Generators Reference

Complete reference for Plutonium CLI generators.

Overview

Plutonium provides generators for scaffolding:

• Resources (model, controller, definition, policy)
• Packages (feature and portal)
• Authentication (Rodauth)
• Assets and configuration

Resource Generators

pu:res:scaffold

Generate a complete resource with model, controller, definition, and policy.

rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post title:string body:text published:boolean

Options

Option	Description
--dest NAME	Destination package (prompted if not provided)
--no-model	Skip model generation (use for existing models)

Examples

# Basic resource (prompts for destination)
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post title:string body:text

# Import existing model (no attributes needed)
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post

# With associations
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Comment body:text user:belongs_to post:belongs_to

# Skip model generation for existing models
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post title:string --no-model

Field Types

Type	Example	Database Type
string	title:string	string
text	body:text	text
integer	count:integer	integer
float	rating:float	float
decimal	price:decimal	decimal
boolean	active:boolean	boolean
date	published_on:date	date
datetime	published_at:datetime	datetime
time	starts_at:time	time
json	metadata:json	json
belongs_to	user:belongs_to	references
references	user:references	references
rich_text	content:rich_text	Action Text

Nullable Fields

Append ? to make a field nullable:

rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post title:string description:text?

Money Fields (has_cents)

Integer fields ending in _cents are treated as money fields:

rails generate pu:res:scaffold Product name:string price_cents:integer

pu:res:conn

Connect a resource to a portal.

rails generate pu:res:conn Post --dest=admin_portal

Creates portal-specific controller, definition, and policy (if needed) and registers the resource in the portal routes.

Examples

# Connect a resource to a portal
rails generate pu:res:conn Post --dest=admin_portal

# Connect multiple resources
rails generate pu:res:conn Post Comment --dest=admin_portal

# Interactive mode (prompts for resource and portal)
rails generate pu:res:conn

Nested Resources

Nesting is automatic based on belongs_to associations. If Comment belongs to Post, nested routes are created automatically when both are registered in the same portal.

pu:res:model

Generate just a model with migration.

rails generate pu:res:model Post title:string body:text

Package Generators

pu:pkg:package

Generate a feature package for organizing domain code.

rails generate pu:pkg:package blogging

Generated Structure

packages/blogging/
├── app/
│   ├── controllers/blogging/
│   ├── definitions/blogging/
│   ├── interactions/blogging/
│   ├── models/blogging/
│   ├── policies/blogging/
│   └── views/blogging/
└── lib/
    └── engine.rb

pu:pkg:portal

Generate a portal package (web interface).

rails generate pu:pkg:portal admin

Options

Option	Description
--auth NAME	Rodauth account to authenticate with (e.g., --auth=user)
--public	Grant public access (no authentication)
--byo	Bring your own authentication

Examples

# Interactive mode (prompts for auth choice)
rails generate pu:pkg:portal admin

# Non-interactive with Rodauth account
rails generate pu:pkg:portal admin --auth=admin

# Public access portal
rails generate pu:pkg:portal api --public

# Bring your own authentication
rails generate pu:pkg:portal custom --byo

Without flags, the generator prompts for authentication configuration:

• Select a Rodauth account (if Rodauth is installed)
• Grant public access (no authentication)
• Bring your own auth (configure manually)

Generated Structure

packages/admin_portal/
├── app/
│   ├── controllers/admin_portal/
│   │   ├── concerns/controller.rb
│   │   ├── plutonium_controller.rb
│   │   └── dashboard_controller.rb
│   ├── definitions/admin_portal/
│   ├── policies/admin_portal/
│   └── views/admin_portal/
├── config/
│   └── routes.rb
└── lib/
    └── engine.rb

Authentication Generators

pu:rodauth:install

Install Rodauth authentication framework.

rails generate pu:rodauth:install

This creates:

• app/rodauth/rodauth_app.rb - Main Roda app
• app/rodauth/rodauth_plugin.rb - Base plugin
• app/controllers/rodauth_controller.rb - Base controller
• config/initializers/rodauth.rb - Configuration
• PostgreSQL extension migration (if using PostgreSQL)

pu:rodauth:account

Generate a user account with configurable features.

rails generate pu:rodauth:account user

Options

Option	Description
--primary	Mark as primary account (no URL prefix)
--no-mails	Skip mailer setup
--argon2	Use Argon2 for password hashing
--api_only	Configure for JSON API only
--defaults	Enable default features (default: true)
--kitchen_sink	Enable ALL features

Feature Options

Default features (enabled with --defaults):

Feature	Description
--login	Login functionality
--logout	Logout functionality
--remember	"Remember me" cookies
--create_account	User registration
--verify_account	Email verification
--verify_account_grace_period	Grace period for verification
--reset_password	Password reset via email
--reset_password_notify	Notify on password reset
--change_login	Change email address
--verify_login_change	Verify email changes
--change_password	Change password
--change_password_notify	Notify on password change
--case_insensitive_login	Case insensitive email
--internal_request	Internal request support

Additional features:

Feature	Description
--otp	TOTP two-factor auth
--recovery_codes	Recovery codes for 2FA
--sms_codes	SMS-based 2FA
--webauthn	WebAuthn/passkeys
--lockout	Account lockout
--active_sessions	Track active sessions
--audit_logging	Log auth events
--close_account	Allow account deletion
--email_auth	Passwordless email login
--jwt	JWT authentication
--jwt_refresh	JWT refresh tokens
--password_expiration	Force password changes
--disallow_password_reuse	Prevent password reuse

Examples

# Basic account with defaults
rails generate pu:rodauth:account user

# Primary account (no /users prefix)
rails generate pu:rodauth:account user --primary

# With 2FA features
rails generate pu:rodauth:account user --otp --recovery_codes

# API-only with JWT
rails generate pu:rodauth:account api_user --api_only --jwt --jwt_refresh

# Everything enabled
rails generate pu:rodauth:account user --kitchen_sink

pu:rodauth:admin

Generate an admin account with enhanced security.

rails generate pu:rodauth:admin admin

Pre-configured with:

• Multi-phase login (email first, then password)
• TOTP two-factor authentication (required)
• Recovery codes
• Account lockout
• Active sessions tracking
• Audit logging
• No public signup

Creates a rake task for account creation:

rails rodauth_admin:create[admin@example.com,password123]

pu:rodauth:customer

Generate a customer account with entity (organization) association.

rails generate pu:rodauth:customer customer
rails generate pu:rodauth:customer customer --entity=Organization

Creates:

• Customer account model
• Entity model (default: "Entity")
• Membership join model
• Has-many-through associations

Core Generators

pu:core:install

Install Plutonium in an existing Rails app.

rails generate pu:core:install

Creates:

• config/initializers/plutonium.rb - Configuration
• Base classes (ResourceRecord, ResourcePolicy, etc.)
• Package loading configuration

pu:core:assets

Setup custom TailwindCSS and Stimulus assets.

rails generate pu:core:assets

This:

1. Installs npm packages (@radioactive-labs/plutonium, TailwindCSS plugins)
2. Creates tailwind.config.js extending Plutonium's config
3. Imports Plutonium CSS into your stylesheet
4. Registers Plutonium's Stimulus controllers
5. Updates Plutonium config to use your assets

Eject Generators

pu:eject:layout

Eject layout views for customization.

rails generate pu:eject:layout

Copies layout files to your portal for customization.

pu:eject:shell

Eject shell components (sidebar, header).

rails generate pu:eject:shell

Common Patterns

Full Application Setup

# Create Rails app with Plutonium template
rails new myapp -a propshaft -j esbuild -c tailwind \
  -m https://radioactive-labs.github.io/plutonium-core/templates/plutonium.rb

# Or add to existing app
rails generate pu:core:install
rails generate pu:rodauth:install

# Create admin account type
rails generate pu:rodauth:admin admin

# Create resources
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Post title:string body:text
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Comment body:text post:belongs_to

# Create portal (prompts for auth)
rails generate pu:pkg:portal admin

# Connect resources
rails generate pu:res:conn Post Comment --dest=admin_portal

# Run migrations
rails db:migrate

# Create admin account
rails rodauth_admin:create[admin@example.com,password123]

Adding a New Resource

# Generate the resource
rails generate pu:res:scaffold Product name:string price_cents:integer

# Connect to portal
rails generate pu:res:conn Product --dest=admin_portal

# Run migration
rails db:migrate

Adding a New Portal

# Create customer account type
rails generate pu:rodauth:customer customer

# Create portal
rails generate pu:pkg:portal customer

# Connect resources
rails generate pu:res:conn Order --dest=customer_portal

# Run migrations
rails db:migrate

Undoing Generators

rails destroy pu:res:scaffold Post
rails destroy pu:pkg:portal admin

Troubleshooting

Generator Not Found

Ensure Plutonium is installed:

# Gemfile
gem "plutonium"

Package Not Found

Generators run from Rails root. Package names are case-sensitive.

Migration Already Exists

If a migration with the same timestamp exists, wait a second and retry.

Related

• Adding Resources Guide
• Creating Packages Guide
• Authentication Guide