Peter H. Boling

Posted on Jan 19

⚡️ setup-ruby-flash

#ruby #gha #ore #rv

Find out how fast my workflows can go!
-You, possibly

GH Marketplace	Dogfood	Current Tag	License	Source	Stars

A fast GitHub Action for fast Ruby environment setup using rv for Ruby installation and ore for gem management.

⚡ Install Ruby in under 2 seconds — no compilation required!

⚡ Install Gems 50% faster — using ORE ✅️!

Features

🚀 Lightning-fast Ruby installation via prebuilt binaries from rv
📦 Rapid gem installation with ore (Bundler-compatible, ~50% faster)
💾 Intelligent caching for both Ruby and gems
🔒 Security auditing via ore audit
🐧 Linux & macOS support (x86_64 and ARM64)
☕️ Gitea Actions support
🦊 Forgejo Actions support
🧊 Codeberg Actions support
🐙 GitHub Actions support

Requirements

Operating Systems: Ubuntu 22.04+, macOS 14+
Architectures: x86_64, ARM64
Ruby Versions: 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.0

#	Important	Alternative
1	Windows is not supported	ruby/setup-ruby
2	Ruby <= 3.1 is not supported	ruby/setup-ruby

Key Differences with setup-ruby

Feature	setup-ruby	setup-ruby-flash
Ruby Install	~5 seconds	< 2 seconds
Gem Install	Bundler	ore (~50% faster)
`ruby-version: ruby`	✅ latest stable	✅ latest stable
`rubygems: latest`	✅	✅
`bundler: latest`	✅	✅
Windows	✅	❌
Ruby < 3.2	✅	❌
JRuby	✅	❌ (planned)
TruffleRuby	✅	❌ (planned)
Security Audit	❌	✅ (`ore audit`)

Basic Usage

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'

With Gem Installation

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ore-install: true

Using Version Files

When ruby-version is set to default (the default), setup-ruby-flash reads from:

.ruby-version
.tool-versions (asdf format)
mise.toml

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ore-install: true

Enough Talk, Where?

Inputs

Input	Description	Default
`ruby-version`	Ruby version to install (e.g., `3.4`, `3.4.1`). Use `ruby` for latest stable version, or `default` to read from version files.	`default`
`rubygems`	RubyGems version: `default`, `latest`, or a version number (e.g., `3.5.0`)	`default`
`bundler`	Bundler version: `Gemfile.lock`, `default`, `latest`, `none`, or a version number	`Gemfile.lock`
`ore-install`	Run `ore install` and cache gems	`false`
`working-directory`	Directory for version files and Gemfile	`.`
`cache-version`	Cache version string for invalidation	`v1`
`rv-version`	Version of rv to install	`latest`
`ore-version`	Version of ore to install	`latest`
`skip-extensions`	Skip building native extensions	`false`
`without-groups`	Gem groups to exclude (comma-separated)	`''`
`ruby-install-retries`	Number of retry attempts for Ruby installation (with exponential backoff)	`3`
`token`	GitHub token for API calls	`${{ github.token }}`

Outputs

Output	Description
`ruby-version`	The installed Ruby version
`ruby-prefix`	The path to the Ruby installation
`rv-version`	The installed rv version
`rubygems-version`	The installed RubyGems version
`bundler-version`	The installed Bundler version
`ore-version`	The installed ore version
`cache-hit`	Whether gems were restored from cache

Examples

Matrix Build

name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
        ruby: ['3.2', '3.3', '3.4']
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
        with:
          ruby-version: ${{ matrix.ruby }}
          ore-install: true
      - run: bundle exec rake test

Production Gems Only

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ore-install: true
    without-groups: 'development,test'

Latest Ruby with Latest RubyGems and Bundler

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: ruby
    rubygems: latest
    bundler: latest
    ore-install: true

Specific RubyGems Version

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    rubygems: '3.5.0'
    ore-install: true

Skip Native Extensions

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ore-install: true
    skip-extensions: true

Custom Working Directory

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ore-install: true
    working-directory: './my-app'

Specific Tool Versions

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4.1'
    rv-version: '0.4.0'
    ore-version: '0.1.0'
    ore-install: true

Custom Retry Configuration

If you experience intermittent failures due to GitHub API rate limiting, you can adjust the number of retry attempts:

- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ruby-install-retries: '5'

Migration from setup-ruby

setup-ruby-flash is designed to be a near drop-in replacement for ruby/setup-ruby on supported platforms:

# Before (setup-ruby)
- uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    bundler-cache: true
- run: bundle exec rake test

# After (setup-ruby-flash)
- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: '3.4'
    ore-install: true
- run: bundle exec rake test

With Latest RubyGems and Bundler

# Before (setup-ruby)
- uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: ruby
    rubygems: latest
    bundler: latest

# After (setup-ruby-flash)
- uses: appraisal-rb/setup-ruby-flash@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: ruby
    rubygems: latest
    bundler: latest