Welcome! These guides describe the LocoMotion way of building Rails apps: the tooling and conventions we reach for on every new project. They build on each other in order, but each guide also stands alone, so you can cherry-pick whatever fits your team.
A few beliefs shape everything that follows:
Docker from the very first command, so every machine — laptop or CI — behaves exactly the same.
HAML with TailwindCSS + DaisyUI: markup that reads like an outline, styling that stays in the class list.
Reusable, testable ViewComponents instead of sprawling partials — it's why LocoMotion exists.
UUID primary keys, service objects, defaults your classes always override — take what fits, skip the rest.
The next two guides take you from an empty directory to a running Rails
app. We recommend starting with Docker — even rails new runs inside the
container — but it is entirely optional:
Build the containerized development environment first — even rails new runs inside it.
Comfortable managing Ruby, Node, and Postgres yourself? Jump straight to creating the app.
Once your app is running, the remaining guides layer on the paradigms one at a time: HAML templates, building your own components, debugging & testing, service objects, authentication, and error handling. Read them in order, or dip in when the topic comes up.
These guides target brand-new projects. To add LocoMotion's components to an existing app, head straight to the Install docs.
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