Rails API Controller Update Action -- How to add many-to-many - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have a Rails Api that feeds a Vue front end. I have two main models, Contacts and Outlets, with a many to many relationship via a join table ContactOutlets. I am trying to figure out how in the Contacts controller to add an association to an outlet.
I recognize, I could call the ContactOutlet create action separately, but it seems wasteful if Rails can handle this on the back end. I want vue to call contact#update once.
Contact Model:
class Contact < ApplicationRecord
has_many :contact_outlets
has_many :outlets, through: :contact_outlets
has_many :calls
validates_uniqueness_of :email
validates_uniqueness_of :name
end
Outlet Model:
class Outlet < ApplicationRecord
has_many :contact_outlets
has_many :contacts, through: :contact_outlets
has_many :calls
validates_uniqueness_of :website
end
ContactOutlet:
class ContactOutlet < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :contact
belongs_to :outlet
validates_uniqueness_of :contact_id, :scope => :outlet_id
end
Contacts Controller:
class ContactsController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_contact, only: %i[ show update destroy ]
# GET /contacts
def index
#contacts = Contact.all
render json: #contacts, include: :outlets
end
# GET /contacts/1
def show
render json: #contact, include: :outlets
end
# POST /contacts
def create
#contact = Contact.new(contact_params)
if #contact.save
render json: #contact, status: :created, location: #contact
else
render json: #contact.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
# PATCH/PUT /contacts/1
def update
if #contact.update(contact_params)
render json: #contact, include: :outlets
else
render json: #contact.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
# DELETE /contacts/1
def destroy
#contact.destroy
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_contact
#contact = Contact.find(params[:id])
end
# Only allow a list of trusted parameters through.
def contact_params
params.require(:contact).permit(:name, :email, :bio, :image_url)
end
end

Answer 1

Solved this. In case anyone else is looking the models above are fine. made some adjustments to the contact_params to allow access to the outlets array. Then fixed the update action. Full controller code below:
class ContactsController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_contact, only: %i[ show update destroy ]
# GET /contacts
def index
#contacts = Contact.all
render json: #contacts, include: :outlets
end
# GET /contacts/1
def show
render json: #contact, include: :outlets
end
# POST /contacts
def create
#contact = Contact.new(contact_params)
if #contact.save
render json: #contact, status: :created, location: #contact
else
render json: #contact.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
# PATCH/PUT /contacts/1
def update
if #contact.outlets
#contact.outlets.delete_all
end
if params[:outlets]
contactOutlets = params[:outlets]
contactOutlets.each do |outlet|
#contact.outlets << Outlet.find(outlet[:key])
end
end
if #contact.update(contact_params)
render json: #contact, include: :outlets
else
render json: #contact.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
end
end
# DELETE /contacts/1
def destroy
#contact.destroy
end
private
# Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
def set_contact
#contact = Contact.find(params[:id])
end
# Only allow a list of trusted parameters through.
def contact_params
params.require(:contact).permit(:name, :email, :bio, :image_url, outlet_ids:[])
end
end