milkstrawai

milkstrawai / athar

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Database-level deletion auditing for Rails applications without soft delete.

github.commilkstrawaiathar active-record audit auditing deletion postgresql
11
0
100% credibility
Found May 04, 2026 at 11 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Ruby
AI Summary

Athar is a Ruby gem for Rails applications that provides database-level auditing of physical deletions by logging details into separate tables via PostgreSQL triggers.

How It Works

1
📰 Discover Athar

You learn about Athar, a simple way to keep a permanent record of every deletion in your app's data without slowing things down or cluttering your main storage.

2
📦 Add to Your App

You easily add Athar to your existing web application so it can start watching your data.

3
🔧 Set Up Tracking

You pick which types of data to track, like user profiles or orders, and choose how much detail to save about each deletion.

4
🗑️ Delete as Usual

Whenever someone or something deletes data in your app, Athar quietly captures who did it, what was deleted, and when.

5
📊 Review the Log

You check the dedicated log anytime to see a clear trail of deletions, including who was responsible.

6
🧹 Manage Old Logs

You set rules to automatically clean up very old log entries, keeping things tidy without losing important history.

✅ Perfect Audit Trail

Now your app has a reliable, lightweight record of all deletions, helping you stay compliant and debug issues effortlessly.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is athar?

Athar delivers database-level deletion auditing for Ruby on Rails applications without soft deletes, using PostgreSQL triggers to log actual row removals into a dedicated audit table. It captures what was deleted (identity-only, selected columns, or full snapshot), when, and by whom or what—handling ActiveRecord destroys, bulk delete_all, raw SQL, and cascades. Rails devs get clean tables with normal constraints intact, plus easy queries for traces in tools like athari archive or atharicommerce.

Why is it gaining traction?

Unlike soft delete gems like discard or paranoia that bloat tables and risk query leaks, athar enables hard deletes while auditing at the database level for bulletproof capture. Generators make per-model setup a one-liner (rails g athar:model User --only=email,name), and wrappers like Athar.with_actor(user) or Athar.without_capture tag context without code changes. It's narrower than full versioning like paper_trail, dodging overhead for deletion-only needs in high-churn apps.

Who should use this?

Rails backend engineers at startups or enterprises building regulated apps (GDPR deletions, audit trails) who hate soft delete hacks polluting scopes and indexes. Ideal for teams managing user data in athari islam portals, atharva murali projects, or atherom systems needing bulk cleanup logs from jobs without losing traces. Skip if you're on MySQL or need full history.

Verdict

Athar shines for Postgres/Rails deletion auditing but at 11 stars and 1.0% credibility, it's immature—test in staging despite strong docs, benchmarks, and MIT license. Worth adopting if soft deletes pain you; otherwise, watch github athar for v1 stability.

(198 words)

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