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    React on Rails Basic Tutorial

    Also see the example repo of React on Rails Tutorial With SSR, HMR fast refresh, and TypeScript

    Updated for Ruby 3.0+, Rails 7, React on Rails v16, and Shakapacker v7

    This tutorial guides you through setting up a new or existing Rails app with React on Rails, demonstrating Rails + React + Redux + Server Rendering.

    After finishing this tutorial you will get an application that can do the following (live on Heroku):

    example

    You can find it here:

    By the time you read this, the latest may have changed. Be sure to check the versions here:

    Table of Contents

    Installation

    Setting up your environment

    Trying out React on Rails is super easy, so long as you have the basic prerequisites.

    • Ruby: We support all active Ruby versions but recommend using the latest stable Ruby version. Solutions like rvm or rbenv make it easy to have multiple Ruby versions on your machine.
    • Rails: This tutorial targets Rails 7.0+. React on Rails supports Rails 6 and later, but some tutorial steps may differ for Rails 6.
    • Nodejs: We support all active Node versions but recommend using the latest LTS release of Nodejs for the longest support. Older inactive node versions might still work but is not guaranteed. We also recommend using nvm to ease using different node versions in different projects.
    • yarn: We use yarn classic as our node package manager.
    • You need to have either Overmind or Foreman as a process manager.

    Create a new Ruby on Rails App

    Then we need to create a fresh Rails application as follows.

    First, be sure to run rails -v and check you are using Rails 7.0 or above for this tutorial.

    # For Rails 6.x
rails new test-react-on-rails --skip-javascript

# For Rails 7.x
rails new test-react-on-rails --skip-javascript

cd test-react-on-rails

    Note: You can use --database=postgresql option to use Postgresql for the database.

    Add the Shakapacker and react_on_rails gems

    We recommend using the latest version of these gems. Otherwise, specify the exact versions of both the gem and npm packages. In other words, don't use the ^ or ~ in the version specifications.

    bundle add react_on_rails --strict
bundle add shakapacker --strict

    Note: The latest released React On Rails version is considered stable. Please use the latest version to ensure you get all the security patches and the best support.

    Run the Shakapacker generator

    bundle exec rails shakapacker:install

    Commit all the changes so far to avoid getting errors in the next step.

    git commit -am "Initial commit"

    Alternatively, you can use --ignore-warnings in the next step.

    Run the React on Rails Generator

    rails generate react_on_rails:install

    You will be prompted to approve changes in certain files. Press enter to proceed one by one or enter a to replace all configuration files required by the project. You can check the diffs before you commit to see what changed.

    Note on Redux: The basic installer uses React Hooks for state management. However, this tutorial demonstrates Redux integration (as used in the live example). To follow this tutorial with Redux, run:

    rails generate react_on_rails:install --redux

    If you prefer to use React Hooks instead of Redux, run the basic installer without the --redux flag.

    Setting up your environment variables

    Add the following variable to your environment:

    EXECJS_RUNTIME=Node

    Then run the server with one of the following options:

    Running the app

    ./bin/dev # For HMR
# or
./bin/dev static # Without HMR, statically creating the bundles

    Visit http://localhost:3000/hello_world and see your React On Rails app running!

    HMR vs. React Hot Reloading

    First, check that the hmr and the inline options are true in your config/shakapacker.yml file.

    The basic setup will have HMR working with the default Shakapacker setup. When you run ./bin/dev and change a JSX file, the browser will automatically refresh!

    The basic HMR, without a special React setup, will cause a full page refresh each time you save a file.

    If you want to go further with HMR, take a look at these links:

    React on Rails will automatically handle disabling server rendering if there is only one bundle file created by the Webpack development server by shakapacker.

    Deployment

    Now that you have React on Rails working locally, you're ready to deploy to production!

    For detailed deployment instructions, see:

    These guides cover:

    • Configuring buildpacks
    • Database setup (PostgreSQL)
    • Asset compilation
    • Environment variables
    • Troubleshooting common deployment issues

    Going Further

    Turning on Server Rendering

    You can turn on server rendering by simply changing the prerender option to true:

    <%= react_component("HelloWorld", props: @hello_world_props, prerender: true) %>

    If you want to test this out with HMR, then you also need to add this line to your config/intializers/react_on_rails.rb

      config.same_bundle_for_client_and_server = true

    More likely, you will create a different build file for server rendering. However, if you want to use the same file from the shakapacker-dev-server, you'll need to add that line.

    When you look at the source code for the page (right click, view source in Chrome), you can see the difference between non-server rendering, where your DIV containing your React looks like this:

    <div id="HelloWorld-react-component-b7ae1dc6-396c-411d-886a-269633b3f604"></div>

    versus with server rendering:

    <div id="HelloWorld-react-component-d846ce53-3b82-4c4a-8f32-ffc347c8444a">
  <div data-reactroot="">
    <h3>
      Hello,
      <!-- -->Stranger<!-- -->!
    </h3>
    <hr />
    <form><label for="name">Say hello to:</label><input type="text" id="name" value="Stranger" /></form>
  </div>
</div>

    For more details on server rendering, see:

    Optional Configuration

    ShakaCode recommends that you use /client for your client side app. This way a non-Rails, front-end developer can be at home just by opening up the /client directory.

    1. Move the directory:
    mv app/javascript client
    1. Edit your /config/shakapacker.yml file. Change the default/source_path:
    source_path: client

    Custom IP & PORT setup (Cloud9 example)

    In case you are running some custom setup with different IP or PORT you should also edit Procfile.dev. For example, to be able to run on free Cloud9 IDE we are putting IP 0.0.0.0 and PORT 8080. The default generated file Procfile.dev uses -p 3000.

    web: rails s -p 8080 -b 0.0.0.0

    Then visit https://your-shared-addr.c9users.io:8080/hello_world

    RubyMine performance tip

    It's super important to exclude certain directories from RubyMine or else it will slow to a crawl as it tries to parse all the npm files.

    • Generated files, per the settings in your config/shakapacker.yml, which default to public/packs and public/packs-test
    • node_modules

    Conclusion

    Feedback is greatly appreciated! As are stars on github!

    If you want personalized help, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]. We offer React on Rails Pro and consulting so you can focus on your app and not on how to make Webpack plus Rails work optimally.