docs: name Solid Objects a virtual actor library

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -18,6 +18,17 @@ jobs:
       - run: bundle exec rake
       - run: bundle exec rake at_least_once
 
+  quickstart:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 15
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7
+      - uses: ruby/setup-ruby@95ef2b042f9d7a56d8268cba8559e2842e2ad01b # v1
+        with:
+          ruby-version: "3.3"
+          bundler-cache: true
+      - run: bundle exec rake quickstart
+
   javascript:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 15
@@ -148,6 +159,7 @@ jobs:
     if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
     needs:
       - sqlite
+      - quickstart
       - postgresql
       - mysql
       - static

AGENTS.md

@@ -53,6 +53,13 @@ git push origin v0.5.0
 
 CI validates the tag and publishes through RubyGems trusted publishing.
 
+Before you tag, read `docs/virtual-actors.md` and `docs/agents.md` against the
+release and correct any requirement, compatibility, or guarantee statement that
+changed. After the tag publishes, refresh the solidobjects.dev documentation
+snapshot from the tag and redeploy the site; its `check:release` step refuses a
+snapshot that is not the latest published tag. Then trigger a Context7 refresh
+for this repository.
+
 ## Security & Configuration
 
 Preserve deny-by-default authorization. Never treat actor IDs, stream names, or signed tokens as authorization, and never commit secrets or unsafe deserialization paths.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,38 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.17.1 - 2026-10-08
+
+- Name the category in the gem metadata and the README: Solid Objects is a
+  SQL-backed virtual actor library for Ruby on Rails. The gem homepage now
+  links to `https://solidobjects.dev/ruby` instead of the site root, which
+  redirects to the Node page.
+- Add `docs/virtual-actors.md`, a category guide with the definition, a small
+  example, fit and poor-fit criteria, comparisons, and an Orleans concept map.
+- Add `docs/agents.md`, a consumer guide for coding agents with setup,
+  authorization, effect idempotency, verification, and troubleshooting steps.
+  Both guides ship in the gem.
+- Add `context7.json` so that Context7 indexes the consumer documentation and
+  skips maintainer files.
+- Add a Rails quickstart in `examples/quickstart/` and a `rake quickstart`
+  check that runs it against the built gem. The check builds the gem, creates
+  a new SQLite Rails application, installs the gem from `vendor/cache` with
+  `bundle install --local`, and confirms by checksum and load path that the
+  application loads the built gem. It runs the install generator, the
+  migrations, and the doctor, and grants only the message and query policies.
+  It sends eight concurrent holds from separate processes to the README's
+  `TicketSale` actor and confirms that exactly one hold commits. It stops the
+  runtime, waits until a reminder is past due, confirms that the reminder did
+  not run, restarts the runtime, and confirms that the reminder released the
+  hold once. The check also fails when a `TicketSale` sample in the README or
+  in `docs/` differs from the actor that it runs. A new `quickstart` CI job runs
+  the check, and the release job waits for it.
+- Correct the `json` 3.x note in `docs/operations.md`. The `json` gem 3.x works
+  only with Active Support 8.1.4 or newer. Active Support 7.1, 7.2, and 8.0
+  raise `unknown keyword: quirks_mode`, and Active Support 8.1.3.1 and earlier
+  8.1 releases fail to decode. Upgrade Rails to 8.1.4 or newer, or pin `json`
+  to 2.x. The compatibility CI matrix now pins `json` 2.x for Rails 7.1, 7.2,
+  and 8.0, the configuration that the guide prescribes.
+
 ## 0.17.0 - 2026-10-03
 
 - Publish RBS types for portable events, metric samples, actor diagnostics, and

Gemfile

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ if rails_version
   %w[actioncable actionpack actionview activerecord activesupport railties].each do |library|
     gem library, constraint
   end
+  gem "json", "~> 2" if Gem::Version.new(rails_version) < Gem::Version.new("8.1")
 end
 
 group :development, :test do

Gemfile.lock

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: .
   specs:
-    solid_objects (0.17.0)
+    solid_objects (0.17.1)
       actioncable (>= 7.1)
       actionpack (>= 7.1)
       actionview (>= 7.1)
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ CHECKSUMS
   rubocop-rails-omakase (1.1.0) sha256=2af73ac8ee5852de2919abbd2618af9c15c19b512c4cfc1f9a5d3b6ef009109d
   ruby-progressbar (1.13.0) sha256=80fc9c47a9b640d6834e0dc7b3c94c9df37f08cb072b7761e4a71e22cff29b33
   securerandom (0.4.1) sha256=cc5193d414a4341b6e225f0cb4446aceca8e50d5e1888743fac16987638ea0b1
-  solid_objects (0.17.0)
+  solid_objects (0.17.1)
   sqlite3 (2.9.5-aarch64-linux-gnu) sha256=78075b6337d3d182c6d2b4691049ed45cd220826160c9ea18946bf6a1de200dc
   sqlite3 (2.9.5-aarch64-linux-musl) sha256=18c801185deb4adc01ddb281e8f672a39e3d1729979ca91e39439cd3eac0402d
   sqlite3 (2.9.5-arm-linux-gnu) sha256=1bdfca0c7d63998c60b0f4a8e3c8df2d33800ccc4abd2d612eddbbbc92a4c48b

README.md

@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@
 
 **Open Source Durable Objects in your Rails app.**
 
+Solid Objects is a SQL-backed virtual actor library for Ruby on Rails, with
+durable state, ordered operations, and automatic activation. Each actor has a
+stable identity, and its state lives in the SQL database that your app already
+uses. [Virtual actors in Ruby on Rails](docs/virtual-actors.md) explains the
+model and when to use it.
+
 In a shopping cart, paying twice at the same time is a big problem. The payment provider might time out, and your Rails site could be restarting before recovery finishes.
 
 To deal with this safely, you often need logic scattered between 7-10 files like database row locks, Redis locks, delayed jobs, retries, and cleanup code to keep that process straight. They are not all large, but they must agree about the same payment state and failure rules. That coordination is the difficult part.
@@ -160,6 +166,8 @@ Exactly once is not hiding in a more advanced configuration. Read the
 ## Read more
 
 - [Five-minute Rails guide](https://solidobjects.dev/5min/rails)
+- [Virtual actors in Ruby on Rails](docs/virtual-actors.md)
+- [Guide for coding agents](docs/agents.md)
 - [Choosing Solid Objects](docs/fit.md)
 - [Operations and recovery](docs/operations.md)
 - [Observability and diagnostics](docs/observability.md)

Rakefile

@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ task :at_least_once do
   sh "bundle exec ruby examples/at_least_once/demo.rb"
 end
 
+desc "Install the built gem into a new Rails app and prove ordering and restart recovery"
+task :quickstart do
+  sh "bundle exec ruby examples/quickstart/smoke.rb"
+end
+
 desc "Scan the Rails engine for security warnings"
 task :security do
   sh "bundle exec brakeman --force --no-pager -q ."

context7.json

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://context7.com/schema/context7.json",
+  "projectTitle": "Solid Objects for Rails (solid_objects)",
+  "description": "SQL-backed virtual actor library for Ruby on Rails. Actors have stable identities, durable JSON state in SQLite, PostgreSQL, or MySQL, ordered per-identity mailboxes, fenced activation, durable reminders, and transactional effects. Requires Ruby 3.3+ and Rails 7.1+.",
+  "folders": [
+    "docs",
+    "examples"
+  ],
+  "excludeFolders": [
+    "./docs/adr",
+    "./docs/research"
+  ],
+  "excludeFiles": [
+    "AGENTS.md",
+    "CLAUDE.md",
+    "CONTRIBUTING.md",
+    "implementation-plan.md"
+  ],
+  "rules": [
+    "Solid Objects requires Rails 7.1 or newer and Ruby 3.3 or newer. It is a Rails engine, not a framework-independent Ruby library.",
+    "Install with bundle add solid_objects, bin/rails generate solid_objects:install, bin/rails db:migrate, and bin/rails solid_objects:doctor.",
+    "The json gem 3.x works only with Active Support 8.1.4 or newer. On Rails 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, or 8.1 before 8.1.4, pin gem \"json\", \"~> 2\".",
+    "The generated authorization policies deny every operation. Production policies must bind the actor type and ID to the authenticated user or tenant, and callers pass authorization_context:.",
+    "Run bundle exec solid_objects start for reminders, async calls, effects, and broadcasts. Direct synchronous calls do not need it.",
+    "Delivery is at least once. Effect handlers registered with SolidObjects.register_effect must use context.id as the idempotency key.",
+    "Actor handlers must not write Active Record models directly. Use commit_action for a short same-database write and emit for external I/O.",
+    "There are no transactions across actor identities. One hot identity is sequential."
+  ]
+}