Atlas onboards you to an unfamiliar Ruby on Rails codebase by starting from meaning rather than filenames. Ask codebase_search a plain-language question, such as how requests are authenticated, and the semantic index returns ranked snippets with real file paths from app/controllers and app/models, even though the word authenticate may never appear in the source. glob maps the directory shape so you see the Rails app layout before opening anything. read pulls only the files that actually matter. Heavy fan-out goes to the explore subagent, which is permissioned read-only so it cannot change a model, a route, or an Active Record migration while it looks around.
How do I understand a Rails app I have never seen before?
Ask codebase_search a plain-language question, for example how requests are authenticated. The semantic index queries meaning and returns ranked snippets with file paths, so a Rails app's before_action chain in app/controllers surfaces in 2026 without you knowing the concern's name.
Ruby on Rails hides behavior behind convention. Authentication might live in an ApplicationController before_action, in a concern under app/controllers/concerns, in a Rack middleware in config/application.rb, or in a gem pinned by the Gemfile. Guessing which requires knowing Rails and knowing this Rails app. codebase_search skips the guess: Atlas searches code with hybrid semantic and keyword retrieval fused by reciprocal rank fusion, and indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter, so the hits come back as whole Ruby methods and classes with paths.
How do I map the structure of a Rails repository quickly?
Run glob on the top-level directories to see the package layout and naming conventions before opening anything. In a Rails app that means seeing app/models, app/controllers, app/jobs, db/migrate, and spec/ in 2026, and immediately learning whether the team uses RSpec or a service object layer.
Structure carries information in Ruby on Rails. The presence of spec/ rather than test/ tells you RSpec is the runner. A large app/services directory tells you the team moved logic out of fat models. A db/schema.rb tells you the Active Record schema shape at a glance. An app/views tree tells you whether the app renders server-side or is an API. glob answers all of that in one call, before a single file is read, which is what keeps onboarding cheap.
Which Rails files should I actually read first?
Read the two or three files codebase_search ranked highest, then follow imports with the lsp tool's goToDefinition operation. In a Rails app that usually means one controller, the model it touches, and the concern between them, which in 2026 is enough to see the real request path.
Reading everything is the failure mode. Reading nothing and guessing is worse. Atlas reads the top-ranked hits, then uses the lsp tool's goToDefinition to follow a call from a controller action into a model method, from that method into a concern, and from the concern into a gem loaded by Bundler. Following the real symbol graph is how you learn a Rails app's actual conventions, which are frequently not the conventions the Rails guides describe.
How do I explore a huge Rails repo without touching anything?
Delegate wide sweeps to the explore subagent through the task tool. The explore subagent is defined with a deny-by-default permission set that only allows grep, glob, read, bash, webfetch, and websearch, so in 2026 it cannot alter a Rails model, a route, or a migration while it surveys.
Onboarding often needs a broad sweep: which of the 60 models have callbacks, which controllers skip authentication, which jobs enqueue other jobs. Those sweeps read hundreds of Ruby files, and their output would swamp a session. The task tool launches the explore subagent in its own session, so only its conclusions return. Because the subagent is deny-by-default and read-only, an exploratory sweep of a Rails app you do not yet understand is structurally incapable of changing it.
How do I keep what I learned about a Rails codebase?
Record what you learned as a todowrite list so the open questions survive into the next turn. Onboarding to a Rails app in 2026 produces two outputs: facts you confirmed, such as which RSpec specs cover the checkout flow, and questions you have not answered yet.
Context windows end. A todowrite list is how the state of your understanding outlives the turn that produced it. Record the concrete findings, for example that authentication lives in a specific concern and that db/schema.rb shows a polymorphic association nobody mentioned, alongside the unresolved questions. When you do start changing code, run the covering RSpec specs first to establish a green baseline, install gems with Bundler, and run RuboCop so your first diff matches the project's existing style.
Is it safe to point an AI agent at a Rails codebase you do not own?
Yes, when the agent is permissioned for it. Every Atlas tool call is permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules before it runs, and Atlas drafts a plan in a read-only plan agent and asks before switching to a build agent, so a Rails onboarding session in 2026 stays read-only by construction.
Safety during Ruby on Rails onboarding rests on three layers. Permission rules let you allow codebase_search, glob, and read while denying edit for the whole session. The explore subagent's deny-by-default permission set means delegated sweeps cannot write regardless of what the model attempts. And when you eventually do make a change, Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing, and snapshots file changes as git patches so an edit to app/models can be rolled back.
Step by step
- 01Run atlas in the Rails app, the one with a config/application.rb, and let Atlas read your models, routes, and Active Record schema.
- 02Ask codebase_search a plain-language question, for example how requests are authenticated; it queries the semantic index and returns ranked snippets with file paths.
- 03Run glob on the top-level directories to see the Rails layout, app/models, app/controllers, db/migrate, and spec/, before opening anything.
- 04Read the two or three files codebase_search ranked highest, typically a controller and the model it touches.
- 05Follow the call path with the lsp tool's goToDefinition operation, from controller action into model method into concern.
- 06Delegate wide sweeps to the explore subagent through the task tool: it is defined with a deny-by-default permission set that only allows grep, glob, read, bash, webfetch, and websearch.
- 07Record what you learned, and the questions you did not answer, as a todowrite list so they survive into the next turn.
- 08Before changing anything, install gems with Bundler, run the covering RSpec specs for a green baseline, and run RuboCop so your first diff matches project style.
Frequently asked questions
- how to quickly understand a large rails codebase
- Ask Atlas's codebase_search a plain-language question such as how requests are authenticated, run glob on the top-level directories to see the Rails layout, then read only the two or three files the search ranked highest.
- how do i find where authentication happens in a rails app
- Describe the behavior to codebase_search. The semantic index returns candidate declarations even when your words do not appear in the source, so it surfaces the before_action, concern, or middleware in config/application.rb without you guessing the name.
- can an ai agent explore my rails repo without changing it
- Yes. Delegate the sweep to the explore subagent through the task tool. The explore subagent has a deny-by-default permission set that only allows grep, glob, read, bash, webfetch, and websearch, so it cannot edit a model, route, or migration.
- does atlas understand active record models and migrations
- Atlas reads them. Run atlas in a Rails app with a config/application.rb and let it read your models, routes, and Active Record schema. Atlas indexes code by AST declarations using tree-sitter, so it retrieves whole Ruby classes and methods.
- how do i keep an ai agent's findings between sessions in rails
- Record what you learned as a todowrite list so the confirmed facts and the open questions survive into the next turn. Context windows end, so an unrecorded finding about your Rails app is a finding you will pay to rediscover.
- what should i run before making my first change to an unfamiliar rails app
- Install gems with Bundler, run the covering RSpec specs to establish a green baseline, and run RuboCop so your first diff matches the project's existing style rather than fighting it.
- will atlas edit my rails code while i am just exploring
- Not if you do not let it. Every Atlas tool call is permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules before it runs, and Atlas drafts a plan in a read-only plan agent and asks before switching to a build agent.
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