Rails - JS Bundler

How to install PhlexUI within a Rails app that employs JS bundling.

Creating a Rails app

1

Generate a new Rails application

In case you don't have a Rails application set up yet, let's start by generating one. The demo uses esbuild, however feel free to change esbuild to use bun, webpack or rollup.js. Read more about JS bundlers in Rails here.

rails new CHANGE_TO_NAME_OF_APP --css=tailwind --javascript=esbuild

Once that is created, navigate to the app

cd CHANGE_TO_NAME_OF_APP

Install the gem

1


Install Phlex

Run the following in the terminal to install phlex for Rails

bundle add phlex-rails

After the gem is installed, run the generator to create necessary files.

bin/rails generate phlex:install

Refer to the Phlex installation guide for Rails for more information.

2


Install PhlexUI gem

Run the following in the terminal to install the PhlexUI Component Library

bundle add phlex_ui

3


Include PhlexUI module

Include PhlexUI module in your application_component.rb file

class ApplicationComponent < Phlex::HTML
	include PhlexUI
end

4

Next step, JS!

Let's make the components come to life by adding some JavaScript.

Install JS

1


Install package

Run the following in the terminal to install PhlexUI JS package

yarn add phlex_ui

2

Import package

Import the package in your app/javascript/application.js file

import 'phlex_ui';

Install Styles

1


Install TailwindCSS

Most will already have TailwindCSS installed, however if you do not, first follow the TailwindCSS installation guide

2


Install Dependencies

Run the following in the terminal to install the dependencies

yarn add tailwindcss-animate

3


Update Tailwind Configuration

Add the following to your tailwind.config.js file

// For importing tailwind styles from phlex_ui/phlex_ui_pro gem
const execSync = require('child_process').execSync;

// Import phlex_ui gem path (To make sure Tailwind loads classes used by phlex_ui gem)
const outputPhlexUI = execSync('bundle show phlex_ui', { encoding: 'utf-8' });
const phlex_ui_path = outputPhlexUI.trim() + '/**/*.rb';

const defaultTheme = require('tailwindcss/defaultTheme')

module.exports = {
  darkMode: ["class"],
  content: [
    './app/views/**/*.{erb,haml,html,slim,rb}',
    './app/helpers/**/*.rb',
    './app/assets/stylesheets/**/*.css',
    './app/javascript/**/*.js',
    phlex_ui_path
  ],
  theme: {
    container: {
      center: true,
      padding: "2rem",
      screens: {
        "2xl": "1400px",
      },
    },
    extend: {
      colors: {
        border: "hsl(var(--border))",
        input: "hsl(var(--input))",
        ring: "hsl(var(--ring))",
        background: "hsl(var(--background))",
        foreground: "hsl(var(--foreground))",
        primary: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--primary))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--primary-foreground))",
        },
        secondary: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--secondary))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--secondary-foreground))",
        },
        destructive: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--destructive))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--destructive-foreground))",
        },
        warning: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--warning))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--warning-foreground))",
        },
        success: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--success))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--success-foreground))",
        },
        muted: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--muted))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--muted-foreground))",
        },
        accent: {
          DEFAULT: "hsl(var(--accent))",
          foreground: "hsl(var(--accent-foreground))",
        },
      },
      borderRadius: {
        lg: `var(--radius)`,
        md: `calc(var(--radius) - 2px)`,
        sm: "calc(var(--radius) - 4px)",
      },
      fontFamily: {
        sans: defaultTheme.fontFamily.sans,
      },
    },
  },
  plugins: [
    require("tailwindcss-animate"),
  ],
}

4

Add CSS variables

Add the following to your app/assets/stylesheets/application.tailwind.css file

@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;


@layer base {
  :root {
    --background: 0 0% 100%;
    --foreground: 0 0% 3.9%;
    --primary: 0 0% 9%;
    --primary-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
    --secondary: 0 0% 96.1%;
    --secondary-foreground: 0 0% 9%;
    --muted: 0 0% 96.1%;
    --muted-foreground: 0 0% 45.1%;
    --accent: 0 0% 96.1%;
    --accent-foreground: 0 0% 9%;
    --destructive: 350 89% 60%;
    --destructive-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --warning: 38 92% 50%;
    --warning-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --success: 87 100% 37%;
    --success-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --border: 0 0% 89.8%;
    --input: 0 0% 89.8%;
    --ring: 0 0% 3.9%;
    --radius: 0.5rem;
  }

  .dark {
    --background: 0 0% 3.9%;
    --foreground: 0 0% 98%;
    --primary: 0 0% 98%;
    --primary-foreground: 0 0% 9%;
    --secondary: 0 0% 14.9%;
    --secondary-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
    --muted: 0 0% 14.9%;
    --muted-foreground: 0 0% 63.9%;
    --accent: 0 0% 14.9%;
    --accent-foreground: 0 0% 98%;
    --destructive: 350 89% 60%;
    --destructive-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --warning: 38 92% 50%;
    --warning-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --success: 84 81% 44%;
    --success-foreground: 0 0% 100%;
    --border: 0 0% 14.9%;
    --input: 0 0% 14.9%;
    --ring: 0 0% 83.1%;
  }
}

@layer base {
  * {
    @apply border-border;
  }
  body {
    @apply bg-background text-foreground;
    font-feature-settings: "rlig" 1, "calt" 1;
  }
}