**DO NOT READ THIS FILE ON GITHUB, GUIDES ARE PUBLISHED ON <https://guides.rubyonrails.org>.**

The Asset Pipeline
==================

This guide explains how to handle essential asset management tasks.

After reading this guide, you will know:

* What is an asset pipeline.
* The main features of Propshaft, and how to set it up.
* How to migrate from Sprockets to Propshaft.
* How to use other libraries for more advanced asset management.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is an Asset Pipeline?
---------------------------

The Rails Asset Pipeline is a library designed for organizing, caching, and
serving static assets, such as JavaScript, CSS, and image files. It streamlines
and optimizes the management of these assets to enhance the performance and
maintainability of the application.

The Rails Asset Pipeline is managed by
[**Propshaft**](https://github.com/rails/propshaft). Propshaft is built for an
era where transpilation, bundling and compression are less critical for basic
applications, thanks to better browser support, faster networks and HTTP/2
capabilities.

Propshaft focuses on essential asset management tasks and leaves more complex
tasks, such as JavaScript and CSS bundling and minification, to specialized
tools like [`jsbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/jsbundling-rails) and
[`cssbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/cssbundling-rails), which can be
added separately to your application. Propshaft focuses on
[fingerprinting](#fingerprinting-versioning-with-digest-based-urls) and
emphasizes generating digest-based URLs for assets, allowing browsers to cache
them, thus minimizing the need for intricate compilation and bundling.

The [Propshaft](https://github.com/rails/propshaft) gem is enabled by default in
new applications. If, for some reason, you want to disable it during setup, you
can use the `--skip-asset-pipeline` option:

```bash
$ rails new app_name --skip-asset-pipeline
```

NOTE: Before Rails 8, the asset pipeline was powered by
[Sprockets](https://github.com/rails/sprockets). You can read about the
[Sprockets Asset
Pipeline](https://guides.rubyonrails.org/v7.2/asset_pipeline.html) in previous
versions of the Rails Guides. You can also explore the [evolution of asset
management techniques](#evolution-of-asset-management-techniques) to see how the
Rails Asset Pipeline has evolved over time.

Propshaft Features
------------------

Propshaft expects that your assets are already in a browser-ready format—like
plain CSS, JavaScript, or preprocessed images (like JPEGs or PNGs). Its job is
to organize, version, and serve those assets efficiently. In this section, we’ll
cover the main features of Propshaft and how they work.

### Asset Load Order

With Propshaft, you can control the loading order of dependent files by
specifying each file explicitly and organizing them manually or ensuring they
are included in the correct sequence within your HTML or layout files. This
ensures that dependencies are managed and loaded without relying on automated
dependency management tools. Below are some strategies for managing
dependencies:

1. Manually include assets in the correct order:

    In your HTML layout (usually `application.html.erb` for Rails apps) you can
    specify the exact order for loading CSS and JavaScript files by including
    each file individually in a specific order. For example:

    ```erb
    <!-- application.html.erb -->
    <head>
     <%= stylesheet_link_tag "reset" %>
     <%= stylesheet_link_tag "base" %>
     <%= stylesheet_link_tag "main" %>
    </head>
    <body>
     <%= javascript_include_tag "utilities" %>
     <%= javascript_include_tag "main" %>
    </body>
    ```

    This is important if, for instance, `main.js` relies on `utilities.js` to be
    loaded first.

2. Use Modules in JavaScript (ES6)

    If you have dependencies within JavaScript files, ES6 modules can help. By
    using import statements, you can explicitly control dependencies within
    JavaScript code. Just make sure your JavaScript files are set up as modules
    using `<script type="module">` in your HTML:

    ```js
    // main.js
    import { initUtilities } from "./utilities.js";
    import { setupFeature } from "./feature.js";

    initUtilities();
    setupFeature();
    ```

    Then in your layout:

    ```html
    <script type="module" src="main.js"></script>
    ```

    This way, you can manage dependencies within JavaScript files without
    relying on Propshaft to understand them. By importing modules, you can
    control the order in which files are loaded and ensure dependencies are met.

3. Combine Files when necessary

    If you have several JavaScript or CSS files that must always load together,
    you can combine them into a single file. For example, you could create a
    `combined.js` file that imports or copies code from other scripts. Then,
    just include `combined.js` in your layout to avoid dealing with individual
    file ordering. This can be useful for files that always load together, like
    a set of utility functions or a group of styles for a specific component.
    While this approach can work for small projects or simple use cases, it can
    become tedious and error-prone for larger applications.

4. Bundle your JavaScript or CSS using a bundler

    If your project requires features like dependency chaining or CSS
    pre-processing, you may want to consider [advanced asset
    management](#advanced-asset-management) alongside Propshaft.

    Tools like [`jsbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/jsbundling-rails)
    integrates [Bun](https://bun.sh/), [esbuild](https://esbuild.github.io/),
    [rollup.js](https://rollupjs.org/), or [Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/)
    into your Rails application, while
    [`cssbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/cssbundling-rails) can be
    used to process stylesheets that use [Tailwind
    CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/), [Bootstrap](https://getbootstrap.com/),
    [Bulma](https://bulma.io/), [PostCSS](https://postcss.org/), or [Dart
    Sass](https://sass-lang.com/).

    These tools complement Propshaft by handling the complex processing, while
    Propshaft efficiently organizes and serves the final assets.

### Asset Organization

Propshaft organizes assets within the `app/assets` directory, which includes
subdirectories like `images`, `javascripts`, and `stylesheets`. You can place
your JavaScript, CSS, image files, and other assets into these directories, and
Propshaft will manage them during the precompilation process.

You can also specify additional asset paths for Propshaft to search by modifying
`config.assets.paths` in your `config/initializers/assets.rb` file. For example:

```ruby
# Add additional assets to the asset load path.
Rails.application.config.assets.paths << Emoji.images_path
```

Propshaft will make all assets from the configured paths available for serving.
During the precompilation process, Propshaft copies these assets into the
`public/assets` directory, ensuring they are ready for production use.

Assets can be [referenced through their logical
paths](#digested-assets-in-views) using helpers like `asset_path`, `image_tag`,
`javascript_include_tag`, and other asset helper tags. After running
[assets:precompile in production](#production), these logical references are
automatically converted into their fingerprinted paths using the
[`.manifest.json` file](#manifest-files).

It is possible to exclude certain directories from this process, you can read more
about it in the [Fingerprinting
section](#fingerprinting-versioning-with-digest-based-urls).

### Fingerprinting: Versioning with digest-based URLs

In Rails, asset versioning uses fingerprinting to add unique identifiers to
asset filenames.

Fingerprinting is a technique that makes the name of a file dependent on its
content. A digest of the file's content is generated and appended to the
filename. This ensures that when the file content changes, its digest—and
consequently its filename—also changes. This mechanism is crucial for caching
assets effectively, as the browser will always load the updated version of an
asset when its content changes, thereby improving performance. For static or
infrequently changed content, this provides an easy way to tell whether two
versions of a file are identical, even across different servers or deployment
dates.

#### Asset Digesting

As mentioned in the [Asset Organization section](#asset-organization), in
Propshaft, all assets from the paths configured in `config.assets.paths` are
available for serving and will be copied into the `public/assets` directory.

When fingerprinted, an asset filename  like `styles.css` is renamed to
`styles-a1b2c3d4e5f6.css`. This ensures that if `styles.css` is updated, the
filename changes as well, compelling the browser to download the latest version
instead of using a potentially outdated cached copy.

#### Manifest Files

In Propshaft, the `.manifest.json` file is automatically generated during the
asset precompilation process. This file maps original asset filenames to their
fingerprinted versions, ensuring proper cache invalidation and efficient asset
management. Located in the `public/assets` directory, the `.manifest.json` file
helps Rails resolve asset paths at runtime, allowing it to reference the correct
fingerprinted files.

The `.manifest.json` includes entries for main assets like `application.js` and
`application.css` as well as other files, such as images. Here's an example of
what the JSON might look like:

```json
{
  "application.css": "application-6d58c9e6e3b5d4a7c9a8e3.css",
  "application.js": "application-2d4b9f6c5a7c8e2b8d9e6.js",
  "logo.png": "logo-f3e8c9b2a6e5d4c8.png",
  "favicon.ico": "favicon-d6c8e5a9f3b2c7.ico"
}
```

When a filename is unique and based on its content, HTTP headers can be set to
encourage caches everywhere (whether at CDNs, at ISPs, in networking equipment,
or in web browsers) to keep their own copy of the content. When the content is
updated, the fingerprint will change. This will cause the remote clients to
request a new copy of the content. This is generally known as cache busting.

#### Digested Assets in Views

You can reference digested assets in your views using standard Rails asset
helpers like `asset_path`, `image_tag`, `javascript_include_tag`,
`stylesheet_link_tag` and others.

For example, in your layout file, you can include a stylesheet like this:

```erb
<%= stylesheet_link_tag "application", media: "all" %>
```

If you're using the [`turbo-rails`](https://github.com/hotwired/turbo-rails) gem
(which is included by default in Rails), you can include the `data-turbo-track`
option. This causes Turbo to check if an asset has been updated and, if so,
reload it into the page:

```erb
<%= stylesheet_link_tag "application", "data-turbo-track": "reload" %>
```

You can access images in the `app/assets/images` directory like this:

```erb
<%= image_tag "rails.png" %>
```

When the asset pipeline is enabled, Propshaft will serve this file. If a file
exists at `public/assets/rails.png`, it will be served by the web server.

Alternatively, if you are using fingerprinted assets (e.g.,
`rails-f90d8a84c707a8dc923fca1ca1895ae8ed0a09237f6992015fef1e11be77c023.png`),
Propshaft will also serve these correctly. The fingerprint is automatically
applied during the precompilation process.

Images can be organized into subdirectories, and you can reference them by
specifying the directory in the tag:

```erb
<%= image_tag "icons/rails.png" %>
```

Finally, you can reference an image in your CSS like:

```css
background: url("/bg/pattern.svg");
```

Propshaft will automatically convert this to:

```css
background: url("/assets/bg/pattern-2169cbef.svg");
```

WARNING: If you're precompiling your assets (see [the Production
section](#production)), linking to an asset that doesn't exist will raise an
exception in the calling page. This includes linking to a blank string. Be
careful when using `image_tag` and other helpers with user-supplied data. This
ensures that the browser always fetches the correct version of the asset.

#### Digested Assets in JavaScript

In JavaScript, you need to manually trigger the asset transformation using the
`RAILS_ASSET_URL` macro. Here’s an example:

```javascript
export default class extends Controller {
  init() {
    this.img = RAILS_ASSET_URL("/icons/trash.svg");
  }
}
```

This will transform into:

```javascript
export default class extends Controller {
  init() {
    this.img = "/assets/icons/trash-54g9cbef.svg";
  }
}
```

This ensures that the correct, digested file is used in your JavaScript code.

If you’re using bundlers like [Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/) or
[esbuild](https://esbuild.github.io/), you should let the bundlers handle the
digesting process. If Propshaft detects that a file already has a digest in the
filename (e.g., `script-2169cbef.js`), it will skip digesting the file again to
avoid unnecessary reprocessing.

For managing assets with [Import Maps](#importmap-rails), Propshaft ensures that
assets referenced in the import map are appropriately handled and mapped to
their digested paths during the precompilation process.

#### Bypassing the Digest Step

If you need to reference files that refer to each other—like a JavaScript file
and its source map—and want to avoid the digesting process, you can pre-digest
these files manually. Propshaft recognizes files with the pattern
`-[digest].digested.js` as files that have already been digested and will
preserve their stable file names.

#### Excluding Directories from Digestion

You can exclude certain directories from the precompilation and digestion
process by adding them to `config.assets.excluded_paths`. This is useful if, for
example, you’re using `app/assets/stylesheets` as input to a compiler like [Dart
Sass](https://sass-lang.com/), and you don’t want these files to be part of the
asset load path.

```ruby
config.assets.excluded_paths = [Rails.root.join("app/assets/stylesheets")]
```

This will prevent the specified directories from being processed by Propshaft
while still allowing them to be part of the precompilation process.

Working with Propshaft
----------------------

From Rails 8 onwards, Propshaft is included by default. To use Propshaft, you
need to configure it properly and organize your assets in a way that Rails can
serve them efficiently.

### Setup

Follow these steps for setting up Propshaft in your Rails application:

1. Create a new Rails application:

    ```bash
    $ rails new app_name
    ```

2. Organize your assets:

    Propshaft expects your assets to be in the `app/assets` directory. You can
    organize your assets into subdirectories like `app/assets/javascripts` for
    JavaScript files, `app/assets/stylesheets` for CSS files, and
    `app/assets/images` for images.

    For example, you can create a new JavaScript file in
    `app/assets/javascripts`:

    ```javascript
    // app/assets/javascripts/main.js
    console.log("Hello, world!");
    ```

    and a new CSS file in `app/assets/stylesheets`:

    ```css
    /* app/assets/stylesheets/main.css */
    body {
      background-color: red;
    }
    ```

3. Link assets in your application layout

    In your application layout file (usually
    `app/views/layouts/application.html.erb`), you can include your assets using
    the `stylesheet_link_tag` and `javascript_include_tag` helpers:

    ```erb
    <!-- app/views/layouts/application.html.erb -->
    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
      <head>
        <title>MyApp</title>
        <%= stylesheet_link_tag "main" %>
      </head>
      <body>
        <%= yield %>
        <%= javascript_include_tag "main" %>
      </body>
    </html>
    ```

    This layout includes the `main.css` stylesheet and `main.js` JavaScript file
    in your application.

4. Add a Home Controller

    To ensure you see your custom content instead of the default Rails page,
    create a Home controller with an index action.

    Generate the Home controller:

    ```bash
    $ rails generate controller Home index
    ```

5. Set Root Route

    Update the `config/routes.rb` file to set the root route to the newly created Home controller:

    ```ruby
    Rails.application.routes.draw do
      root "home#index"
    end
    ```

6. Start the Rails server:

    ```bash
    $ bin/rails server
    ```

7. Preview your application:

    Open your web browser and navigate to `http://localhost:3000`. You should
    see your Rails application with the included assets.

### Development

Rails and Propshaft are configured differently in development than in
production, to allow rapid iteration without manual intervention.

#### No Caching

In development, Rails is configured to bypass asset caching. This means that
when you modify assets (e.g., CSS, JavaScript), Rails will serve the most
up-to-date version directly from the file system. There's no need to worry about
versioning or file renaming because caching is skipped entirely. Browsers will
automatically pull in the latest version each time you reload the page.

#### Automatic Reloading of Assets

When using Propshaft on its own, it automatically checks for updates to assets
like JavaScript, CSS, or images with every request. This means you can edit
these files, reload the browser, and instantly see the changes without needing
to restart the Rails server.

When using JavaScript bundlers such as [esbuild](https://esbuild.github.io/) or
[Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/) alongside Propshaft, the workflow combines
both tools effectively:

- The bundler watches for changes in your JavaScript and CSS files, compiles
  them into the appropriate build directory, and keeps the files up to date.
- Propshaft ensures that the latest compiled assets are served to the browser
  whenever a request is made.

For these setups, running `./bin/dev` starts both the Rails server and the asset
bundler's development server.

In either case, Propshaft ensures that changes to your assets are reflected as
soon as the browser page is reloaded, without requiring a server restart.

#### Improving Performance with File Watchers

In development, Propshaft checks if any assets have been updated before each
request, using the application's file watcher (by default,
`ActiveSupport::FileUpdateChecker`). If you have a large number of assets, you
can improve performance by using the `listen` gem and configuring the following
setting in `config/environments/development.rb`:

```ruby
config.file_watcher = ActiveSupport::EventedFileUpdateChecker
```

This will reduce the overhead of checking for file updates and improve
performance during development.

### Production

In production, Rails serves assets with caching enabled to optimize performance,
ensuring that your application can handle high traffic efficiently.

#### Asset Caching and Versioning in Production

As mentioned in the [Fingerprinting
section](#fingerprinting-versioning-with-digest-based-urls) when the file
content changes, its digest also changes, thus the browser uses the updated
version of the file. Whereas, if the content remains the same, the browser will
use the cached version.

#### Precompiling Assets

In production, precompilation is typically run during deployment to ensure that
the latest versions of the assets are served. Propshaft was explicitly not
designed to provide full transpiler capabilities. However, it does offer an
input -> output compiler setup that by default is used to translate `url(asset)`
function calls in CSS to `url(digested-asset)` instead and source mapping
comments likewise.

To manually run precompilation you can use the following command:

```bash
$ RAILS_ENV=production rails assets:precompile
```

After doing this, all assets in the load path will be copied (or compiled when
using [advanced asset management](#advanced-asset-management)) in the
precompilation step and stamped with a digest hash.

Additionally, you can set `ENV["SECRET_KEY_BASE_DUMMY"]` to trigger the use of a
randomly generated `secret_key_base` that’s stored in a temporary file. This is
useful when precompiling assets for production as part of a build step that
otherwise does not need access to the production secrets.

```bash
$ RAILS_ENV=production SECRET_KEY_BASE_DUMMY=1 rails assets:precompile
```

By default, assets are served from the `/assets` directory.

WARNING: Running the precompile command in development generates a marker file
named `.manifest.json`, which tells the application that it can serve the
compiled assets. As a result, any changes you make to your source assets won't
be reflected in the browser until the precompiled assets are updated. If your
assets stop updating in development mode, the solution is to remove the
`.manifest.json` file located in `public/assets/`.  You can use the `rails
assets:clobber` command to delete all your precompiled assets and the
`.manifest.json` file. This will force Rails to recompile the assets on the fly,
reflecting the latest changes.

NOTE: Always ensure that the expected compiled filenames end with `.js` or
`.css`.

##### Far-future Expires Header

Precompiled assets exist on the file system and are served directly by your web
server. They do not have far-future headers by default, so to get the benefit of
fingerprinting you'll have to update your server configuration to add those
headers.

For Apache:

```apache
# The Expires* directives require the Apache module
# `mod_expires` to be enabled.
<Location /assets/>
  # Use of ETag is discouraged when Last-Modified is present
  Header unset ETag
  FileETag None
  # RFC says only cache for 1 year
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 year"
</Location>
```

For NGINX:

```nginx
location ~ ^/assets/ {
  expires 1y;
  add_header Cache-Control public;

  add_header ETag "";
}
```

#### CDNs

CDN stands for [Content Delivery
Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network), they are
primarily designed to cache assets all over the world so that when a browser
requests the asset, a cached copy will be geographically close to that browser.
If you are serving assets directly from your Rails server in production, the
best practice is to use a CDN in front of your application.

A common pattern for using a CDN is to set your production application as the
"origin" server. This means when a browser requests an asset from the CDN and
there is a cache miss, it will instead source the file from your server and then
cache it. For example if you are running a Rails application on `example.com`
and have a CDN configured at `mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com`, then when a
request is made to `mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com/assets/smile.png`, the CDN
will query your server once at `example.com/assets/smile.png` and cache the
request. The next request to the CDN that comes in to the same URL will hit the
cached copy. When the CDN can serve an asset directly the request never touches
your Rails server. Since the assets from a CDN are geographically closer to the
browser, the request is faster, and since your server doesn't need to spend time
serving assets, it can focus on serving application code.

##### Set up a CDN to Serve Static Assets

To set up CDN, your application needs to be running in production on the
internet at a publicly available URL, for example `example.com`. Next you'll
need to sign up for a CDN service from a cloud hosting provider. When you do
this you need to configure the "origin" of the CDN to point back at your website
`example.com`. Check your provider for documentation on configuring the origin
server.

The CDN you provisioned should give you a custom subdomain for your application
such as `mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com` (note fictional-cdn.com is not a
valid CDN provider at the time of this writing). Now that you have configured
your CDN server, you need to tell browsers to use your CDN to grab assets
instead of your Rails server directly. You can do this by configuring Rails to
set your CDN as the asset host instead of using a relative path. To set your
asset host in Rails, you need to set [`config.asset_host`][] in
`config/environments/production.rb`:

```ruby
config.asset_host = "mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com"
```

NOTE: You only need to provide the "host", this is the subdomain and root
domain, you do not need to specify a protocol or "scheme" such as `http://` or
`https://`. When a web page is requested, the protocol in the link to your asset
that is generated will match how the webpage is accessed by default.

You can also set this value through an [environment
variable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable) to make running a
staging copy of your site easier:

```ruby
config.asset_host = ENV["CDN_HOST"]
```

NOTE: You would need to set `CDN_HOST` on your server to `mycdnsubdomain
.fictional-cdn.com` for this to work.

Once you have configured your server and your CDN, asset paths from helpers such
as:

```erb
<%= asset_path('smile.png') %>
```

Will be rendered as full CDN URLs like
`http://mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com/assets/smile.png` (digest omitted for
readability).

If the CDN has a copy of `smile.png`, it will serve it to the browser,  and the
origin server won't even know it was requested. If the CDN does not have a copy,
it will try to find it at the "origin" `example.com/assets/smile.png`, and then
store it for future use.

If you want to serve only some assets from your CDN, you can use custom `:host`
option for your asset helper, which overwrites the value set in
[`config.action_controller.asset_host`][].

```erb
<%= asset_path 'image.png', host: 'mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com' %>
```

[`config.action_controller.asset_host`]:
    configuring.html#config-action-controller-asset-host
[`config.asset_host`]: configuring.html#config-asset-host

##### Customize CDN Caching Behavior

A CDN works by caching content. If the CDN has stale or bad content, then it is
hurting rather than helping your application. The purpose of this section is to
describe general caching behavior of most CDNs. Your specific provider may
behave slightly differently.

**CDN Request Caching**

While a CDN is described as being good for caching assets, it actually caches
the entire request. This includes the body of the asset as well as any headers.
The most important one being `Cache-Control`, which tells the CDN (and web
browsers) how to cache contents. This means that if someone requests an asset
that does not exist, such as `/assets/i-dont-exist.png`, and your Rails
application returns a 404, then your CDN will likely cache the 404 page if a
valid `Cache-Control` header is present.

**CDN Header Debugging**

One way to check the headers are cached properly in your CDN is by using [curl](
https://explainshell.com/explain?cmd=curl+-I+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com). You
can request the headers from both your server and your CDN to verify they are
the same:

```bash
$ curl -I http://www.example/assets/application-
d0e099e021c95eb0de3615fd1d8c4d83.css
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Cowboy
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 20:27:50 GMT
Connection: keep-alive
Last-Modified: Thu, 08 May 2014 01:24:14 GMT
Content-Type: text/css
Cache-Control: public, max-age=2592000
Content-Length: 126560
Via: 1.1 vegur
```

Versus the CDN copy:

```bash
$ curl -I http://mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com/application-
d0e099e021c95eb0de3615fd1d8c4d83.css
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Cowboy Last-
Modified: Thu, 08 May 2014 01:24:14 GMT Content-Type: text/css
Cache-Control:
public, max-age=2592000
Via: 1.1 vegur
Content-Length: 126560
Accept-Ranges:
bytes
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 20:28:45 GMT
Via: 1.1 varnish
Age: 885814
Connection: keep-alive
X-Served-By: cache-dfw1828-DFW
X-Cache: HIT
X-Cache-Hits:
68
X-Timer: S1408912125.211638212,VS0,VE0
```

Check your CDN documentation for any additional information they may provide
such as `X-Cache` or for any additional headers they may add.

**CDNs and the Cache-Control Header**

The [`Cache-Control`][] header describes how a request can be cached. When no
CDN is used, a browser will use this information to cache contents. This is very
helpful for assets that are not modified so that a browser does not need to
re-download a website's CSS or JavaScript on every request. Generally we want
our Rails server to tell our CDN (and browser) that the asset is "public". That
means any cache can store the request. Also we commonly want to set `max-age`
which is how long the cache will store the object before invalidating the cache.
The `max-age` value is set to seconds with a maximum possible value of
`31536000`, which is one year. You can do this in your Rails application by
setting

```ruby
config.public_file_server.headers = {
  "cache-control" => "public, max-age=31536000"
}
```

Now when your application serves an asset in production, the CDN will store the
asset for up to a year. Since most CDNs also cache headers of the request, this
`Cache-Control` will be passed along to all future browsers seeking this asset.
The browser then knows that it can store this asset for a very long time before
needing to re-request it.

[`Cache-Control`]:
    https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Cache-Control

**CDNs and URL-based Cache Invalidation**

Most CDNs will cache contents of an asset based on the complete URL. This means
that a request to

```
http://mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com/assets/smile-123.png
```

Will be a completely different cache from

```
http://mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com/assets/smile.png
```

If you want to set far future `max-age` in your `Cache-Control` (and you do),
then make sure when you change your assets that your cache is invalidated. For
example when changing the smiley face in an image from yellow to blue, you want
all visitors of your site to get the new blue face. When using a CDN with the
Rails asset pipeline `config.assets.digest` is set to true by default so that
each asset will have a different file name when it is changed. This way you
don't have to ever manually invalidate any items in your cache. By using a
different unique asset name instead, your users get the latest asset.

Sprockets to Propshaft
-------------------------------------

### Evolution of Asset Management Techniques

Within the last few years, the evolution of the web has led to significant
changes that have influenced how assets are managed in web applications. These
include:

1. **Browser Support**: Modern browsers have improved support for new features
   and syntax, reducing the need for transpilation and polyfills.
2. **HTTP/2**: The introduction of HTTP/2 has made it easier to serve multiple
   files in parallel, reducing the need for bundling.
3. **ES6+**: Modern JavaScript syntax (ES6+) is supported by most modern
   browsers, reducing the need for transpilation.

Therefore, the asset pipeline powered by Propshaft, no longer includes
transpilation, bundling, or compression by default. However, fingerprinting
still remains an integral part. You can read more about the evolution of asset
management techniques and how they directed the change from Sprockets to
Propshaft below.

#### Transpilation ❌

Transpilation involves converting code from one language or format to another.

For example, converting TypeScript to JavaScript.

```typescript
const greet = (name: string): void => {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
};
```

After transpilation, this code becomes:

```javascript
const greet = (name) => {
  console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);
};
```

In the past, pre-processors like [Sass](https://sass-lang.com/) and
[Less](https://lesscss.org/) were essential for CSS features such as variables
and nesting. Today, modern CSS supports these natively, reducing the need for
transpilation.

#### Bundling ❌

Bundling combines multiple files into one to reduce the number of HTTP requests
a browser needs to make to render a page.

For example, if your application has three JavaScript files:

- menu.js
- cart.js
- checkout.js

Bundling will merge these into a single application.js file.

```javascript
// app/javascript/application.js
// Contents of menu.js, cart.js, and checkout.js are combined here
```

This was crucial with HTTP/1.1, which limited 6-8 simultaneous connections per
domain. With HTTP/2, browsers fetch multiple files in parallel, making bundling
less critical for modern applications.

#### Compression ❌

Compression encodes files in a more efficient format to reduce their size
further when delivered to users. A common technique is [Gzip
compression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip).

For example, a CSS file that's 200KB may compress to just 50KB when Gzipped.
Browsers automatically decompress such files upon receipt, saving bandwidth and
improving speed.

However, with CDNs automatically compressing assets, the need for manual
compression has decreased.

### Sprockets vs. Propshaft

#### Load Order

In Sprockets, you could link files together to ensure they loaded in the correct
order. For example, a main JavaScript file that depended on other files would
automatically have its dependencies managed by Sprockets, ensuring everything
loaded in the right sequence. Propshaft, on the other hand, does not
automatically handle these dependencies, and instead [lets you manage the asset
load order manually](#asset-load-order).

#### Versioning

Sprockets simplifies asset fingerprinting by appending a hash to filenames
whenever assets are updated, ensuring proper cache invalidation. With Propshaft,
you’ll need to handle certain aspects manually. For example, while asset
fingerprinting works, you might need to use a bundler or trigger transformations
manually for JavaScript files to ensure filenames are updated correctly. Read
more about [fingerprinting in
Propshaft](#fingerprinting-versioning-with-digest-based-urls).

#### Precompilation

Sprockets processed assets that were explicitly included in a bundle. In
contrast, Propshaft automatically processes all assets located in the specified
paths, including images, stylesheets, JavaScript files, and more, without
requiring explicit bundling. Read more about [asset
digesting](#asset-digesting).

### Migration Steps

Propshaft is intentionally simpler than
[Sprockets](https://github.com/rails/sprockets-rails), which may make migrating
from Sprockets a fair amount of work. This is especially true if you rely on
Sprockets for tasks like transpiling
[TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) or [Sass](https://sass-lang.com/),
or if you're using gems that provide this functionality. In such cases, you'll
either need to stop transpiling or switch to a Node.js-based transpiler, such as
those provided by
[`jsbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/jsbundling-rails) or
[`cssbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/cssbundling-rails). Read more
about these in the [Advanced Asset Management
section](#advanced-asset-management).

However, if you're already using a Node-based setup to bundle JavaScript and
CSS, Propshaft should integrate smoothly into your workflow. Since you won’t
need an additional tool for bundling or transpiling, Propshaft will primarily
handle asset digesting and serving.

Some key steps in the migration include:

1. Remove some gems using the following:

    ```bash
    bundle remove sprockets
    bundle remove sprockets-rails
    bundle remove sass-rails
    ```

2. Delete the `config/assets.rb` and `assets/config/manifest.js` files from your
   project.

3. If you've already upgraded to Rails 8, then Propshaft is already included in
   your application. Otherwise, install it using `bundle add propshaft`.

4. Remove the `config.assets.paths << Rails.root.join('app', 'assets')` line
   from your `application.rb` file.

5. Migrate asset helpers by replacing all instances of asset helpers in your CSS
   files (e.g., `image_url`) with standard `url()` functions, keeping in mind
   that Propshaft utilizes relative paths.
   For example, `image_url("logo.png")` may become `url("/logo.png")`.

6. If you're relying on Sprockets for transpiling, you'll need to switch to a
   Node-based transpiler like Webpack, esbuild, or Vite. You can use the
   `jsbundling-rails` and `cssbundling-rails` gems to integrate these tools into
   your Rails application.

For more information, you can read the [detailed guide on how to migrate from
Sprockets to
Propshaft](https://github.com/rails/propshaft/blob/main/UPGRADING.md).

## Advanced Asset Management

Over the years, there have been multiple default approaches for handling assets,
and as the web evolved, we began to see more JavaScript-heavy applications. In
The Rails Doctrine we believe that [The Menu Is
Omakase](https://rubyonrails.org/doctrine#omakase), so Propshaft focuses on
delivering a production-ready setup with modern browsers by default.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the various JavaScript and CSS
frameworks and extensions available. However, there are other bundling libraries
in the Rails ecosystem that should empower you in cases where the default setup
isn't enough.

### `jsbundling-rails`

[`jsbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/jsbundling-rails) is a gem that
integrates modern JavaScript bundlers into your Rails application. It allows you
to manage and bundle JavaScript assets with tools like [Bun](https://bun.sh),
[esbuild](https://esbuild.github.io/), [rollup.js](https://rollupjs.org/), or
[Webpack](https://webpack.js.org/), offering a runtime-dependent approach for
developers seeking flexibility and performance.

#### How `jsbundling-rails` Works

1. After installation, it sets up your Rails app to use your chosen JavaScript
   bundler.
2. It creates a `build` script in your `package.json` file to compile your
   JavaScript assets.
3. During development, the `build:watch` script ensures live updates to your
   assets as you make changes.
4. In production, the gem ensures that JavaScript is built and included during
   the precompilation step, reducing manual intervention. It hooks into Rails'
   `assets:precompile` task to build JavaScript for all entry points during
   deployment. This integration ensures that your JavaScript is production-ready
   with minimal configuration.

The gem automatically handles entry-point discovery - identifying the primary
JavaScript files to bundle by following Rails conventions, typically looking in
directories like `app/javascript/` and configuration. By adhering to Rails
conventions, `jsbundling-rails` simplifies the process of integrating complex
JavaScript workflows into Rails projects.

#### When Should You Use It?

`jsbundling-rails` is ideal for Rails applications that:

- Require modern JavaScript features like ES6+, TypeScript, or JSX.
- Need to leverage bundler-specific optimizations like tree-shaking, code
  splitting, or minification.
- Use `Propshaft` for asset management and need a reliable way to integrate
  precompiled JavaScript with the broader Rails asset pipeline.
- Utilize libraries or frameworks that depend on a build step. For example,
  projects requiring transpilation—such as those using
  [Babel](https://babeljs.io/), [TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/),
  or React JSX—benefit greatly from `jsbundling-rails`. These tools rely on a
  build step, which the gem seamlessly supports.

By integrating with Rails tools like `Propshaft` and simplifying JavaScript
workflows, `jsbundling-rails` allows you to build rich, dynamic front-ends while
staying productive and adhering to Rails conventions.

### `cssbundling-rails`

[`cssbundling-rails`](https://github.com/rails/cssbundling-rails) integrates
modern CSS frameworks and tools into your Rails application. It allows you to
bundle and process your stylesheets. Once processed, the resulting CSS is
delivered via the Rails asset pipeline.

#### How `cssbundling-rails` Works

1. After installation, it sets up your Rails app to use your chosen CSS
   framework or processor.
2. It creates a `build:css` script in your `package.json` file to compile your
   stylesheets.
3. During development, a `build:css --watch` task ensures live updates to your
   CSS as you make changes, providing a smooth and responsive workflow.
4. In production, the gem ensures your stylesheets are compiled and ready for
   deployment. During the `assets:precompile` step, it installs all
   `package.json` dependencies via `bun`, `yarn`, `pnpm` or `npm` and runs the
   `build:css` task to process your stylesheet entry points. The resulting CSS
   output is then digested by the asset pipeline and copied into the
   `public/assets` directory, just like other asset pipeline files.

This integration simplifies the process of preparing production-ready styles
while ensuring all your CSS is managed and processed efficiently.

#### When Should You Use It?

`cssbundling-rails` is ideal for Rails applications that:

- Use CSS frameworks like [Tailwind CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/),
  [Bootstrap](https://getbootstrap.com/), or [Bulma](https://bulma.io/) that
  require processing during development or deployment.
- Need advanced CSS capabilities such as custom preprocessing with
  [PostCSS](https://postcss.org/) or [Dart Sass](https://sass-lang.com/)
  plugins.
- Require seamless integration of processed CSS into the Rails asset pipeline.
- Benefit from live updates to stylesheets during development with minimal
  manual intervention.

**NOTE**: Unlike [`dartsass-rails`](https://github.com/rails/dartsass-rails) or
[`tailwindcss-rails`](https://github.com/rails/tailwindcss-rails), which use
standalone versions of [Dart Sass](https://sass-lang.com/) and [Tailwind
CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/), `cssbundling-rails` introduces a Node.js
dependency. This makes it a good choice for applications already relying on Node
for JavaScript processing with gems like `jsbundling-rails`. However, if you're
using [`importmap-rails`](https://github.com/rails/importmap-rails) for
JavaScript and prefer to avoid Node.js, standalone alternatives like
[`dartsass-rails`](https://github.com/rails/dartsass-rails) or
[`tailwindcss-rails`](https://github.com/rails/tailwindcss-rails) offer a
simpler setup.

By integrating modern CSS workflows, automating production builds, and
leveraging the Rails asset pipeline, `cssbundling-rails` enables developers to
efficiently manage and deliver dynamic styles.

### `tailwindcss-rails`

[`tailwindcss-rails`](https://github.com/rails/tailwindcss-rails) is a wrapper
gem that integrates [Tailwind CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/) into your Rails
application. By bundling Tailwind CSS with a [standalone
executable](https://tailwindcss.com/blog/standalone-cli), it eliminates the need
for Node.js or additional JavaScript dependencies. This makes it a lightweight
and efficient solution for styling Rails applications.

#### How `tailwindcss-rails` Works

1. When installed, by providing `--css tailwind` to the `rails new` command, the
   gem generates a `tailwind.config.js` file for customizing your Tailwind setup
   and a `stylesheets/application.tailwind.css` file for managing your CSS entry
   points.
2. Instead of relying on Node.js, the gem uses a precompiled Tailwind CSS
   binary. This standalone approach allows you to process and compile CSS
   without adding a JavaScript runtime to your project.
3. During development, changes to your Tailwind configuration or CSS files are
   automatically detected and processed. The gem rebuilds your stylesheets and
   provides a `watch` process to automatically generate Tailwind output in
   development.
4. In production, the gem hooks into the `assets:precompile` task. It processes
   your Tailwind CSS files and generates optimized, production-ready
   stylesheets, which are then included in the asset pipeline. The output is
   fingerprinted and cached for efficient delivery.

#### When Should You Use It?

`tailwindcss-rails` is ideal for Rails applications that:

- Want to use [Tailwind CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/) without introducing a
  Node.js dependency or JavaScript build tools.
- Require a minimal setup for managing utility-first CSS frameworks.
- Need to take advantage of Tailwind's powerful features like custom themes,
  variants, and plugins without complex configuration.

The gem works seamlessly with Rails' asset pipeline tools, like Propshaft,
ensuring that your CSS is preprocessed, digested, and efficiently served in
production environments.

### `importmap-rails`

[`importmap-rails`](https://github.com/rails/importmap-rails) enables a
Node.js-free approach to managing JavaScript in Rails applications. It leverages
modern browser support for [ES
Modules](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Modules)
to load JavaScript directly in the browser without requiring bundling or
transpilation. This approach aligns with Rails' commitment to simplicity and
convention over configuration.

#### How `importmap-rails` Works

- After installation, `importmap-rails` configures your Rails app to use
  `<script type="module">` tags to load JavaScript modules directly in the
  browser.
- JavaScript dependencies are managed using the `bin/importmap` command, which
  pins modules to URLs, typically hosted on CDNs like
  [jsDelivr](https://www.jsdelivr.com/) that host pre-bundled, browser-ready
  versions of libraries. This eliminates the need for `node_modules` or a
  package manager.
- During development, there’s no bundling step, so updates to your JavaScript
  are instantly available, streamlining the workflow.
- In production, the gem integrates with Propshaft to serve JavaScript files as
  part of the asset pipeline. Propshaft ensures files are digested, cached, and
  production-ready. Dependencies are versioned, fingerprinted, and efficiently
  delivered without manual intervention.

**NOTE**: While Propshaft ensures proper asset handling, it does not handle
JavaScript processing or transformations — `importmap-rails` assumes your
JavaScript is already in a browser-compatible format. This is why it works best
for projects that don't require transpiling or bundling.

By eliminating the need for a build step and Node.js, `importmap-rails`
simplifies JavaScript management.

#### When Should You Use It?

`importmap-rails` is ideal for Rails applications that:

- Do not require complex JavaScript features like transpiling or bundling.
- Use modern JavaScript without relying on tools like
  [Babel](https://babeljs.io/).
