Ruby on Rails Dev Container Template

This repository provides a VS Code Dev Container setup for rapid Ruby on Rails development using Docker Compose. It includes a ready-to-use Ruby/Rails environment and a PostgreSQL database, plus a modern shell experience with Zsh and plugins.

Features

• VS Code Dev Containers: Seamless development with Dev Containers.
• Docker Compose: Spins up both a Ruby/Rails development container and a PostgreSQL database container.
• Zsh & Plugins: Enjoy Zsh with Oh My Zsh, syntax highlighting, and autosuggestions.
• No Rails Project Included: Start your Rails app from scratch, choosing only the tools you need.

Rails Tools You Can Select When Creating a New App

When you run rails new, you can choose to include or skip various tools and frameworks, such as:

• Tailwind CSS (--css tailwind)
• Bootstrap (--css bootstrap)
• Sass (--css sass)
• Stimulus (--javascript esbuild or --javascript importmap)
• Hotwire (Turbo & Stimulus, enabled by default)
• RSpec (add manually or via template)
• Minitest (default)
• Webpack (legacy, not recommended for new apps)
• Action Mailbox
• Action Text
• Active Storage
• System Tests
• API-only mode (--api)
• Skip Active Record (--skip-active-record)
• Skip Test (--skip-test)
• Skip Hotwire (--skip-hotwire)

Basic Rails CLI Commands

• rails new <app_name> [options] — Create a new Rails app
• rails server — Start the Rails development server
• rails console — Open the Rails console
• rails db:create — Create the database
• rails db:migrate — Run database migrations
• rails generate <generator> — Generate code (models, controllers, etc.)
• rails test or rspec — Run tests

Recommended Command to Start a New Rails App (with PostgreSQL & Tailwind)

Inside the dev container terminal, run:

rails new . --database=postgresql --css=tailwind

This will:

• Create a new Rails app in the current directory
• Configure it to use PostgreSQL as the database
• Set up Tailwind CSS for styling

Getting Started

1. Open in VS Code Use "Open Folder in Container" or the "Reopen in Container" prompt.

2. Start Services Docker Compose will automatically start both the Rails and PostgreSQL containers.

3. Create Your Rails App Open a terminal in VS Code and run the recommended rails new command above.

4. Configure Database Update your config/database.yml if needed to match the PostgreSQL service settings.

5. Enjoy Zsh The terminal uses Zsh with plugins for a modern shell experience.

Setup the postgresDB after generate the rails app

1. Go to the config/database.yml file
2. in the default or any env, the credentiasl should looks like

default: &default
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  # For details on connection pooling, see Rails configuration guide
  # https://guides.rubyonrails.org/configuring.html#database-pooling
  pool: <%= ENV.fetch("RAILS_MAX_THREADS") { 5 } %>
  username: <%= ENV['ENV_USERNAME'] %>
  password: <%= ENV['ENV_PASSWORD'] %>
  host: <%= ENV['ENV_HOST'] %>
  port: 5432

3. create an .env file in root directory with this:

ENV_USERNAME=postgres
ENV_PASSWORD=postgres
ENV_HOST=localhost

4. and to the gemfile the next lines:

# Load environment variables from .env files
gem "dotenv-rails", groups: [ :development, :test ]

5. in the console type the next:

rails db:setup

6. and that's it, you now have setuped up the db

---

Tip: You can customize your Rails app with additional options as needed. See rails new --help for more.