Add top-level setup script for unified dependency installation

[justin808]

Problem

Currently, setting up the development environment requires running multiple commands in different directories:

# Root directory
pnpm install
bundle install

# Dummy app
cd spec/dummy
pnpm install
bundle install

# Pro package (if working on Pro features)
cd react_on_rails_pro
pnpm install
bundle install

cd react_on_rails_pro/spec/dummy
pnpm install
bundle install

This is error-prone and easy to forget, especially for new contributors or when switching between branches with different dependency requirements.

Proposed Solution

Add a top-level bin/setup script (the Rails convention) that:

1. Installs all dependencies across all directories
2. Runs any necessary setup tasks (e.g., rake node_package)
3. Provides clear output about what's being installed
4. Handles errors gracefully with helpful messages

Example implementation

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo "Setting up React on Rails development environment..."

# Root dependencies
echo "Installing root dependencies..."
pnpm install
bundle install

# Build node package
echo "Building node package..."
rake node_package

# Dummy app
echo "Setting up spec/dummy..."
cd spec/dummy
pnpm install
bundle install
cd ../..

# Pro package (if present)
if [ -d "react_on_rails_pro" ]; then
  echo "Setting up react_on_rails_pro..."
  cd react_on_rails_pro
  pnpm install
  bundle install
  
  if [ -d "spec/dummy" ]; then
    cd spec/dummy
    pnpm install
    bundle install
    cd ../..
  fi
  cd ..
fi

echo ""
echo "Setup complete! You can now run:"
echo "  rake          # Run all tests"
echo "  rake lint     # Run linters"

Acceptance Criteria

• bin/setup script exists and is executable
• Running bin/setup from the repo root installs all dependencies
• Script handles missing directories gracefully (e.g., if Pro package isn't cloned)
• Script provides clear progress output
• Script fails fast with helpful error messages if something goes wrong
• README.md updated to reference bin/setup in the development setup section

Related

This would also help with the CI setup steps, which currently duplicate this logic across multiple workflow files.

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Examples

• Example 1
• Example 2

🔗 Similar & Duplicate Issues

Related Issues

• shakacode/react_on_rails#2091
• shakacode/react_on_rails#2099
• shakacode/shakapacker#849
• shakacode/react_on_rails#1876
• shakacode/react_on_rails#2084

🔗 Related PRs

shakacode/react_on_rails-demos#58 - Auto-install npm dependencies before building packages [merged]
#1873 - Update preinstall script to enable use as a Git dependency [merged]
shakacode/shakapacker#768 - Refactor bin scripts to extract auto-configuration logic [merged]
shakacode/hichee#8880 - Add Conductor configuration for workspace setup [merged]
#1977 - Add Shakapacker precompile hook with ReScript support to Pro dummy app [merged]

👤 Suggested Assignees

• justin808
• AbanoubGhadban
• alexeyr-ci2
• frullah

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[justin808]

Additional Context from Local Testing

When testing the precompile check locally, I discovered several setup issues that this setup script should address:

1. PNPM Workspace vs Independent Installs

The dummy app (spec/dummy) is not part of the pnpm workspace. Running pnpm install from the dummy app directory without --ignore-workspace causes pnpm to install at the workspace root instead:

# WRONG - installs at workspace root
cd spec/dummy
pnpm install

# CORRECT - installs in dummy app specifically
cd spec/dummy  
pnpm install --ignore-workspace

The setup script should handle this automatically.

2. Precompile Hook Not Running Build Steps

There's a bug in spec/support/shakapacker_precompile_hook_shared.rb - the main execution block at line 116 uses:

if __FILE__ == $PROGRAM_NAME
  build_rescript_if_needed
  generate_packs_if_needed
end

But when loaded via load shared_hook from bin/shakapacker-precompile-hook, $PROGRAM_NAME doesn't match __FILE__, so the build steps never run. This is why the precompile hook says "completed successfully" but doesn't actually build ReScript or generate packs.

This should be a separate bug fix, but the setup script should also run these steps explicitly as a workaround/belt-and-suspenders approach.

3. Recommended Setup Sequence

The setup script should run these steps for the dummy app:

cd spec/dummy
pnpm install --ignore-workspace   # Install deps independently
pnpm run build:rescript           # Build ReScript files  
bundle install                    # Install Ruby deps
bundle exec rake react_on_rails:generate_packs  # Generate server bundle

This matches what the CI workflow does in .github/workflows/precompile-check.yml lines 117-134.

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[justin808]

Correction: Workspace Behavior Clarification

After more testing, here's the accurate behavior:

When running pnpm install from spec/dummy/:

• pnpm detects it's inside a workspace (walks up to find pnpm-workspace.yaml)
• Shows Scope: all 4 workspace projects and operates at ../../.. (workspace root)
• Does NOT install the dummy app's dependencies (like webpack-cli)

The fix is pnpm install --ignore-workspace which:

• Ignores the parent workspace
• Installs the dummy app's own package.json dependencies locally

The CI workflow uses this correctly at line 118:

run: cd react_on_rails/spec/dummy && pnpm install --ignore-workspace

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[alexeyr-ci2]

# Pro package (if working on Pro features)
cd react_on_rails_pro
pnpm install
bundle install

pnpm install is not needed here, and the root one should be pnpm install -r.

#2190 (comment) is obsolete since d67c1aa.