Apply rule defaults and aliases more thoroughly?

[jfouse]

I'm wondering if there's a reason not to have Core#__apply__ call resolve_rule before public_send, like this:

def __apply__(rule)
  rule = resolve_rule(rule)
  public_send(rule)
end

This would support default rules and rule aliases across the board instead of just for controller actions, including calling check?/allowed_to? from within policies, policy.apply from anywhere, and supporting 3rd party gems (like ActiveAdmin) that may use their own mechanisms to authorize controller actions.

[palkan]

Yep, there is a reason: to make direct policy usage explicit thus simplifying the policy classes themselves; we try to keep policy classes as PORO as possible and avoid any automagic inference/resolution.
And that's why we have a concept of behaviour: it acts as an adapter between the authorization context and the policy.

policy.apply from anywhere, and supporting 3rd party gems (like ActiveAdmin)

Ideally, you shouldn't call policy.apply directly, you should always use Behavior.

including calling check?/allowed_to? from within policies

That probably makes sense. Especially in the context of the failure reasons.