Very often I find myself working inside a Rails model, and I need to write a validation or a custom method. But I suddenly forget the exact name of my database column. Is it first_name or just name? Is the status an integer or a string?

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The annotate_models gem (commonly called annotate) automatically adds a commented schema summary to Rails model files, showing column names and types. Setup takes three steps: add the gem to the development group in Gemfile, run bundle exec annotate to annotate models manually, and run rails g annotate:install to hook into ActiveRecord migrations so annotations update automatically after every db:migrate or db:rollback. Beyond models, it also annotates RSpec/Minitest test files, FactoryBot factories, and routing files.

My Favorite Rails Productivity Gem: annotate_models