Tosbourn iconTosbournSep 1, 2026 ~1 min source read

Filtering select boxes in Active Admin

On a recent project we needed Active Admin to show a dropdown box that automatically updated depending on other selections happening on a form. This isn't supported out of the box by Active Admin, but is quick to add yourself.

Filtering select boxes in Active Admin

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On a recent project we needed Active Admin to show a dropdown box that automatically updated depending on other selections happening on a form.

Create a new controller action to handle filtering You have a number of choices for how you go about this, exactly where you place this Controller and/or Action will depend on what makes sense for your project.

This isn't supported out of the box by Active Admin, but is quick to add yourself.

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The useful part

On a recent project we needed Active Admin to show a dropdown box that automatically updated depending on other selections happening on a form. This isn't supported out of the box by Active Admin, but is quick to add yourself. Create a new controller action to handle filtering You have a number of choices for how you go about this, exactly where you place this Controller and/or Action will depend on what makes sense for your project.

How it works

  • In our project it made the most sense to have an AdminFiltersController controller.
  • Other projects will prefer to keep these Actions tied to the model you're acting on.

Details worth keeping

Originally appeared on Tosbourn – Belfast based Ruby developers.

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