RailsVite

Vite integration for Rails, inspired by Laravel's Vite plugin. No proxy, no config duplication, no magic.

• How It Works
• Quick Start
• Usage
• Vite Config
• Adding Frameworks
• SSR
• Auto Build
• Testing the Build
• Custom Paths
• Rake Tasks
• jsbundling Mode
• Migrating from vite_rails
• Contributing
• License

Development: The Vite plugin writes tmp/rails-vite.json with the dev server URL. The Rails helper reads it and emits <script> tags pointing directly at Vite. The browser talks to Vite — Puma never touches your assets.

Production: vite build outputs fingerprinted assets to public/vite/ with a standard Vite manifest. The Rails helper reads the manifest and emits the correct tags.

No Rack proxy. No config/vite.json. No extra binstubs.

Add to your Gemfile:

gem "rails_vite"

Run the install generator:

bundle install
bin/rails generate rails_vite:install

This creates vite.config.ts, installs dependencies, and updates your layout.

Start development:

bin/dev

In your layout:

<%= vite_tags "application.js" %>

Short names are automatically prefixed with sourceDir (default: app/javascript). Paths containing / are used as-is.

Development output (when tmp/rails-vite.json exists):

<script src="http://localhost:5173/@vite/client" type="module"></script>
<script src="http://localhost:5173/app/javascript/application.js" type="module"></script>

Production output (reads manifest):

<link rel="modulepreload" href="/vite/assets/vendor-b3c4d5e6.js" />
<script src="/vite/assets/application-a1b2c3d4.js" type="module"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/vite/assets/application-x9y8z7w6.css" />

All tag helpers accept arbitrary HTML attributes:

<%= vite_tags "application.js", "application.css",
    "data-turbo-track": "reload", nonce: content_security_policy_nonce %>

CSS files are detected by extension and emit <link rel="stylesheet">:

<%= vite_tags "application.css" %>

<%= vite_tags "application.js", nonce: content_security_policy_nonce %>

SRI lets browsers verify that fetched assets haven't been tampered with by checking cryptographic hashes. Install the vite-plugin-manifest-sri plugin:

npm install -D vite-plugin-manifest-sri

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import rails from 'rails-vite-plugin';
import manifestSRI from 'vite-plugin-manifest-sri';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    rails(),
    manifestSRI(),
  ],
});

That's it — integrity and crossorigin="anonymous" attributes are automatically added to all script, stylesheet, and modulepreload tags when the manifest includes integrity hashes.

Use import.meta.glob in your entry point to include assets in the Vite manifest:

// app/javascript/application.js
import.meta.glob(['../assets/images/**'], { eager: true });

Then reference them in views:

<%= vite_image_tag "app/assets/images/logo.png", alt: "Logo" %>

The install generator creates a minimal vite.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import rails from 'rails-vite-plugin';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    rails(),
  ],
});

rails({
  input: ['application.js', 'admin.js'],
})

<!-- In application layout -->
<%= vite_tags "application.js" %>

<!-- In admin layout -->
<%= vite_tags "admin.js" %>

rails({
  input: ['entrypoints/application.ts', 'entrypoints/admin.ts'],
  sourceDir: 'app/frontend',
})

<%= vite_tags "entrypoints/application.ts" %>

npm install -D @vitejs/plugin-react

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import rails from 'rails-vite-plugin';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    react(),
    rails(),
  ],
});

The React Refresh preamble is injected automatically when @vitejs/plugin-react is detected — no manual setup needed.

npm install -D @vitejs/plugin-vue

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import rails from 'rails-vite-plugin';
import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    vue(),
    rails(),
  ],
});

Set ssr to the entry point used for server-side rendering. When you run npx vite build --ssr, the plugin uses this as the input and outputs to the ssrOutDir (default: ssr/).

rails({
  ssr: 'ssr.tsx',
})

Build and run:

npx vite build && npx vite build --ssr
node ssr/ssr.js

When the Vite dev server is not running, rails_vite automatically rebuilds assets on the first request if sources have changed. This is useful for system tests and quick checks without running bin/dev.

Disable it:

# config/initializers/rails_vite.rb
Rails.application.config.rails_vite.auto_build = false

By default, auto build is enabled in development and test (Rails.env.local?).

Note: for parallel test runners, disable auto build and use rake vite:build before the suite instead.

To verify your production build works in development:

rake vite:build         # build assets
bin/rails s             # start Rails without Vite dev server

Without the Vite dev server running (no tmp/rails-vite.json), Rails serves built assets from public/vite/. To switch back to dev mode, start Vite again — the dev metadata takes priority.

Clean up built assets with rake vite:clobber.

If you override build.outDir in vite.config.ts, tell the gem where to find things:

# config/initializers/rails_vite.rb
Rails.application.config.rails_vite.manifest_path = Rails.root.join("public/custom/manifest.json")
Rails.application.config.rails_vite.asset_prefix = "/custom"

Defaults match the plugin defaults — no config needed if you follow conventions.

vite:build hooks into assets:precompile and test:prepare automatically. Skip with SKIP_VITE_BUILD=1.

If you're using jsbundling-rails with Propshaft and want Vite as your bundler, you don't need the rails_vite gem — just the npm package:

npm install -D rails-vite-plugin vite

// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import jsbundling from 'rails-vite-plugin/jsbundling';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    jsbundling(),
  ],
});

How it works: In production, Vite builds to public/assets/ and copies entry files to app/assets/builds/ so Propshaft can serve them via javascript_include_tag and stylesheet_link_tag. In development, the plugin writes stub files to app/assets/builds/ that redirect the browser to Vite's dev server for HMR.

In your Procfile.dev, replace the esbuild command:

web: bin/rails server -p 3000
-js: yarn build --watch
+vite: npx vite

CSS and JS entries in app/javascript/entrypoints/ are auto-discovered. Both javascript_include_tag and stylesheet_link_tag work unchanged — Propshaft resolves them from app/assets/builds/ as before.

React and Vue work the same as in the standard plugin — add the framework plugin before jsbundling():

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import jsbundling from 'rails-vite-plugin/jsbundling';
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    react(),
    jsbundling(),
  ],
});

To switch from jsbundling mode to the full rails_vite gem:

1. Add gem "rails_vite" to your Gemfile and bundle install
2. Change the import in vite.config.ts from rails-vite-plugin/jsbundling to rails-vite-plugin
3. Replace javascript_include_tag / stylesheet_link_tag with vite_tags in your layouts
4. Remove jsbundling-rails from your Gemfile

In development, jsbundling mode writes tmp/rails-vite.json — the same file the rails_vite gem reads. You can add the gem and verify vite_tags works in dev before deploying.

# Gemfile
- gem "vite_rails"
+ gem "rails_vite"

// package.json — replace vite-plugin-ruby with rails-vite-plugin
- "vite-plugin-ruby": "^5.1.1"
+ "rails-vite-plugin": "^0.2.0"

import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import rails from 'rails-vite-plugin';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    rails({
      sourceDir: 'app/frontend',
    }),
  ],
});

If you have an entrypoints/ directory inside sourceDir, all files in it are auto-discovered — no need to list them. Otherwise, set input explicitly.

• config/vite.json — settings now live in vite.config.ts
• bin/vite — no longer needed, Procfile.dev runs npx vite directly

Remove vite_client_tag and vite_react_refresh_tag — both are automatic now.

The vite_javascript_tag, vite_stylesheet_tag, and vite_typescript_tag helpers work as drop-in replacements:

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/skryukov/rails_vite.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.