FriendlyId is the “Swiss Army bulldozer” of slugging and permalink plugins for ActiveRecord. It allows you to create pretty URL’s and work with human-friendly strings as if they were numeric ids for ActiveRecord models.
This report summarizes scanner evidence for norman/friendly_id, a Ruby project with 6,221 GitHub stars. SynthScan examined 6,328 lines of code across 62 source files, recording 86 pattern matches distributed across 7 syntactic categories. The legacy adjusted pattern signal is 16.9 (Elevated pattern signal); it is not an authorship estimate.
Use the findings to ask whether maintainers can explain intent, verify dependencies, simplify unnecessary scaffolding, and focus review effort. Risk Payload v1 adds ownership, supply-chain, over-engineering, and review-effort vectors when available. These are prompts for human verification, not probabilities, security findings, or measured maintenance costs.
Use each vector to guide manual verification of the underlying findings.
Can maintainers explain intent, assumptions, and trade-offs? 82 finding(s).
Are imports declared and package/API names verified? 4 finding(s).
Are wrappers, guards, and repeated structures necessary? 3 finding(s).
Which changes need focused human review? 86 finding(s).
This chart tracks the legacy adjusted pattern score across scan runs. Changes can reflect source changes, scan coverage, or detector/scoring versions; they do not measure AI adoption or prove that a team refactored code. Compare runs only when their scoring versions are compatible. The dashed line tracks the raw pattern-hit count.
Groups findings by configured severity weight. Severity is not a confidence estimate, security rating, or proof that a package is missing. Verify imports against the project's manifests and inspect each finding in its local design context.
This horizontal bar chart shows where configured pattern scores accumulate across directories. Treat the bars as locations to inspect, not as evidence of authorship or code quality. Use the file-level findings to decide whether a directory needs a focused ownership, dependency, complexity, or review check.
The scanner identified 86 distinct pattern matches across 7 syntactic categories. Each entry below represents a discrete location in the source code where the engine recorded a detector match to inspect in context. Expand any category row to inspect the individual file paths, line numbers, code snippets, and the lexical context (CODE, COMMENT, or STRING) in which each match was detected.
Reading the findings table: The Severity column indicates the configured finding weight (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW). The Context column identifies whether the match occurred inside executable code, an inline comment, or a string literal — legacy comment-context matches receive a ×1.5 score weight. The ⚡ bolt icon marks clustered matches: three or more patterns within a 10-line window, each receiving an additional ×1.5 density multiplier under the legacy scoring model.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | test/benchmarks/object_utils.rb | 1 | require File.expand_path("../../helper", __FILE__) | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id.rb | 1 | require "active_record" | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id.rb | 21 | # It requires few changes to your application code and offers flexibility, | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id.rb | 61 | # In addition to adding {FriendlyId::Base#friendly_id friendly_id}, the class | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 21 | # *A note about single table inheritance (STI): you must extend FriendlyId in | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 41 | # In this case, FriendlyId assumes you want to use the column as-is; it will never | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 61 | # class Post < ActiveRecord::Base | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 81 | # end | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 101 | # friendly_id :title | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 121 | # friendly_id do |config| | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 141 | # on-the-fly. For example, let's say you want to make | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 161 | # swedish, turkish, ukrainian and vietnamese. Characters that no named rule | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 181 | # Configures the sequence of characters used to separate a slug from a | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 201 | # Sets the value used for the slugged association's dependent option. Use | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/base.rb | 221 | # Returns a scope that includes the friendly finders. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/history.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/history.rb | 21 | # model. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/history.rb | 41 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/reserved.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/reserved.rb | 21 | # friendly_id :name, use: :slugged | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 1 | require "friendly_id/slug_generator" | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 21 | # end | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 41 | # class Post < ActiveRecord::Base | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 61 | # end | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 81 | # FriendlyId uses. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 101 | # When you try to insert a record that would generate a duplicate friendly id, | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 121 | # friendly_id :slug_candidates, use: :slugged | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 141 | # To use candidates, make your FriendlyId base method return an array. The | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 161 | # be interpreted as either a friendly slug or a database ID. To prevent this, you can | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 181 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 201 | # friendly_id :title, :use => :slugged | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 221 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 241 | # #### Gotchas: Common Problems | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 281 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 321 | # Public: Resolve conflicts. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 401 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/sequence_calculator.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 1 | # FriendlyId Global Configuration | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 21 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 41 | # always also configure it on a per-model basis if you prefer. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 61 | # By default, slug has no size limit, but you can change it if you wish. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 81 | # nil, but if you're using a column as your base method can change this | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 101 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 121 | # - :restrict_with_exception | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 1 | require "friendly_id/slugged" | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 21 | # extend FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 41 | # end | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 61 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 81 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/scoped.rb | 141 | (changed & friendly_id_config.scope_columns).any? || super | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/object_utils.rb | 21 | module ObjectUtils | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 1 | require "i18n" | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 21 | # ### Example migration | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 41 | # Post.friendly.find("la-guerra-de-las-galaxias") | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 61 | # {FriendlyId::SimpleI18n::Model#set_friendly_id}. This will ensure that the slug | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/finders.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/finders.rb | 21 | # not have a public API, which was harder to maintain and at times caused | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/finders.rb | 41 | # Unless you've chosen to use the `:finders` addon, be sure to modify the finders | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/finder_methods.rb | 1 | module FriendlyId | COMMENT |
| 4 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/candidates.rb | 4 | # This class provides the slug candidate functionality. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 273 | # This method is not intended to be invoked directly; FriendlyId uses it | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 17 | # This module is most suitable to applications that need to support few locales. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/finder_methods.rb | 84 | # This method is not intended to be invoked directly; FriendlyId uses it | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/configuration.rb | 38 | # This method is invoked by {FriendlyId::Base#friendly_id friendly_id} when | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/configuration.rb | 68 | # This method is generally only used internally by FriendlyId. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 209 | # don't forget to invoke `super` from your implementation: | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 209 | # don't forget to invoke `super` from your implementation: | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 57 | # 'slug', but you can change it if you wish. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 61 | # By default, slug has no size limit, but you can change it if you wish. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 100 | # ASCII. If you use this, don't forget to add "babosa" to your Gemfile. | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/initializer.rb | 100 | # ASCII. If you use this, don't forget to add "babosa" to your Gemfile. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | test/simple_i18n_test.rb | 16 | journalist = Journalist.new(name: "John Doe") | CODE |
| LOW | test/simple_i18n_test.rb | 33 | journalist = Journalist.new(name: "John Doe") | CODE |
| LOW | test/simple_i18n_test.rb | 39 | journalist = Journalist.new(name: "John Doe") | CODE |
| LOW | test/simple_i18n_test.rb | 74 | journalist.set_friendly_id("John Doe") | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/sequentially_slugged.rb | 9 | def resolve_friendly_id_conflict(candidate_slugs) | CODE |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/slugged.rb | 337 | def resolve_friendly_id_conflict(candidates) | CODE |
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/finder_methods.rb | 114 | def raise_not_found_exception(id) | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | lib/friendly_id/reserved.rb | 16 | # scaffolding works as expected, one way to accomplish this is to move the error | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | lib/friendly_id/simple_i18n.rb | 67 | # If you don't pass in a locale argument, FriendlyId::SimpleI18n will just use the | COMMENT |
| LOW | lib/generators/friendly_id_generator.rb | 8 | # new table name. Our generator always uses 'friendly_id_slugs', so we just set a random name here. | COMMENT |