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Rails Frontend Development Guidelines

rails-frontend-guidelines

Rails frontend development guidelines using Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus), Tailwind CSS, and ViewComponent. Modern patterns for server-rendered HTML with progressive enhancement, zero-build frontend architecture, and Rails conventions. Use when creating views, components, Stimulus controllers, parti...

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SKILL.md

Full skill instructions

Rails Frontend Development Guidelines

Purpose

Comprehensive guide for modern Rails frontend development using Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus), Tailwind CSS, and server-side rendering. Emphasizes progressive enhancement, minimal JavaScript, and Rails conventions.

When to Use This Skill

  • Creating new views or partials
  • Building Stimulus controllers
  • Working with Turbo Frames or Turbo Streams
  • Styling with Tailwind CSS
  • Creating ViewComponents
  • Adding frontend interactivity
  • Organizing frontend code
  • Performance optimization

Quick Start

New View Checklist

Creating a view? Follow this checklist:

  • Use semantic HTML5 elements
  • Turbo Frame for interactive sections
  • Turbo Stream for real-time updates
  • Tailwind utility classes for styling
  • Minimal Stimulus controllers for interactivity
  • Partials for reusable components
  • Accessible markup (ARIA labels, semantic elements)
  • Mobile-first responsive design
  • Progressive enhancement (works without JS)

New Stimulus Controller Checklist

Creating a Stimulus controller? Follow this:

  • Name matches HTML (data-controller matches filename)
  • Use targets for DOM elements
  • Use values for configuration
  • Use actions for events
  • Keep controllers small and focused (single responsibility)
  • Clean up in disconnect() if needed
  • Use classes for CSS manipulation

Topic Guides

⚡ Turbo (Hotwire)

Turbo Drive:

  • Automatic page navigation without full reload
  • Enabled by default in Rails 7+
  • Use data-turbo="false" to disable on specific links/​forms

Turbo Frames:

  • Scoped page updates
  • Lazy loading support
  • Break out with data-turbo-frame="_top"

Turbo Streams:

  • Real-time updates over WebSocket or HTTP
  • 7 actions: append, prepend, replace, update, remove, before, after
  • Format: respond_to with format.turbo_stream

📖 Complete Guide: resources/​turbo-guide.md


🎮 Stimulus Controllers

Stimulus = "Modest JavaScript Framework"

  • Sprinkles JavaScript on server-rendered HTML
  • Three core concepts: Controllers, Actions, Targets
  • Lifecycle: connect() → disconnect()
  • Values for configuration (automatically typed)
  • Classes for CSS manipulation

📖 Complete Guide: resources/​stimulus-guide.md


📚 Complete Examples

Full working examples:

  • Modern view with Turbo Frames
  • Complete Stimulus controller
  • Form with real-time validation
  • Turbo Stream updates
  • Responsive layouts with Tailwind

📖 Complete Guide: resources/​complete-examples.md


Navigation Guide

Need to...Read this resource
Use Turbo Frames/​Streamsturbo-guide.md
Create Stimulus controllerstimulus-guide.md
See full examplescomplete-examples.md

Core Principles

  1. Server-Side First: Render HTML on server, enhance with JavaScript
  2. Progressive Enhancement: Works without JavaScript, better with it
  3. Turbo for Navigation: Use Turbo Drive/​Frames instead of full page reloads
  4. Stimulus for Interactivity: Minimal JavaScript, attached to HTML
  5. Tailwind for Styling: Utility-first CSS in templates
  6. Semantic HTML: Use proper HTML5 elements
  7. Partials for Reuse: Extract common patterns to partials

File Structure Quick Reference

app/
  views/
    layouts/​application.html.erb
    shared/​_nav.html.erb
    posts/
      index.html.erb
      show.html.erb
      _post.html.erb
      _form.html.erb
  javascript/
    controllers/
      application.js
      hello_controller.js
      form_controller.js

Related Skills

  • rails-backend-guidelines: Backend patterns for controllers and models
  • skill-developer: For creating new skills

Skill Status: Adapted for Rails 7+, Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus), and Tailwind CSS

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