Rails Application Template

A comprehensive Rails application template with modern best practices, testing tools, and development utilities.

Features

Core Stack

• PostgreSQL database
• RSpec for testing
• StandardRB for Ruby linting
• Bootstrap CSS support (with --css=bootstrap)
• Esbuild for JavaScript (with --javascript=esbuild)

Development & Debugging Tools

• pry-rails - Enhanced Rails console
• better_errors + binding_of_caller - Better error pages with REPL
• amazing_print - Pretty-print Ruby objects (replaces deprecated awesome_print)
• bullet - N+1 query detection
• goldiloader - Automatic N+1 prevention (optional, default: enabled)
• rack-mini-profiler - Performance profiling (optional, default: enabled)

Testing Suite

• RSpec Rails with proper configuration
• Capybara + Selenium for system testing
• Factory Bot for test factories
• Shoulda Matchers for one-liner tests (optional, default: enabled)
• Faker for test data generation (optional, default: enabled)
• SimpleCov for code coverage reporting (optional, default: enabled)
• WebMock for HTTP request stubbing (optional, default: disabled)

Code Quality & Linting

• StandardRB + Standard-Rails for Ruby
• Herb - HTML+ERB linting and analysis
• Prettier for JavaScript/CSS formatting (optional, default: disabled)
• ESLint with Thoughtbot configuration (optional, default: disabled)
• Stylelint with Thoughtbot configuration (optional, default: disabled)
• erb_lint + better_html for ERB template linting (only when full linting stack is enabled)

Documentation & Visualization

• AnnotateRb - Automatic model schema annotations (replaces deprecated annotate gem)
• Rails ERD - Entity relationship diagram generation (optional, default: enabled)
• rails_db - Web UI for database browsing (optional, default: disabled)

Security & Safety

• Brakeman - Security vulnerability scanning
• Brakeman & Bundler Audit - Security scanning (Rails 8.1 defaults)

Monitoring & Analytics

• Error Monitoring - Choose between Rollbar (default), Honeybadger, or None (optional)
• Skylight - Production performance monitoring (optional, default: enabled)
• Ahoy + Blazer - Analytics tracking and SQL-based dashboard (optional, default: enabled)

Environment & Configuration

• dotenv - Environment variable management (replaces dotenv-rails)
• Force SSL in production
• Enhanced production logging
• Database Options:
  • Optional UUID primary keys
  • Optional Rails 8 multi-database setup (separate databases for cache/queue/cable) - defaults to single database for simpler deployment

Project Files

• Comprehensive README template
• CONTRIBUTING.md guidelines
• .env.example with common configurations
• .node-version for Node.js version management

Usage

Basic Usage

rails new my_app \
  --database=postgresql \
  --javascript=esbuild \
  --css=bootstrap \
  --skip-test \
  --skip-kamal \
  --skip-rubocop \
  --template=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/firstdraft/rails_application_template/main/template.rb

Recommended Flags

• --database=postgresql - Use PostgreSQL (required)
• --javascript=esbuild - Fast JavaScript bundling
• --css=bootstrap - Bootstrap CSS framework
• --skip-test - Skip Minitest (we use RSpec)
• --skip-rubocop - Skip default RuboCop (we use StandardRB)
• --skip-kamal - Skip Kamal deployment (unless you need it)

Interactive Options

The template offers two modes:

1. Default Configuration (recommended): Includes most tools with sensible defaults
2. Custom Configuration: Interactive prompts to choose which tools to include

If you choose custom configuration, you'll be prompted for:

• Testing Tools: SimpleCov, Shoulda Matchers, Faker, WebMock
• Performance Tools: Goldiloader, rack-mini-profiler, Skylight
• Analytics: Ahoy + Blazer for tracking and dashboards
• Documentation Tools: Rails ERD, rails_db browser
• Error Monitoring: Rollbar, Honeybadger, or None
• Frontend Tools: Bootstrap overrides, full linting stack (Prettier, ESLint, Stylelint)
• Database Configuration:
  • UUID primary keys vs. standard integers
  • Rails 8 multi-database setup (separate databases for cache/queue/cable) vs. single database
• Deployment: Render.com-specific configuration (build script, render.yaml blueprint, tier/database provider selection, optional worker service, optional custom domain checklist)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions CI workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml)

What Gets Configured

Testing

• RSpec with random test order
• Test example persistence for re-running failed tests
• SimpleCov for coverage (run with COVERAGE=true bundle exec rspec)
• WebMock configured with Chrome driver whitelisting
• Factory Bot and Shoulda Matchers support files

Linting

• StandardRB configuration for Ruby
• Herb configuration for HTML+ERB
• Optional full frontend linting stack (Prettier, ESLint, Stylelint) and erb_lint/better_html
• All with proper ignore patterns and configurations

Development Tools

• Bullet enabled with console and footer output
• AnnotateRb configuration for model annotations
• Rails ERD with Bachman notation

Git Workflow

• Incremental commits after each configuration step
• Clean git history showing the setup progression

CI/CD (Optional)

• GitHub Actions workflow with Postgres service, asset build, security scans, linting, and RSpec

Available Commands

After creating your app, these commands are available:

Development

bin/dev                        # Start development server (includes web, JS/CSS compilation, and SolidQueue worker)
rails console                  # Enhanced console with Pry

Note: When using bin/dev (apps with JavaScript/CSS compilation), the template automatically configures SolidQueue to run in development, matching production behavior and helping catch job-related issues early.

Testing

bundle exec rspec              # Run test suite
COVERAGE=true bundle exec rspec # Run with coverage report

Linting & Formatting

# Ruby
bundle exec standardrb         # Check Ruby code
bundle exec standardrb --fix   # Fix Ruby issues

# HTML+ERB
bundle exec herb analyze .     # Analyze HTML+ERB (views/components)

# JavaScript/CSS (only if full linting stack is enabled)
yarn lint                      # Check JS/CSS
yarn fix:prettier              # Fix JS/CSS formatting

# ERB Templates (only if full linting stack is enabled)
bundle exec erb_lint --lint-all              # Check ERB
bundle exec erb_lint --lint-all --autocorrect # Fix ERB

Security

bundle exec brakeman           # Security scan
bundle exec bundle-audit check # Check for vulnerable gems

Documentation

bundle exec erd                # Generate ERD diagram
bundle exec annotaterb models  # Update model annotations

Database

Visit /rails_db in development for web UI (if enabled)

Analytics & Monitoring

Visit /blazer for analytics dashboard (if Ahoy + Blazer enabled)

Background Jobs

The template uses Rails 8's default Solid Queue for background job processing.

Development

• When using bin/dev (apps with JS/CSS compilation), SolidQueue runs automatically as a worker process
• Development environment is configured to use :solid_queue adapter
• This matches production behavior and helps catch job-related issues early

Production

• SolidQueue uses database-backed job storage (same database as your app data)
• Can optionally run as separate worker service (e.g., on Render.com) or as Puma plugin
• For high-volume applications needing Redis-backed processing, see:
  • Solid Queue vs Sidekiq Comparison
  • Migration Guide from Sidekiq

Deployment

This template creates apps configured for generic production deployment, suitable for any modern hosting platform.

Render.com (Optional)

When enabled during setup, the template generates Render.com-specific configuration:

• bin/render-build.sh - Automated build script for dependencies and assets (migrations run in preDeployCommand)
• render.yaml - Blueprint file with web service configuration and optional database provisioning
• Health check endpoint (/up) configuration
• Tier selection (free vs paid) that adjusts defaults like WEB_CONCURRENCY
• Database provider selection (Render Postgres or Supabase; free tier defaults to Supabase)
• Choice between Solid Queue as a Puma plugin or separate worker service
• Environment variable guidance for RAILS_MASTER_KEY and WEB_CONCURRENCY
• RENDER_DEPLOYMENT.md - Per-project checklist (includes optional Supabase setup steps and optional custom domain DNS guidance)

See Render's Rails 8 deployment guide for more details.

Other Platforms

The template works with minimal or no configuration changes on:

• Fly.io
• Railway
• Heroku
• Any platform supporting Rails 8 and PostgreSQL

Differences from Original

This is an enhanced version of the original firstdraft template with:

• Interactive Customization: Choose which tools to include or use sensible defaults
• Updated Gems: amazing_print, annotaterb, dotenv (replacing deprecated versions)
• Testing Tools: SimpleCov, WebMock, Shoulda Matchers, Faker
• Linting Stack: StandardRB + Standard-Rails, Herb; optional Prettier, ESLint, Stylelint, erb_lint
• Security Tools: Brakeman, bundler-audit (Rails 8.1 defaults)
• Performance Tools: Goldiloader, rack-mini-profiler, Skylight
• Monitoring & Analytics: Error monitoring (Rollbar/Honeybadger), Ahoy + Blazer
• Database Flexibility: Single vs. multi-database setup, UUID support
• Deployment Options: Render.com-specific configuration available
• CI/CD: Optional GitHub Actions workflow
• Modern Production Configuration: Generic setup for any platform
• Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed README and contributing guidelines

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! Please ensure any new gems or configurations:

1. Are actively maintained
2. Add clear value for most Rails applications
3. Include appropriate documentation
4. Follow the incremental commit pattern

License

MIT