Add gem to gemfile with bundler from command line

Question

When using node package manager you can specify npm install --save mynodemodule which automatically pops the module in package.json

I was wondering if there is a command for bundler that allows you to add the gem and version to the gemfile from the command line?

For example bundle install --save nokogiri

Yeah, it looks like gem doesn't have this feature, that's weird, because almost every package manager has something similar. — Vedmant, Oct 14 '16 at 14:40

score 76 · Accepted Answer · answered May 15 '18 at 21:22

76

If you visit this question in 2018, bundler now has a cli to do this: bundle add <gem-name> <version>

Version string could be your typical gem version including >= and ~

answered May 15 '18 at 21:22

zocoi

This should be the default behavior of `gem install`. Nothing happens when you just do `gem install`, from what I can tell. It doesn't get installed in the project. – Andrew Koster Aug 18 '19 at 04:27
@AndrewKoster i'm late but the 'gem' gem is separate from rails, it is typically a system-wide gem packaged with Ruby containing executables used to install gems to the system, as well as package and publish gems. it has no concept of Bundler or a Gemfile, which are rails/application specific conventions. – speakingcode Mar 04 '20 at 17:39
I guess I forgot that unlike `npm` which can be used to install libraries globally or in a project folder, `gem` only does global installs. Probably because Rails didn't have a built-in Gemfile back when I first started using it. – Andrew Koster Mar 06 '20 at 02:31
Finally I found the answer for my doubt. – Víctor Hugo Jul 30 '23 at 20:29

Dru · Answer 2 · 2014-03-13T19:08:47.167

50

Just wrote Gemrat to do this.

    $ gem install gemrat 
    $ gemrat nokogiri

    #=> gem 'nokogiri', '1.6.0' added to your Gemfile.
    #=> Bundling...

edited Mar 13 '14 at 19:08

answered Jun 12 '13 at 11:34

Dru

3

+1 for the awesome meme in the readme of Gemrat. Also a good, convenient gem – taylorc93 Aug 07 '13 at 14:20
I'm not convinced that locking the Gem to an exact version in the Gemfile by default is the best idea. Gemfile.lock is there to lock the exact version. Setting a minimum version, sure... but if I used this I'd either have to always use one of the other options or decide never to update my gems. – tgf Sep 11 '15 at 02:07
1

What about specifying environment? Like adding gems to only the test env, or prod, or dev? – Nick Res Nov 01 '17 at 17:22

score 25 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 04 '11 at 05:48

25

echo 'gem "nokogiri"' >> Gemfile

answered Nov 04 '11 at 05:48

dj2

2

Not quite, I want it to install it locally, and also chuck in the version automatically too. – sren Nov 04 '11 at 07:35
13

echo 'gem "nokogiri"' >> Gemfile && bundle install – dj2 Nov 05 '11 at 06:47
10

I think Simon wants the equivalent of "npm install --save foo". If so, what is wanted is to download and install the latest version of gem foo, then add it to the Gemfile with a version qualifier based on the version that was actually downloaded and installed, e.g. gem "foo", "~> 1.2.3" – sheldonh May 14 '13 at 11:20

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 30 '18 at 02:46

11

as @zocoi described, you can use bundle and specify the group:

bundle add rails --group "development, test"

More information

bundle add --help

answered Aug 30 '18 at 02:46

lesterzone

4 Answers4