A web framework that ships zero lines of code
Rust off Rails is a set of Markdown files that tell coding agents how to build a full-stack Rust web app: one blessed stack, one layout, one way to do each thing. The convention lives in the prose. The agent writes the code.
curl -fsSL https://rustoffrails.org/install.sh | shor in Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add rust-off-rails/rustoffrails
Read before you pipe: the install script · INSTALL.md
~/code/bookshelf, claude
bin/setup && bin/devWhat it is
Other frameworks ship a library. Rust off Rails gives your agent the judgment: every choice it would otherwise improvise, already made and written down.
The founding rule
Every line of Rust, SQL, HTML, CSS, TypeScript and every Dockerfile is written by an agent. Humans write intent: specs in product/, answers in the interview, feedback in conversation. Never code. It's the rule the others rest on: boilerplate is free, conventions are enforced by the agent, and specs stay the source of truth. Read §0.
Where a framework would ship a library, Off Rails ships a precise spec. The job queue, sessions and Inertia adapter are rendered into your app as code you own.
Crate choice, file layout, naming, errors, tests: decided once. The agent never debates the ORM. Inconsistency is the enemy, not imperfection.
Auth, jobs, email, caching, uploads, realtime, deploys: every layer has a guide and a recipe, so the agent never starts from a blank page. Browse the guides.
How it works
The agent asks only what a human can answer, writes the answers down, and is done only when the compiler and the test suite on both databases agree.
Product questions only, each with a recommended default. "Who can see this?" yes; "which ORM?" never. Say "you decide" and it takes the defaults.
A compact plan (resources, pages, jobs, assumptions) written into product/ specs with acceptance criteria. The spec is the durable record; chat is not.
Generator recipes, run by the agent: migration → model → failing tests → controller → views, one vertical slice at a time.
fmt, clippy, tests on SQLite and Postgres, every acceptance criterion traced to a test, coverage gates. Green or it didn't happen.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
/offrails:new | Interview → plan → app skeleton → planned features, green |
/offrails:feature | Spec first, then code. With no argument: build what changed in product/ |
/offrails:scaffold | A full resource in the app's frontend mode |
/offrails:generate | Jobs, mailers, channels, authentication, models, migrations, tasks |
/offrails:check | The Definition of Done: fmt, clippy, tests on SQLite and Postgres |
/offrails:doctor | Audits the app against every convention in the docs |
/offrails:deploy | Deploy config and a verified image; confirms before anything outward-facing |
/offrails:upgrade | Moves the app's vendored framework forward and migrates conventions |
How you'll use it
Say what you want, or write it in product/features/*.md. Plain English.
The agent writes the spec, then the code: migrations, models, views, tests.
Done means green on SQLite and Postgres, every acceptance criterion tested.
The deal
generators/scaffold.md: a recipe the agent runsThe stack in one breath
Axum·Tokio·SeaORM SQLite locally, Postgres in production, same code·Askama·Tailwind·lettre·tracing·one binary, one Docker image
FRONTEND_MODE, chosen once in the interviewhtmx default
Askama templates, checked at compile time, plus htmx. No Node. For CRUD apps, dashboards, content sites (like this one).
inertia
React or Svelte pages with server-side routing and controllers, through a generated Inertia adapter. The pick when you want a JS UI.
spa
A separate single-page app plus a JSON API, for when the UI must be a standalone app. Types flow from Rust via ts-rs.
api in progress
No UI at all: a backend and a versioned API for mobile apps, partners and scripts.
UI_LIBRARYreact (default) or svelte, for inertia, spa and htmx islandsAPInone, rest (OpenAPI + tokens), graphql or both: a public, versioned API, independent of the UIAnd in the database: a job queue, a cache and pub/sub. The database is the only infrastructure.
Standing on giants
None of the good ideas here are new. We took the ones that aged best from two frameworks we love, gave each a Rust shape, and wrote them down for agents.
rails new and scaffold, as recipes the agent runs/up and Docker by defaultbin/rails tasks → one app binary/admin/jobs dashboard/dev/mailbox/dev toolboxField tests
Agents port well-loved open-source apps to Rust off Rails. Every rough edge they hit goes back into the framework.
from Fizzy In progress
Fizzy's boards and cards, rebuilt in Rust by agents.
from FreeScout In progress
A shared-inbox help desk, built by agents on another machine.
from Uptime Kuma Built
1530 of 1530 tests green on SQLite and Postgres.
Get started
/plugin marketplace add rust-off-rails/rustoffrails
/plugin install offrails@offrailsThen, in an empty directory:
/offrails:new bookshelf: people track the books they've read and review themThe agent interviews you, confirms a plan, then builds. Skills also trigger on plain requests ("make me a new Rust web app…").
AGENTS.mdRead /path/to/rustoffrails/AGENTS.md and make me a new app called "bookshelf".Generated apps carry AGENTS.md and a vendored .offrails/, so later sessions need no setup.
Describe features in plain language, or write them as specs in product/:
Scaffold Book with title:string, author:string, published_on:date, rating:integer.
Users must be logged in to create books.The full walkthrough How you'll use it Read the docs Star on GitHub