespace level)
  • Top-level def (zero indentation, no _ prefix)
  • Indented def (respects private/protected visibility markers)
  • Constants (UPPERCASE_NAME = ...)
  • attr_accessor / attr_reader / attr_writer symbols

Detection rules

Class and module declarations

class and module names starting with an uppercase letter are always captured as public namespace-level exports.

module Authentication
  class AuthService
  end
end

class _InternalHelper  # still captured: class names start with uppercase

Visibility-tracked methods

Methods after a bare private or protected keyword are excluded. Methods before, or after a bare public keyword, are included. initialize is always excluded.

class Foo
  def public_one; end   # included
  def public_two; end   # included

  private

  def secret_one; end   # excluded

  public

  def public_again; end # included

  protected

  def also_hidden; end  # excluded
end

Constants

Any uppercase-only constant assignment (NAME = value) is captured.

DEFAULT_TTL = 3600
API_VERSION = '1.0'

attr_accessor / attr_reader / attr_writer

Attribute declarations extract the symbol names as separate exports.

attr_reader :token, :expires_at
attr_accessor :name, :email

Example: spec & source

The *.spec.md contract on the left, the Ruby source it documents on the right. spec-sync matches the two.

Spec (*.spec.md)

---
module: auth
version: 1
status: stable
files:
  - lib/auth/service.rb
---

## Purpose

Ruby auth service with JWT validation.

## Public API

| Symbol | Kind | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `Authentication` | module | Auth namespace |
| `AuthService` | class | Auth service class |
| `validate` | method | Validates a JWT token |
| `DEFAULT_TTL` | constant | Default TTL in seconds |
| `token` | attr_reader | Token accessor |

## Change Log

| Date | Change |
|------|--------|
| 2026-01-01 | Initial |

Source

module Authentication
  class AuthService
    DEFAULT_TTL = 3600

    attr_reader :token, :expires_at

    def validate(token)
      !token.nil? && !token.empty?
    end

    def self.create(config)
      new(config)
    end

    private

    def internal_check
      # internal
    end
  end
end

Test-file patterns

Files matching these are excluded from the detected surface.

Pattern Explanation
**/*_test.rb minitest-style test files: auto-excluded
**/*_spec.rb RSpec spec files: auto-excluded

Caveats

  • Visibility tracking resets at the start of each class/module scope; nested classes start as public again.
  • Method aliases (alias_method :new_name, :old_name) are not captured as additional exports.
  • Dynamic method definitions (define_method :name do ... end) are not detected.
  • Rails-specific DSL exports (has_many, belongs_to, scope, etc.) are not captured.

Related languages

Python

🐍 Respects __all__ when present; falls back to top-level defs and classes without underscore prefixes.

PHP

🐘 Types always in; functions and constants unless private or protected. Magic methods always out.
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