Free ebook

The Complete Guide
to Upgrade Rails

The playbook we use to move Rails apps forward without freezing product work. Built from years of upgrading everything from small MVPs to large monoliths.

  • 60,000+ dev hours upgrading Rails
  • Rails 2.3 → 8.1 covered
  • Dual-boot method inside

Inside the guide

What you’ll take away

Written for the engineers and leaders responsible for keeping a Rails app current, and for keeping the upgrade off the roadmap’s critical path.

  1. Prepare a legacy app the right way

    Get a codebase ready for a safe, incremental upgrade before you touch a single gem.

  2. Upgrade without a feature freeze

    Use the dual-boot technique to ship the upgrade while your team keeps building.

  3. Tame dependencies and deprecations

    Handle breaking changes and version conflicts with a clear order of operations.

  4. Make the next upgrade routine

    Leave with a repeatable process your team reuses for every future version bump.