Different require paths for spec_helper can execute the same file multiple times in Ruby 1.8; using one consistent require 'spec_helper' avoids duplicate loading.

RubyMine can flag Cucumber steps from gems as undefined because external step definitions are not linked by default. Adding the gem under Cucumber settings restores navigation and resolution.

Capybara tasks can be double-clicked by using Selenium-backed double_click on the matched element; plain Capybara alone does not handle double-clicks.

validate_uniqueness_of in Shoulda needs an existing record; without it, RSpec can raise “Could not find first Keyword” during uniqueness checks.

Using the same Rails session secret in staging and production can let a cookie from one environment authenticate in another. Separate secrets per environment reduce session hijacking risk.

Staging sites can be kept out of Google with robots.txt while avoiding a forgotten block on launch by serving a separate exclude file on staging only.

Our gem Mail Magnet allows you to override e-mail recipients in ActionMailer so all mails go to a given address.

This is useful for staging environments where you want to test production-like mail delivery without sending e-mails to real users.