# rails-ai 🚂 > **⚠️ EXPERIMENTAL:** Under active development. APIs and architecture may change. Phase 2 of 4. Rails domain expertise for Claude Code. Built on [Superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) workflows. ## The Vision Build Rails apps so autonomously they leave today's Next.js and React generators in the dust. We're not playing catch-up—we're setting the pace and showing what LLM-driven development really looks like when Rails is in the driver's seat. ## The Problem Right now, LLMs excel at Next.js and Node code. Ask them to build a Rails app and you get... okay results. Ask for a Next.js app and you get production-ready code. **Why?** Training data. JavaScript/TypeScript dominates the training sets. Rails, despite being more mature and productive, is underrepresented. **The irony?** Rails is actually better suited for AI code generation: - **Convention over Configuration** — Less decision-making, more consistent patterns - **Strong opinions** — Clear right/wrong answers - **Battle-tested** — 20+ years of best practices - **Monolithic by default** — Simpler mental model - **Solid Stack** — Rails 8's batteries-included approach Rails was built to make developers productive by removing decisions. That same philosophy makes it perfect for LLMs — fewer choices, more consistency, clearer patterns. ## What It Does Adds Rails-specific skills to Claude Code: ActiveRecord patterns, Hotwire, Minitest/TDD, security, Solid Stack (Rails 8), and 20+ team conventions. The `/rails-ai:architect` command loads Superpowers workflows (process) and Rails-AI skills (domain knowledge), then coordinates general-purpose agents to build features end-to-end. ## Installation ```bash # 1. Install Superpowers (required) claude /plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers /plugin install superpowers # 2. Install rails-ai /plugin marketplace add zerobearing2/rails-ai /plugin install rails-ai ``` ### Local Development Install To contribute or test changes locally: ```bash # 1. Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/zerobearing2/rails-ai.git cd rails-ai # 2. Install Superpowers (required dependency) claude /plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers /plugin install superpowers # 3. Add local directory as a marketplace and install /plugin marketplace add /path/to/rails-ai /plugin install rails-ai@rails-ai # 4. Restart Claude Code to load the plugin ``` **Verify installation:** ```bash /plugin # Opens plugin management interface - verify rails-ai is listed ``` **Run tests before submitting changes:** ```bash bin/ci ``` ## Usage ```bash /rails-ai:architect add user authentication /rails-ai:architect debug failing test /rails-ai:architect refactor UserController ``` **Local Development Note:** If you're developing rails-ai locally (installed from a local directory), SessionStart hooks don't execute due to a [Claude Code limitation](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/11939). Manually use the skill once per session: ```text Use the skill: using-rails-ai ``` This uses the full protocol including Superpowers integration and skill-loading enforcement. Not needed when installed from GitHub. ## Architecture **Two-layer system:** - **Superpowers** = HOW to work (brainstorming, planning, TDD, debugging, code review) - **Rails-AI** = WHAT you're building (12 Rails domain skills + team rules) The `/rails-ai:architect` slash command loads both layers, then dispatches general-purpose agents as workers to implement features. ## Philosophy Opinionated Rails development: - 37signals philosophy (simple, pragmatic) - Rails conventions (REST-only) - Solid Stack (SolidQueue, SolidCache, SolidCable) - Minitest, not RSpec - TDD always ## Roadmap We're turning that gap into a roadmap instead of a wish list. **Phase 1 — Architect Coordinator** ✅ Complete Clean architecture with `/rails-ai:architect` slash command that coordinates development: loads Superpowers workflows (HOW) and Rails-AI skills (WHAT), then dispatches general-purpose workers to implement. No complexity, clear separation between coordination and execution. **Phase 2 — Domain Skills & Team Rules** 🚧 Current 12 focused domain skills, 20+ team conventions, and custom RuboCop cops. Every decision backed by Rails best practices in reusable, testable modules. **Phase 3 — Memory & Context** 🔬 Next Index thousands of production Rails patterns, wire them into local memory + knowledge graph, and retrieve the right snippet at the right time with RAG + SQLite vector search. **Phase 4 — Fully Autonomous Rails** 🚀 Goal Ship end-to-end features—auth, payments, background jobs, admin, APIs—complete with tests and security. Target: 85%+ first-pass success rate. **What already works:** - `/rails-ai:architect` coordinates features end-to-end (planning → worker dispatch → review) - 12 domain skills cover models, controllers, views, Hotwire, security, testing, and more - Superpowers workflows provide battle-tested TDD, debugging, and code review - 20+ team rules enforce Rails conventions automatically - Clean separation: coordinator loads skills, workers implement features **What we're building next:** - Phase 3 RAG pipeline with SQLite vector search - Library of thousands of indexed production Rails patterns - 30–50% accuracy gains from better retrieval and context - Path to 85%+ first-try pass rates and autonomous feature delivery ## Join Us This is bigger than a plugin. We're proving Rails can lead in the AI era. **If you're a Rails developer:** Try the architect. Break it. Tell us what's missing. Your real-world usage drives what we build. **If you're into AI/ML:** We need help with Phase 3 (RAG) and Phase 4 (autonomous delivery). Indexing Rails codebases, building evaluation frameworks, improving retrieval quality. **If you care about Rails:** Star the repo. Spread the word. Rails deserves world-class AI tooling. Help us build it. The goal isn't just good—it's to make Rails the obvious choice for AI-assisted development. Help us get there. ## Contributing See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) and [TESTING.md](TESTING.md). ## Credits Built on [Superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) by [@obra](https://github.com/obra). Planning approach inspired by [Specification Pyramid](https://signalthinking.com/p/why-your-prd-isnt-working-for-ai-083) by [Robert Evans](https://github.com/revans). ## License MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE).