Installation
Create a new app
Installing Rails UI begins by creating a new vanilla Rails application. At this time, Rails UI requires all applications to be new apps.
Pre-requisitesBefore installing the gem, ensure both your node and yarn versions are up to date for best results.
Using something like nvm helps managing node versions less of a chore. I like to use homebrew for yarn and periodically run brew upgrade yarn.
Using the latest versions of these libraries allows additional scripts to run and insert build scripts dynamically to your app. TL;DR; The more up to date your version the less manual configuration you'll need to do.
Create a vanilla Rails app
rails new my_app_name
You might be tempted to pass options when creating a new app to install a CSS framework or JavaScript framework. We recommend waiting to do this until completing all configuration steps.
All other options related to tests, skipping APIs, database types, and more can be passed.
During the configuration process, Rails UI automatically installs the CSS framework of your choice (in a similar manner as the cssbundling-rails and jsbundling-rails Ruby gems) thus making the optional flags unnecessary. esbuild is the default solution for JavaScript.
Install the gem
Free while in alpha!
Want to support the effort and help me speed things up? Become an early supporter.
Add the railsui gem to your Gemfile
# Gemfile
gem "railsui", github: "getrailsui/railsui"
Run the bundle install command to fetch the new gem and its assets
bundle install
Run the installer
Once installed, Rails UI includes several generators. Run the install generator first.
This generator will fetch the foundation for Rails UI, which includes assets, templates, theme-specific templates, and more. Additionally, it installs and configures a few other handy gems Rails UI leverages inside most views.
rails railsui:install
Boot the app
Boot the new app and visit the root path (localhost:3000). This should present a new page with some actions to areas related to Rails UI.
bin/dev

From there, you may proceed to configure the app.
Optional: Speed install 🐇
Prefer a one-liner install?
This set of commands installs Rails UI and boots the app so you can proceed to the configuration phase and get straight to work.
rails new app_name && cd app_name && bundle add railsui && rails railsui:install && bin/dev