# rails/rails-dev-box

A virtual machine for Ruby on Rails core development

Repository: https://github.com/rails/rails-dev-box
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rails-dev-box
Language: Shell
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-06-03T05:33:43+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 70/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5132, "days_push": 91, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2042, forks 568 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:08.599313+00:00)

## What it is
A Vagrant-based virtual machine that automates setup of a complete development environment for Ruby on Rails core development. It provisions Ruby, databases, and services needed to run the Rails test suites, not for building Rails applications.

## Use cases
- set up an environment to hack on Rails core
- run the Rails test suite in an isolated VM
- work on a Rails pull request with all dependencies preinstalled
- avoid polluting the host machine with Rails dev dependencies
- configure RAM and CPUs for the Rails dev VM

## When to choose
- you want to contribute to Ruby on Rails itself
- you need a reproducible environment with SQLite, MySQL, Postgres, Redis, Memcached, and RabbitMQ for Rails tests
- you prefer editing on the host and testing inside a VM

## When to avoid
- you are developing a Rails application rather than Rails core
- you already have a working local Ruby development setup
- you cannot use VirtualBox or Vagrant on your machine

## Facets
- artifact type: infra-config
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, testing, configuration-management
- domain: developer-tools, web-development, version-control
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: vagrant, virtualbox, rails-core, development-environment, virtual-machine, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- rails/rails-dev-box (main) score 70

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:08.599313+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:58:18.927482+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rails/rails-dev-box (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:08.599313+00:00, sha 6a740a14041e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.