# Active Record

Object-relational mapping library for Ruby that maps classes to database tables, distributed as part of Rails.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/activerecord/
Last reviewed: 2026-11-04
Listed since: 2026-11-04

## Record

### Links

- home: https://rubyonrails.org
- repository: https://github.com/rails/rails
- docs: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/active_record_basics.html

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: David Heinemeier Hansson
- maintainerType: unknown
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2008
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: library
- hosting: ruby
- language: ruby
- runtime: ruby
- runtimeMin: ruby 3.2
- basedOn: rails

### Content

- contentStore: not applicable
- databases: mysql, mariadb, postgres, sqlite
- adminUi: not applicable
- headlessApi: not applicable
- templating: not applicable
- i18n: not applicable

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: not applicable
- renderingModes: not applicable
- installMethod: RubyGems (gem install activerecord)

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: MIT

### Releases

- currentMajor: 8
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-11-04

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 58844
- packagistDownloads: not applicable
- npmWeeklyDownloads: not applicable
- contributors: 371
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: unknown
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- urls: https://rubyonrails.org/ (read 2026-11-04)
- urls: https://api.github.com/repos/rails/rails (read 2026-11-04)
- urls: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/README.rdoc (read 2026-11-04)
- maintainer: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/MIT-LICENSE (read 2026-11-04)
- language: https://api.github.com/repos/rails/rails (read 2026-11-04)
- runtime: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/v8.1.4.1/activerecord/activerecord.gemspec (read 2026-11-04)
- runtimeMin: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/v8.1.4.1/activerecord/activerecord.gemspec (read 2026-11-04)
- basedOn: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/v8.1.4.1/activerecord/activerecord.gemspec (read 2026-11-04)
- category: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/README.rdoc (read 2026-11-04)
- databases: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/active_record_basics.html (read 2026-11-04)
- installMethod: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/README.rdoc (read 2026-11-04)
- license: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/README.rdoc (read 2026-11-04)
- licenseModel: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/main/activerecord/README.rdoc (read 2026-11-04)
- currentMajor: https://github.com/rails/rails/releases/tag/v8.1.4.1 (read 2026-11-04)
- latestReleaseDate: https://rubygems.org/api/v1/gems/activerecord.json (read 2026-11-04)
- firstRelease: https://api.github.com/repos/rails/rails/tags (read 2026-11-04)
- githubStargazers: https://api.github.com/repos/rails/rails (read 2026-11-04)
- contributors: https://api.github.com/repos/rails/rails/contributors (read 2026-11-04)

## Notes

Active Record is the object-relational mapping layer of Rails, and it can be installed on its own from RubyGems. A class that subclasses its base class maps to a database table, and associations, validations, callbacks, transactions and migrations are declared in Ruby. The source sits in the Rails monorepo on GitHub, next to the other Rails components.

## Worth knowing

Active Record is one component of Rails, so the repository figures for stars and contributors describe the whole Rails project. The [Active Record guide](https://guides.rubyonrails.org/active_record_basics.html) is the entry point for its concepts.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0