Are multiple before_action calls bad code style?

Your current solution is okay. You can use like to avoid multiple method calls

before_action :first_action, :second_action, :third_action, :fourth_action, :fifth_action, :sixth_action, :seventh_action, only: [:index, :show, :create]

There is nothing wrong with having multiple before_actions - but it looks more like you have a case where they could be collected into one action?