# thoughtbot/paperclip

Easy file attachment management for ActiveRecord

Repository: https://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/thoughtbot-paperclip
Homepage: https://thoughtbot.com
Language: Ruby
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Archived: true
Last push: 2023-07-13T17:57:58+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 6719, "days_push": 1147, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 9022, forks 2410 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:26.796151+00:00)

## What it is
Paperclip is a Ruby gem that provides easy file attachment management for ActiveRecord models in Rails applications, handling uploads, validations, and image processing. It is officially deprecated in favor of Rails' built-in ActiveStorage, with community fork kt-paperclip continuing maintenance.

## Use cases
- attach files to activerecord models in rails
- manage image uploads in a ruby on rails app
- add file attachment support to legacy rails app
- validate and process uploaded images in rails
- migrate paperclip attachments to activestorage

## When to choose
- maintaining a legacy Rails app already using Paperclip
- you need a proven attachment solution for an old Rails version that predates ActiveStorage
- you want to reference a mature attachment implementation

## When to avoid
- starting a new Rails project - use ActiveStorage instead
- you need ongoing bug fixes or security patches - use kt-paperclip or ActiveStorage
- you are on modern Rails versions where Paperclip is unsupported

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: file-upload, image-processing, orm
- domain: web-development, backend, files
- platform: ruby
- tags: file-attachments, activerecord, rails, deprecated, gem, web-server

## Member repositories
- thoughtbot/paperclip (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:26.796151+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 2026-08-29T17:24:19.954326+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:26.796151+00:00, sha 0cb0015c3534)
  - homepage: https://thoughtbot.com (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:18.590061+00:00, sha 5510254df796)
  - site_page: https://thoughtbot.com/case-studies/closeknit-health (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:18.599301+00:00, sha ec773542ed58)
  - site_page: https://thoughtbot.com/services (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:18.601017+00:00, sha 5b152b8c27da)
  - site_page: https://thoughtbot.com/our-company (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:18.602850+00:00, sha 9e2e18b981fb)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.