Over the past few years, the Ruby on Rails ecosystem has seen a resurgence of server-side UI development. Thanks to projects like Phlex, Hotwire, and RubyUI, it's now possible to build modern, responsive, and highly productive applications without relying on large JavaScript frameworks.
RubyUI provides a beautiful collection of components built on top of Phlex and Tailwind CSS, offering an experience similar to what shadcn/ui brought to the React ecosystem—but fully embracing the Rails way.
Like any relatively new technology, however, adopting RubyUI comes with a learning curve. You need to understand how components work, learn their APIs, and discover the best patterns for building real-world applications.
That's exactly why I created three open-source gems:
- ruby_ui_converter
- ruby_ui_scaffold
- ruby_ui_admin
Each one solves a different problem, and together they make adopting RubyUI significantly easier.
Why Choose RubyUI?
There are many reasons to adopt RubyUI in your next Rails project.
Ruby-first Components
Instead of maintaining large ERB templates filled with HTML, you build your UI using Ruby components, making your codebase cleaner, easier to maintain, and more reusable.
Better Organization
Each component has a single responsibility, making your application easier to understand, test, and evolve over time.
Seamless Hotwire Integration
RubyUI was designed to work naturally with Hotwire and Stimulus, allowing you to build highly interactive interfaces while keeping rendering on the server.
Modern Design
RubyUI ships with a polished set of components, so you can create professional-looking applications without reinventing common UI elements.
Faster Development
Once you're familiar with the ecosystem, building new screens becomes dramatically faster than writing everything manually.
The Real Challenge Isn't Installing RubyUI
Installing RubyUI only takes a few minutes.
The real challenge starts when you begin building an actual application.
Questions like these quickly appear:
- How do I migrate my existing views?
- What's the best way to structure components?
- How do I build a complete CRUD interface?
- How can I create an admin panel?
These three gems were built to answer exactly those questions.
ruby_ui_converter
GitHub:
https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_converter
One of the biggest obstacles when adopting RubyUI is migrating an existing Rails application.
Most projects already contain hundreds—or even thousands—of .erb templates.
Rewriting every view manually would be incredibly time-consuming.
That's where ruby_ui_converter comes in.
Instead of converting HTML, the gem converts existing ERB templates into RubyUI components, dramatically reducing the amount of repetitive work involved in migrating a project.
If you're modernizing an existing Rails application, this tool can save you countless hours.
ruby_ui_scaffold
GitHub:
https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_scaffold
Once you've learned the basics of RubyUI, another question naturally arises:
How do I build a complete application with it?
Most examples available online showcase individual components.
Real-world applications, however, need much more:
- resource listings;
- forms;
- pagination;
- filters;
- navigation;
- full CRUD operations.
That's exactly what ruby_ui_scaffold provides.
It generates complete CRUD interfaces using RubyUI, giving you both a solid starting point for new projects and practical examples of how components work together.
Whether you're learning RubyUI or bootstrapping a new application, it can significantly increase your productivity.
ruby_ui_admin
GitHub:
https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_admin
After generating a few CRUDs, another need usually emerges:
What if there were an admin interface built entirely on top of RubyUI?
That question led to the creation of ruby_ui_admin.
The goal is simple: provide a modern administrative foundation built with RubyUI.
Instead of recreating the same infrastructure for every project, you get a ready-to-use admin layout that includes elements such as:
- admin layout;
- sidebar;
- header;
- navigation;
- common pages;
- reusable UI components.
This allows you to focus on your application's business logic instead of rebuilding the same administrative interface over and over again.
Three Gems, One Ecosystem
Although each gem addresses a different challenge, they complement one another perfectly.
A typical workflow might look like this:
- Use ruby_ui_converter to migrate existing ERB templates.
- Generate new CRUD interfaces with ruby_ui_scaffold.
- Organize everything inside an admin dashboard powered by ruby_ui_admin.
Together, they dramatically reduce the time required to start and scale a RubyUI-based Rails application.
Spend Less Time Learning, More Time Building
Every new library comes with a learning curve.
You have to read documentation, understand component APIs, and experiment with different patterns before becoming productive.
These gems shorten that journey.
Instead of starting from a blank page every time, you work with practical examples, reusable structures, and tools that automate repetitive tasks.
The result is a much smoother adoption of RubyUI and a far more enjoyable development experience.
Final Thoughts
RubyUI is quickly becoming one of the most exciting options for building modern user interfaces in Ruby on Rails with Phlex and Hotwire.
The ruby_ui_converter, ruby_ui_scaffold, and ruby_ui_admin gems were created to make that journey even easier.
Each one solves a specific challenge:
- ruby_ui_converter helps migrate existing ERB templates into RubyUI components.
- ruby_ui_scaffold accelerates CRUD development while serving as a learning tool.
- ruby_ui_admin provides a ready-made foundation for modern administrative interfaces.
If you're planning to adopt RubyUI in your next Rails project, these three gems can save you many hours of repetitive work and help you unlock the full potential of the RubyUI ecosystem from day one.
GitHub Repositories
- ruby_ui_converter — https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_converter
- ruby_ui_scaffold — https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_scaffold
- ruby_ui_admin — https://github.com/jacksonpires/ruby_ui_admin
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