Why is it important for Claude to know my Rails version?

Rails changes significantly between versions. Knowing the version allows Claude to suggest compatible syntax, avoid deprecated methods, and reference the correct documentation.

Can it detect Rails 8 and newer versions?

Yes, the skill includes logic for detecting major releases like Rails 8.0.0 and mapping them to appropriate Ruby versions like 3.3.x.

How does the Rails Version Detector work?

The skill scans project files in order of reliability: first checking Gemfile.lock for an exact version, then Gemfile for version constraints, and finally .ruby-version as a heuristic backup.

Does this skill require manual activation?

While it can be invoked manually with @rails-version-detector, it is primarily designed to be auto-invoked by other Rails skills that need version data.

Rails Version Detector

Name: Rails Version Detector
Author: nbarthel

bynbarthel

Productivity & Workflow

Identifies the Rails framework version in a project to ensure version-accurate code generation and documentation.

About

Rails Version Detector is a specialized utility for Claude Code that automatically determines the exact version of Ruby on Rails being used in a project. By analyzing Gemfile.lock, Gemfile, and Ruby version files, it provides the necessary context for other Rails-related skills to provide compatible API references, documentation, and code patterns. This eliminates the risk of generating deprecated code and ensures that the AI's suggestions are tailored to your specific environment's capabilities.

Key Features

Intelligent version constraint interpretation for Gemfile entries (e.g., ~> 7.1.0).
Confidence-level reporting (exact, constraint, or heuristic) for downstream decision making.
0 GitHub stars
Multi-stage detection strategy prioritizing Gemfile.lock for exact version matching.
Heuristic mapping that estimates Rails versions based on the project's Ruby version.
Session-based caching to ensure fast performance without redundant file system reads.

Use Cases

Contextualizing code generation to use version-appropriate Rails syntax and features.
Enabling automated documentation searches to target the correct Rails version docs.
Verifying project environment details before performing migrations or upgrades.

About

Key Features

Intelligent version constraint interpretation for Gemfile entries (e.g., ~> 7.1.0).
Confidence-level reporting (exact, constraint, or heuristic) for downstream decision making.
0 GitHub stars
Multi-stage detection strategy prioritizing Gemfile.lock for exact version matching.
Heuristic mapping that estimates Rails versions based on the project's Ruby version.
Session-based caching to ensure fast performance without redundant file system reads.

Use Cases

Contextualizing code generation to use version-appropriate Rails syntax and features.
Enabling automated documentation searches to target the correct Rails version docs.
Verifying project environment details before performing migrations or upgrades.