Family Settings Management#

Overview#

Settings in Sure are split across two scopes:

• User-level — per-user preferences (locale, theme, default period/account order, preview features) stored directly as columns or in a JSONB preferences field on the users table.
• Family-level — shared configuration that applies to all members of a family (currency, timezone, date format, country, month start day, enabled currencies, account sharing default, moniker) stored on the families table.

Both are surfaced and updated through Settings → Preferences (/settings/preferences).

Data Model#

Family attributes 1#

Family::DATE_FORMATS lists all allowed format strings 2. Validations for locale, date_format, month_start_day, moniker, assistant_type, and default_account_sharing are enforced at the model layer 3.

User attributes#

User-level settings are a mix of direct columns and JSONB:

• Direct columns: locale, theme (default "system"), default_period (default "last_30_days"), default_account_order (default "name_asc") 4.
• JSONB preferences column: stores boolean flags like preview_features_enabled and UI layout data 5.

Update Flow#

General preferences (most family + user settings)#

All general settings submit to UsersController#update via PATCH /users/:id 6.

Family attributes travel as nested params under user[family_attributes][...]. This works because the User model declares accepts_nested_attributes_for :family, update_only: true 7, preventing family creation through this path.

Permitted family attributes are defined in user_params:

• All users: name, currency, country, date_format, timezone, locale, month_start_day, id
• Admins only: moniker, default_account_sharing, enabled_currencies: []

Changes to moniker, default_account_sharing, or enabled_currencies are admin-gated by admin_family_change_requested? 8. Non-admins attempting these changes are redirected with an unauthorized error.

After a successful update, the redirect_to hidden field routes the user back to the originating page — "preferences" routes to settings_preferences_path 9.

Preview features toggle (JSONB preferences)#

The preview features toggle on the Preferences page posts to Settings::PreferencesController#update (PATCH /settings/preferences) instead of UsersController. This controller reads and deep-merges only the preview_features_enabled key into the users.preferences JSONB column under a pessimistic lock (lock!) to prevent race conditions 10.

UI Layer#

The Preferences view (show.html.erb) is organized into four sections:

1. General (all users) — language/locale, timezone, date format, default account order, country, month start day. All selects use the auto-submit-form Stimulus controller so changes are saved on selection without an explicit submit button 11.

2. Currencies (admin only) — shows the primary currency and a preview of enabled additional currencies. A "Manage currencies" button opens a DS::Dialog modal containing a searchable, paginated checklist of all currencies. The base currency is pre-checked and disabled. The form posts user[family_attributes][enabled_currencies][] as a multi-value array 12.

3. Sharing (admin only) — default_account_sharing select ("shared" / "private") controlling whether new accounts are automatically shared with all family members 13.

4. Preview features (all users) — a standalone DS::Toggle at the bottom, auto-submitting to Settings::PreferencesController#update. The <label> wrapping the toggle row makes the full title + description area a click target 14.

Currency Preferences Detail#

The enabled_currencies array controls which currencies appear in account and entry selectors across the app. Key model methods on Family 15:

• primary_currency_code — returns currency normalized via Money::Currency, falling back to "USD".
• enabled_currency_codes — returns the active set: if enabled_currencies is nil, all currencies are available; otherwise only the explicit list plus the primary.
• secondary_enabled_currency_objects — same set minus the primary currency; used to render the preview badges in the UI.

Before validation, normalize_enabled_currencies! 16 normalizes codes, deduplicates, and collapses back to nil if "all currencies" are selected (i.e., no restriction).

Key Files#