Are your controllers looking like this? class IssuesController < ApplicationController default_search_scope :issues before_filter :find_issue, :only => [:show, :edit, :update] before_filter :find_issues, :only => [:bulk_edit, :bulk_update, :destroy] before_filter :find_project, :only => [:new, :create, :update_form] before_filter :authorize, :except => [:index] before_filter :find_optional_project

