Rails 8.1+ Project Setup Skill

This skill creates fully configured Rails 8.1+ applications with modern tooling and comprehensive Claude Code integration.

Quick Start

The setup script can be run directly:

./scripts/setup.sh my_app_name

Or interactively (will prompt for app name):

./scripts/setup.sh

What Gets Installed

Core Stack

MCP Servers (Project-level)

MCP Servers (Plugin-level)

Browser Automation Guidelines

When working with Rails applications that have Tidewave running:

Use Tidewave for:

• •Running Ruby code (project_eval)
• •Database queries (execute_sql_query)
• •Checking logs (get_logs)
• •Finding source locations (get_source_location)
• •Getting documentation (get_docs)

Use Chrome DevTools for:

• •Taking screenshots
• •Performance profiling
• •Console error checking
• •Network request analysis
• •Visual UI testing
• •Core Web Vitals analysis

Do NOT use Chrome DevTools for tasks that Tidewave can accomplish directly.

Prerequisites

1. •Ruby 3.3+ installed via rbenv, rvm, or asdf
2. •Rails 8.1+: gem install rails
3. •PostgreSQL installed and running
4. •Claude Code with this plugin installed

Files Created

my_app/
├── .claude/
│   ├── settings.json       # Shared settings (commit this)
│   └── settings.local.json # Local overrides (gitignored)
├── .mcp.json               # MCP server configuration
├── CLAUDE_TOOLS.md         # Comprehensive documentation
└── ... (standard Rails 8.1+ app)

Post-Setup Workflow

1. •

   Start the Rails server:

   bash

   cd my_app && bin/rails server
   

2. •

   Open Claude Code in another terminal:

   bash

   cd my_app && claude
   

3. •

   Start building with natural language:

   • •"What models does this app have?"
   • •"Show me the routes"
   • •"Create a User model with email and name"

Notes

• •Tidewave MCP only works when the Rails server is running on port 3000
• •Hotwire Club MCP works independently with its built-in SQLite database
• •Chrome DevTools is provided by the plugin (not project-level)
• •The setup auto-configures permissions for fast development (no prompts)