5 Gems That I Use to Simplify Development on HTTPScout

When I was building HTTPScout, the goal was to keep things simple. Every extra service, integration, or dependency meant more things to break, more bugs to chase, more overhead. I’ve spent enough time cleaning up after “clever” setups to know that fewer moving parts is usually the better choice. These five gems helped me stay focused on building.

1. Letter Opener Web – Easy Email Debugging

Email’s annoying to debug. Letter Opener Web just opens it in the browser. You see what you sent, no risk of it hitting a real inbox, no guessing on formatting. It shortens the loop and saves time.

2. Ahoy – First Party Analytics in Rails

With analytics come: privacy concerns, GDPR, and monthly bills. Ahoy just logs events locally. It’s simple, Rails-native, and works without bringing in another service. It gives me enough insight to improve flows without the overhead.

3. Exception Track – Tracking Exceptions Without Using Yet Another Service

Exception Track. It does what it says. Exceptions show up in a readable view—no parsing logs, no external service, no accounts. I don’t need anything fancy, just visibility when something breaks. Exception Track handles that and gets out of the way.

4. Invisible Captcha – Blocking Bots Without Annoying Users

I don’t like captchas. They’re friction. With Invisible Captcha, there are no puzzles, no weird image grids. It catches bots without annoying real users. It’s great.

5. Lograge – Structured Logging FTW

I self-host HTTPScout, so I’m already reading logs. Lograge outputs structured JSON, which makes it easier to filter and debug with jq or grep. It’s not fancy, but it works. Also lines up well with upcoming Rails 7.2 logging changes.

Final Thoughts

These gems save me time. They reduce noise, cut out external dependencies, and let me stay focused. Most are free. None require yet another account. If you’re trying to keep things simple, these might help.