Rails 8 Guide: Features, Requirements & Upgrade Path (2026)
Rails 8.0 shipped November 7, 2024 and requires Ruby 3.2.0+. Headline features: a built-in authentication generator, Solid Queue/Cache/Cable (database-backed, no Redis), Kamal 2 + Thruster deployment, Propshaft, and production-ready SQLite. Rails 8.1 (October 2025) is the current release; Rails 8.0 now gets security fixes only, through November 2026. This guide walks through each Rails 8 feature with the commands and defaults you’ll use.