Koala

Koala (http://github.com/arsduo/ruby-sdk) is a new Facebook Graph library for Ruby. We wrote Koala with four goals:

• Lightweight: Koala should be as light and simple as Facebook’s own new libraries, providing API accessors and returning simple JSON. (We clock in, with comments, just over 300 lines of code.)
• Fast: Koala should, out of the box, be quick. In addition to supporting the vanilla Ruby networking libraries, it natively supports Typhoeus, our preferred gem for making fast HTTP requests. Of course, That brings us to our next topic:
• Flexible: Koala should be useful to everyone, regardless of their current configuration. (We have no dependencies beyond the JSON gem. Koala also has a built-in mechanism for using whichever HTTP library you prefer to make requests against the graph.)
• Tested: Koala should have complete test coverage, so you can rely on it. (By the time you read this the final tests are being written.)

Basic usage:

graph = Koala::Facebook::GraphAPI.new(oauth_access_token)
profile = graph.get_object("me")
friends = graph.get_connections("me", "friends")
graph.put_object("me", "feed", :message => "I am writing on my wall!")

If you're using Koala within a web application with the Facebook JavaScript SDK, you can use the Koala::Facebook::OAuth class to parse the cookies set by the JavaScript SDK for logged in users.

Examples and More Details

There's a very detailed description and walkthrough of Koala at http://blog.twoalex.com/2010/05/03/introducing-koala-a-new-gem-for-facebooks-new-graph-api/.

Testing

Unit tests are provided for Graph API methods. However, because the Graph API uses access tokens, which expire, you have to provide your own token with stream publishing permissions for the tests. Insert the token value into the file test/facebook_data.yml, then run the test as follows: spec koala_tests.rb

Unit tests for cookie validation and other methods in the OAuth class will be provided shortly. (You'll also need to add that information into the yml.)

Coming Soon

1. OAuth class methods to parse the results of the access token call
2. OAuth class method to directly fetch the access token when given a code value

Known Issues

1. gem install koala produces "Could not find main page readme.md" message