The Callback Conundrum

Breaking Free From Rails Callback Hell

Apr 18, 2025

In this issue, I'll take you through the dark side of Rails callbacks and how to escape their clutches.

🚀 What you'll learn:

Why callbacks are often a code smell in Rails applications
How to identify problematic callback patterns
Practical alternatives like Service Objects
Best practices for when callbacks are unavoidable

The Problem

What starts as a simple, elegant model often transforms into a maze of invisible actions and unexpected side effects. Callbacks seem convenient at first, but quickly introduce complexity that's hard to reason about.

Here's what we were dealing with:

💡 Warning Signs:

Business logic hidden within model callbacks
Multiple responsibilities crammed into a single model
Unexpected behaviors triggered by simple save operations
Difficulty testing methods in isolation
Increasing complexity when special cases arise

From Problem to Solution

Step 1: Identify and Extract Business Logic

Before:

After:

🎯 Impact:

Explicit control flow makes the code more predictable
Each operation can be triggered independently when needed
Testing becomes simpler with clearly defined boundaries
Failures can be handled appropriately at each step

Step 2: Replace Callbacks with Service Objects

Before:

After:

The Aha Moment

The breakthrough came when we realized that models should focus on their data, not on every action that might occur when that data changes. By separating concerns and making operations explicit, we gained control over our application flow.