merefield
31 בינואר, 2026, 2:30pm
1211
Delighted to announce that both @祁同伟 and @nathank have stepped up to sponsor
This work will be experimental for a while, but I’m also delighted to tell you the PR is already up here:
main ← automated_ip_based_user_location_determination
opened 02:16PM - 31 Jan 26 UTC
## IP‑based User Location (MaxMind → GeoNames)
### What this adds
- Auto… matically determines a user’s location from their IP after post creation.
- Uses **MaxMind (DiscourseIpInfo)** for identity + GeoNames for canonical lat/lon.
- Stores exactly **one granularity level** per user (`country` / `province` / `city`) in `UserCustomField`
`geo_location`.
- Ensures lat/lon match the chosen granularity (privacy‑correct coordinates).
- Caches GeoNames lookups by `geoname_id` (no extra gems; uses `FinalDestination::HTTP`).
---
## Prerequisites (official accounts)
You must have valid accounts and credentials from:
- **MaxMind GeoLite2**
Sign up and obtain an Account ID + License Key:
https://www.maxmind.com/en/geolite2/signup
- **GeoNames**
Create a username for the GeoNames API and **enable Web Services** in your GeoNames account settings:
https://www.geonames.org/login
---
## Required Configuration
**Env vars (MaxMind)**
- `DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID`
- `DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY`
**Site settings**
- `location_geonames_username` (GeoNames username)
**Dev note (MaxMind DBs)**
- In development, ensure the MaxMind DBs are downloaded:
DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID=... DISCOURSE_MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY=... bundle exec rake maxminddb:get
Restart web/sidekiq afterward so `DiscourseIpInfo` reloads the DBs.
---
## Settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---:|---|
| `location_ip_granularity` | `city` | Controls stored level: `country`, `province` (admin1), or `city`. |
| `location_geonames_username` | `""` | GeoNames username for `getJSON` requests. Acts as a feature flag
(blank => skip). |
| `location_ip_lookup_cooldown_days` | `1` | Per‑user cooldown between IP lookups (0 disables cooldown). |
| `locations_skip_ip_based_location_update_if_existing` | `true` | Skip IP lookup when existing
`geo_location` already has **lat + lon**. |
| `location_ip_auto_lookup_enabled` | `false` | Auto‑enqueue IP lookups on post creation. Rake task still
works when off. |
---
## Flow
- `post_created` → enqueue `Jobs::Locations::IpLocationLookup` with user ID + IP.
- Job:
- Guards: plugin enabled, users map enabled, GeoNames username present, MaxMind env vars present, cooldown
OK, and optional “existing location” check.
- Uses `DiscourseIpInfo.get(ip)` to get `geoname_ids`.
- Resolves GeoNames IDs, picks feature by granularity, builds `geo_location`.
- Saves `geo_location` to user custom field + updates `locations_user` table.
---
## Job + Hook
**Hook**
- `post_created` now enqueues `Jobs::Locations::IpLocationLookup`
- In development, IP is overridden to a fixed test IP (`2.139.231.7`) to ensure resolvable data.
**Job**
- `Jobs::Locations::IpLocationLookup` (new, in `app/jobs/regular/locations/ip_location_lookup.rb`)
- Logs key steps, skips when prerequisites are missing.
- Writes `geo_location` only when successfully built.
---
## GeoNames Helpers
New modules in `lib/locations/`:
- `GeoNamesClient`
- Calls `https://secure.geonames.org/getJSON` via `FinalDestination::HTTP`.
- Normalizes `geoname_id`, `fcl`, `fcode`, `lat`, `lon`, etc.
- Caches only successful lookups (avoids caching nil).
- `GeoNamesGranularityPicker`
- Selects best `PCLI` / `ADM1` / `PPL*` by desired granularity.
- `GeoLocationBuilder`
- Builds `geo_location` hash with correct `lat/lon`, `state`/`city` based on granularity.
---
## Rake Task
New rake task in `lib/tasks/locations.rake`:
**Task**
rake locations:enqueue_user_ip_location_lookups[username_pattern,pattern_type,delay]
**Behavior**
- Iterates users and enqueues the IP lookup job using `user.ip_address`.
- Progress is based on **matched population** (not total users).
- Skips enqueue when IP is blank.
**Options**
- `username_pattern` (optional): filter users by username.
- `pattern_type`: `string` (default substring match) or `regex`.
- `delay`: seconds between enqueues (float, default `0`).
**Help**
rake locations:enqueue_user_ip_location_lookups:help
This is not a simple lookup, we do more than that - this will allow you to set a specific granularity (e.g. city) for all automatically determined locations in order to protect user privacy whilst increasing community trust.
(Yes, there will be some issues with VPNs and I’m afraid we can’t easily overcome that).
Once I’m satisfied this is working sufficiently well I will merge it.
It sits behind a feature flag in any case.
I’ll keep you posted, but exciting times, this is potentially one of the best additions to Locations we may have had for a while.
Thanks again to @祁同伟 and @nathank !!
And yes, there will also be a rake task to do this for all existing users …
9 לייקים
the work for setting user location via IP