How to use Lato Settings

lato_settings adds an application settings section to a Lato admin panel. Use it when admins need to edit values such as site name, feature flags, limits, labels, dates, or other configuration values without changing code.

Installation

Add Lato Settings to the application Gemfile:

gem "lato"
gem "lato_settings"

Install the engine and run migrations:

bundle
rails lato_settings:install:application
rails lato_settings:install:migrations
rails db:migrate

Mount the engine in config/routes.rb:

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  mount LatoSettings::Engine => "/lato-settings"

  # ...
end

Import styles in app/assets/stylesheets/application.scss:

@import "lato_settings/application";

Import JavaScript in app/javascript/application.js:

import "lato_settings/application"

Permissions

Users must be logged into Lato and must have Lato Settings admin permission enabled.

user = Lato::User.find_by(email: "admin@example.com")
user.update!(lato_settings_admin: true)

What admins can do

• Create settings.
• Edit setting values.
• Delete optional settings.
• Read labels and descriptions to understand each setting purpose.
• Use type-specific inputs for text, numbers, dates, and select values.

Reading settings in application code

Read values with LatoSettings.get(key, default = nil). If the setting does not exist, the method returns the default value.

site_name = LatoSettings.get("site_name", "Default site")
items_per_page = LatoSettings.get("items_per_page", 25)
launch_date = LatoSettings.get("launch_date")

Supported setting types

Initial settings

Create important settings in seeds, then let admins edit values from the panel. Mark a setting as required when it must not be deleted from the UI.

LatoSettings::Setting.find_or_create_by!(key: "site_name") do |setting|
  setting.value = "My application"
  setting.label = "Site name"
  setting.description = "Name shown in public pages"
  setting.typology = :string
  setting.required = true
end

Key format

Use clear lowercase keys with underscores, such as site_name, items_per_page, or launch_date.