# palkan/isolator

Detect non-atomic interactions within DB transactions

Repository: https://github.com/palkan/isolator
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/isolator
Language: Ruby
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: activerecord, rails, developer-tools, testing-tools, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2026-07-25T05:12:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3139, "days_push": 39, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1119, forks 31 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:39.750054+00:00)

## What it is
Isolator is a Ruby gem that detects non-atomic interactions—such as HTTP calls or background job enqueues—made inside database transactions in Rails/ActiveRecord applications. It is designed to be used in test and staging environments to catch unsafe patterns that can cause data inconsistencies.

## Use cases
- detect HTTP API calls made inside a database transaction
- catch background jobs enqueued within a transaction
- find unsafe side effects in ActiveRecord after_create callbacks
- prevent data inconsistency bugs in Rails apps
- enforce atomic transaction best practices in tests
- audit staging environments for non-atomic interactions

## When to choose
- you build Rails or ActiveRecord apps and want to catch transactional anti-patterns in your test suite
- you've been bitten by jobs or external calls firing before a transaction commits
- you want a plug-n-play gem that raises errors on unsafe interactions during tests

## When to avoid
- you don't use Ruby, Rails, or ActiveRecord
- you need runtime monitoring in production rather than test/staging detection
- your background job adapter is transaction-safe and you don't need transactional guards

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: testing, database, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, testing, backend, web-development
- platform: ruby
- tags: activerecord, rails, transactions, atomicity, test-tooling

## Member repositories
- palkan/isolator (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:39.750054+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:41:25.289051+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/palkan/isolator (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:39.750054+00:00, sha 335733a0e138)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.