Migrate From react-rails

In this guide, it is assumed that you have upgraded the react-rails project to use shakapacker version 7. To this end, check out Shakapacker v7 upgrade guide. Upgrading react-rails to version 3 can make the migration smoother but it is not required.

1. Update Deps

   1. Replace react-rails in Gemfile with the latest version of react_on_rails and run bundle install.
   2. Remove react_ujs from package.json and run yarn install.
   3. Commit changes!

2. Run rails g react_on_rails:install but do not commit the change. react_on_rails installs node dependencies and also creates sample React component, Rails view/controller, and updates config/routes.rb.

3. Adapt the project: Check the changes and carefully accept, reject, or modify them as per your project's needs. Besides changes in config/shakapacker or babel.config which are project-specific, here are the most noticeable changes to address:

   1. Check Webpack config files at config/webpack/*. If coming from react-rails v3, the changes are minor since you have already made separate configurations for client and server bundles. The most important change here is to notice the different names for the server bundle entry file. You may choose to stick with server_rendering.js or use server-bundle.js which is the default name in react_on_rails. The decision made here affects the other steps.

   2. In app/javascript directory you may notice some changes.

      1. react_on_rails by default uses bundles directory for the React components. You may choose to rename components into bundles to follow the convention.

      2. react_on_rails uses client-bundle.js and server-bundle.js instead of application.js and server_rendering.js. There is nothing special about these names. It can be set to use any other name (as mentioned above). If you too choose to follow the new names, consider updating the relevant javascript_pack_tag in your Rails views.

      3. Update the content of these files to register your React components for client or server-side rendering. Checking the generated files by react_on_rails installation process should give enough hints.

   3. Check Rails views. In react_on_rails, react_component view helper works slightly differently. It takes two arguments: the component name, and options. Props is one of the options. Take a look at the following example:

      - <%= react_component('Post', { title: 'New Post' }, { prerender: true }) %>
      + <%= react_component('Post', { props: { title: 'New Post' }, prerender: true }) %>

You can also check react-rails-to-react-on-rails branch on react-rails example app for an example of migration from react-rails v3 to react_on_rails v13.4.