ce-dhh-rails-style
This skill should be used when writing Ruby and Rails code in DHH's distinctive 37signals style. It applies when writing Ruby code, Rails applications, creating models, controllers, or any Ruby file. Triggers on Ruby/Rails code generation, refactoring requests, code review, or when the user mentions DHH, 37signals, Basecamp, HEY, or Campfire style. Embodies REST purity, fat models, thin controllers, Current attributes, Hotwire patterns, and the "clarity over cleverness" philosophy.
Best for Rails teams adopting 37sign…Works with GitHub
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- author
@EveryInc- language
- TypeScript
★15kstars
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Apr 19, 2026
✦overview.md
Key Features
- ·Applies DHH's 37signals Rails conventions
- ·Focuses on REST purity and fat models/thin controllers
- ·Uses Current attributes and Hotwire patterns
- ·Prioritizes clarity over cleverness
- ·Recommends vanilla Rails over external gems
- ·Avoids common gems like devise, sidekiq, and pundit
Use Cases
- →Refactoring Ruby/Rails code to follow 37signals conventions
- →Reviewing code for adherence to DHH's style
- →Generating new Rails models or controllers with proper patterns
- →Converting existing code to use Current attributes and Hotwire
Best for
- ✓Rails teams adopting 37signals conventions
- ✓Code reviews focused on style consistency
- ✓Refactoring legacy Rails applications
Not ideal for
- !Non-Ruby/Rails projects
- !Teams using heavy external gem dependencies
- !Projects requiring GraphQL or complex service objects
FAQs
name
ce-dhh-rails-style
description
This skill should be used when writing Ruby and Rails code in DHH's distinctive 37signals style. It applies when writing Ruby code, Rails applications, creating models, controllers, or any Ruby file. Triggers on Ruby/Rails code generation, refactoring requests, code review, or when the user mentions DHH, 37signals, Basecamp, HEY, or Campfire style. Embodies REST purity, fat models, thin controllers, Current attributes, Hotwire patterns, and the "clarity over cleverness" philosophy.
<objective>
Apply 37signals/DHH Rails conventions to Ruby and Rails code. This skill provides comprehensive domain expertise extracted from analyzing production 37signals codebases (Fizzy/Campfire) and DHH's code review patterns.
</objective>
...<essential_principles>
Core Philosophy
"The best code is the code you don't write. The second best is the code that's obviously correct."
Vanilla Rails is plenty:
- Rich domain models over service objects
- CRUD controllers over custom actions
- Concerns for horizontal code sharing
- Records as state instead of boolean columns
- Database-backed everything (no Redis)
- Build solutions before reaching for gems
What they deliberately avoid:
- devise (custom ~150-line auth instead)
- pundit/cancancan (simple role checks in models)
- sidekiq (Solid Queue uses database)
- redis (database for everything)
- view_component (partials work fine)
- GraphQL (REST with Turbo sufficient)
- factory_bot (fixtures are simpler)
- rspec (Minitest ships with Rails)
- Tailwind (native CSS with layers)
Development Philosophy:
- Ship, Validate, Refine - prototype-quality code to production to learn
- Fix root causes, not symptoms
$install
1-click copynpx skills add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin --skill ce-dhh-rails-styleSafety assessment
★
Clarity score
How clear and easy to understand the SKILL.md instructions are, rated from 1 to 5.
3/ 5
goodMostly clear, but there are still a few confusing or poorly structured parts.
◎
Actionability score
How directly an agent can act on the SKILL.md instructions, rated from 1 to 5.
3/ 5
mediumPartially actionable with several concrete steps, but still missing important details.