Passbook is an iOS 6 feature that manages boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, & loyalty cards. Using the PassKit API, developers can register web services to automatically update content on the pass, such as gate changes on a boarding pass, or adding credit to a loyalty card.
Apple provides a specification for a REST-style web service protocol to communicate with Passbook, with endpoints to get the latest version of a pass, register / unregister devices to receive push notifications for a pass, and query for passes registered for a device.
Rack::Passbook provides those specified endpoints.
If you're just starting out Passbook development, you should definitely check out this great two-part tutorial by Marin Todorov (Part 1 Part 2).
$ gem install rack-passbook
- Ruby 1.9
- PostgreSQL 9.1 running locally (Postgres.app is the easiest way to get a Postgres server running on your Mac)
Rack::Passbook can be run as Rack middleware or as a single web application. All that is required is a connection to a Postgres database.
require 'bundler'
Bundler.require
run Rack::PassbookAn example application can be found in the /example directory of this repository.
What follows is a summary of the specification. The complete specification can be found in the Passbook Web Service Reference.
GET http://example.com/v1/passes/:passTypeIdentifier/:serialNumber
- passTypeIdentifier The pass’s type, as specified in the pass.
- serialNumber The unique pass identifier, as specified in the pass.
Response
- If request is authorized, return HTTP status 200 with a payload of the pass data.
- If the request is not authorized, return HTTP status 401.
- Otherwise, return the appropriate standard HTTP status.
GET http://example.com/v1/devices/:deviceLibraryIdentifier/registrations/:passTypeIdentifier[?passesUpdatedSince=tag]
- deviceLibraryIdentifier A unique identifier that is used to identify and authenticate the device.
- passTypeIdentifier The pass’s type, as specified in the pass.
- serialNumber The unique pass identifier, as specified in the pass.
- passesUpdatedSince Optional A tag from a previous request.
Response
If the passesUpdatedSince parameter is present, return only the passes that have been updated since the time indicated by tag. Otherwise, return all passes.
- If there are matching passes, return HTTP status 200 with a JSON dictionary with the following keys and values:
- lastUpdated (string) The current modification tag.
- serialNumbers (array of strings) The serial numbers of the matching passes.
- If there are no matching passes, return HTTP status 204.
- Otherwise, return the appropriate standard HTTP status.
POST http://example.com/v1/devices/:deviceLibraryIdentifier/registrations/:passTypeIdentifier/:serialNumber
- deviceLibraryIdentifier A unique identifier that is used to identify and authenticate the device.
- passTypeIdentifier The pass’s type, as specified in the pass.
- serialNumber The unique pass identifier, as specified in the pass.
The POST payload is a JSON dictionary, containing a single key and value:
- pushToken The push token that the server can use to send push notifications to this device.
Response
- If the serial number is already registered for this device, return HTTP status 200.
- If registration succeeds, return HTTP status 201.
- If the request is not authorized, return HTTP status 401.
- Otherwise, return the appropriate standard HTTP status.
DELETE http://example.com/v1/devices/:deviceLibraryIdentifier/registrations/:passTypeIdentifier/:serialNumber
- deviceLibraryIdentifier A unique identifier that is used to identify and authenticate the device.
- passTypeIdentifier The pass’s type, as specified in the pass.
- serialNumber The unique pass identifier, as specified in the pass.
Response
- If disassociation succeeds, return HTTP status 200.
- If the request is not authorized, return HTTP status 401.
- Otherwise, return the appropriate standard HTTP status.
Mattt Thompson
Rack::Passbook is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.