activeadmin-quill_editor/docs/activeadmin-4-asset-setup.md

ActiveAdmin 4 Asset Setup (Tailwind CSS v4)

Overview

This guide documents the current, working setup for ActiveAdmin 4.0.0.beta20 with Tailwind CSS v4 and Quill Editor.

Requirements

• ActiveAdmin 4.0.0.beta20
• Tailwind CSS v4 via tailwindcss-rails (ships bin/tailwindcss)
• ESBuild (or other JS bundler) for ActiveAdmin JS + Quill Editor

1. Gemfile

# ActiveAdmin 4 beta
gem "activeadmin", "4.0.0.beta20"

gem "activeadmin_quill_editor"

# Tailwind CSS v4 (bundled CLI)
gem "tailwindcss-rails", "~> 4.4.0"

2. package.json

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@activeadmin/activeadmin": "^4.0.0-beta20",
    "quill": "^2.0.3"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "esbuild": "^0.27.2"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "build:js": "node esbuild-active_admin.config.js",
    "build:css": "bundle exec rake active_admin:build",
    "build": "npm run build:js && npm run build:css",
    "watch:js": "node esbuild-active_admin.config.js --watch",
    "watch:css": "bundle exec rake active_admin:watch",
    "dev": "npm run watch:js & npm run watch:css"
  }
}

3. JavaScript Entry (app/javascript/active_admin.js)

import "@activeadmin/activeadmin";

import Quill from "quill";
window.Quill = Quill;

import "activeadmin_quill_editor";

4. Tailwind Input (app/assets/stylesheets/active_admin.tailwind.css)

@import "tailwindcss";
@config "../../../tailwind-active_admin.config.mjs";

@import "activeadmin/quill_editor/quill.snow";
@import "activeadmin/quill_editor_input";

5. Tailwind Config (tailwind-active_admin.config.mjs)

import { execSync } from "child_process";
import activeAdminPlugin from "@activeadmin/activeadmin/plugin";

const activeAdminPath = execSync("bundle show activeadmin", {
  encoding: "utf-8"
}).trim();

export default {
  content: [
    `${activeAdminPath}/vendor/javascript/flowbite.js`,
    `${activeAdminPath}/plugin.js`,
    `${activeAdminPath}/app/views/**/*.{arb,erb,html,rb}`,
    "./app/admin/**/*.{arb,erb,html,rb}`,
    "./app/views/active_admin/**/*.{arb,erb,html,rb}`,
    "./app/views/admin/**/*.{arb,erb,html,rb}`,
    "./app/views/layouts/active_admin*.{erb,html}`,
    "./app/javascript/**/*.js"
  ],
  darkMode: "selector",
  plugins: [activeAdminPlugin]
};

6. Tailwind Build Tasks (lib/tasks/active_admin.rake)

namespace :active_admin do
  desc "Build Active Admin Tailwind stylesheets"
  task build: :environment do
    command = [
      Rails.root.join("bin/tailwindcss").to_s,
      "-i", Rails.root.join("app/assets/stylesheets/active_admin.tailwind.css").to_s,
      "-o", Rails.root.join("app/assets/builds/active_admin.css").to_s,
      "-m"
    ]

    system(*command, exception: true)
  end

  desc "Watch Active Admin Tailwind stylesheets"
  task watch: :environment do
    command = [
      Rails.root.join("bin/tailwindcss").to_s,
      "--watch",
      "-i", Rails.root.join("app/assets/stylesheets/active_admin.tailwind.css").to_s,
      "-o", Rails.root.join("app/assets/builds/active_admin.css").to_s,
      "-m"
    ]

    system(*command, exception: true)
  end
end

Rake::Task["assets:precompile"].enhance(["active_admin:build"])
Rake::Task["test:prepare"].enhance(["active_admin:build"]) if Rake::Task.task_defined?("test:prepare")
Rake::Task["spec:prepare"].enhance(["active_admin:build"]) if Rake::Task.task_defined?("spec:prepare")
Rake::Task["db:test:prepare"].enhance(["active_admin:build"]) if Rake::Task.task_defined?("db:test:prepare")

7. Tailwind CLI Binstub

bundle binstubs tailwindcss-ruby --force

8. Upgrade Notes (ActiveAdmin 4.0.0.beta20)

From ActiveAdmin's upgrade guide:

• _site_header.html.erb container class changed from sticky to fixed.
• active_admin.html.erb adds the pt-16 utility class.
• Tailwind v4 uses @import "tailwindcss" and @config (no @tailwind directives).
• The Tailwind config file is ESM. Use tailwind-active_admin.config.mjs.
• jQuery/jQuery UI removed; columns and tabs components removed.
• Replace default_main_content with render "show_default".
• Replace as: :datepicker with as: :date_picker.
• Replace active_admin_comments with active_admin_comments_for(resource).
• Replace attributes_table with attributes_table_for(resource) in sidebars.

Troubleshooting

CSS not building

• Ensure tailwindcss-rails is pinned to ~> 4.4.0.
• Run bundle binstubs tailwindcss-ruby --force.
• Confirm bin/tailwindcss exists.

ActiveAdmin styles not loading

• Verify app/assets/builds/active_admin.css exists.
• Check that active_admin.tailwind.css imports Quill Editor styles.

Quill Editor not initializing

• Verify window.Quill in the console.
• Ensure activeadmin_quill_editor is imported.

Migration Checklist

• Update ActiveAdmin to 4.0.0.beta20
• Use Tailwind v4 @import + @config
• Add tailwindcss-rails (~> 4.4.0) and binstub
• Create tailwind-active_admin.config.mjs (ESM)
• Update rake tasks to use bin/tailwindcss (no -c)
• Rebuild assets and verify UI