Gaurav Varma

Rails 8 introduces Propshaft as the new default asset pipeline, moving away from the long-standing Sprockets system. The goal? A leaner, faster, and more modern way to manage and serve static assets.

Why Propshaft?

Sprockets had a good run, but it carried a lot of legacy baggage:

Complex preprocessing layers
Dynamic runtime compilation
Heavy memory usage on large apps

Propshaft is a fresh start. It strips away unnecessary features and focuses on what matters today:

Simpler configuration
Faster builds
Better CDN integration
Seamless support for modern tools like Importmap, esbuild, and Tailwind CLI

Key Features of Propshaft

Digest-based Caching: Assets are fingerprinted at build time (e.g., application-abc123.css), ensuring cache busting without runtime overhead.
No Middleware: Assets are served as static files—no dynamic pipeline in production.
Manifest-driven: A YAML-based manifest maps logical filenames to their digested counterparts.
Logical Paths: You reference files by name, and Propshaft handles the digested paths.
Multiple Asset Paths: Organize assets across directories like app/assets, vendor/assets, or custom folders.
Zero Preprocessing: Propshaft doesn't compile SCSS, CoffeeScript, or ERB—use external tools for that.

Benefits Over Sprockets

1| Feature                | Sprockets              | Propshaft                  |
2| -----------------------| ---------------------- | ---------------------------|
3| Preprocessing          | Built-in               | External tools (ex.esbuild)|
4| Fingerprinting         | Digest + runtime logic | Static digesting           |
5| Middleware(production) | Yes                    | No                         |
6| CDN-friendly           | Somewhat               | Fully                      |
7| Performance            | Slower in large apps   | Fast and minimal           |

Example: Migrating to Propshaft

For existing apps, switch to Propshaft with:

1bundle remove sprockets-rails
2bundle add propshaft
3rails propshaft:install

Update config/application.rb:

1config.assets.pipeline = :propshaft

Then use:

1<%= stylesheet_link_tag "application", "data-turbo-track": "reload" %>
2<%= javascript_include_tag "application", "data-turbo-track": "reload", defer: true %>

Developer Experience

Propshaft is Rails-y by nature:

No Webpack needed
Pairs great with Importmap, esbuild, or Tailwind CLI
Easy to debug and reason about

It’s optimized for how Rails apps are built today—where JavaScript tooling is modular and asset delivery should be fast and reliable.

When to Stick with Sprockets?

If your app heavily depends on Sprockets features like:

SCSS/ERB preprocessing
Directive-based requires (//= require)
Inline asset compilation in views

...then consider keeping Sprockets or migrating gradually. But for new Rails 8 apps, Propshaft is the way to go.

Summary

Propshaft is Rails 8’s modern answer to a cleaner, faster, and more maintainable asset pipeline. It offloads preprocessing, streamlines serving, and embraces the current frontend landscape—no magic, just files.

Rails 8 replaces Sprockets with Propshaft for asset pipeline