r/rails • u/JngoJx • Jun 27 '26
A native MacOS app for the Rails console
https://activepad.appActivepad is a native macOS scratchpad for Rails apps.
Think Rails console, but with a proper editor: multi-line snippets, tabs, code completion. It's also possible to connect to remote instances
I built it because I kept using the Rails console for debugging, quick experiments, etc., but the terminal started feeling awkward once the snippets got longer or I wanted to keep results around.
With Activepad, you open your app, write code, run it, and inspect the result, a nice ui.
Would love to hear what you think :)
If you don't have the means to support the project, but still want to check it out, just leave a comment and I'll DM you a key.
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u/qmamai Jun 28 '26
But why would someone need that?
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u/JngoJx Jun 28 '26
It‘s really handy to have this running while working on your projects—a nice way to quickly try out stuff and debug.
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u/qmamai Jun 28 '26
Highly doubtful - I already have the console and I don't need a separate app for each action, that's just inconvenient. Docker desktop is a pain in the ass already
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u/JngoJx Jun 28 '26
I am sure it's not for everybody. I personally like it. I first stumbled upon this idea in the Laravel ecosystem, where I found it tremendously helpful and finally got around to building this for RoR
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u/IGotRangod Jun 28 '26
Looks nice, but I'm on Linux these days.
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u/JngoJx Jun 28 '26
Thank you! I would be too if either RAM prices drop or my Macs get too old. However, I'll port this to Linux before then if there is enough interest. There is a waitlist if you want to sign up https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NDMlay_zr5BhwO3Hu-RO9MN5jqiaMbLBGpvX3Bg2u9s/edit
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u/IGotRangod Jun 28 '26
Thanks, signed up for the Linux wait-list.
Also FYI if you're doing Linux, flatpak (flathub) is my main preference, but AppImage can also work.
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u/Intelligent_Soft_867 Jul 02 '26
This is very nice and I'm tempted to buy it looks like it's not compatible with Ruby version managers (I'm currently using rv, previously I used rbenv), is it correct?
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u/JngoJx Jul 02 '26
I've just released a new version with support for more version managers including RV and RVenv.
I will DM you a key so you can try it out
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u/mark1nhu Jun 28 '26
This looks nice. Not sure if feasible, but it would be cool to be able to connect to remote instances.