---
title: "Webpacker to jsbundling-rails/cssbundling-rails Migration"
description: "Webpacker is no longer maintained. We migrate Ruby on Rails projects from Webpacker to jsbundling-rails and cssbundling-rails without breaking the frontend build."
url: "https://qameta.com/webpacker-to-jsbundling-cssbundling-migration/"
---

# Webpacker to jsbundling-rails/cssbundling-rails Migration

Webpacker was retired by the Rails core team and no longer receives updates.
Projects still running it are stuck on old Webpack tooling and drifting
further from a supported setup every day. We have migrated several Rails
projects off Webpacker onto jsbundling-rails and cssbundling-rails.

## Why move off Webpacker?

* Webpacker is unmaintained - no fixes for bugs or security issues
* jsbundling-rails and cssbundling-rails let you use current esbuild,
  Webpack, or Rollup, and current Sass/PostCSS/Tailwind tooling directly
* Simpler, smaller asset pipeline with fewer Rails-specific abstractions to
  fight
* Keeps the project compatible with current and future Rails releases

## What the migration involves

* Replacing Webpacker with jsbundling-rails for JavaScript
* Replacing Webpacker's Sass/CSS handling with cssbundling-rails
* Removing sprockets-rails where it is no longer needed
* Rewiring asset tags, manifests, and import paths that Webpacker generated
  automatically
* Verifying the frontend build and asset output through
  [Continuous Integration](https://qameta.com/continuous-integration/) before it ships via
  [Continuous Delivery](https://qameta.com/continuous-delivery/)

## From experience

We have written up both sides of this migration in detail:

* [Howto migrate from Webpacker to jsbundling-rails in Ruby on Rails](https://qameta.com/posts/howto-migrate-from-webpacker-to-jsbundling-rails-in-ruby-on-rails/)
* [Howto migrate from Webpacker to cssbundling-rails in Ruby on Rails for CSS](https://qameta.com/posts/howto-migrate-from-webpacker-to-cssbundling-rails-in-ruby-on-rails/)
* [Howto remove sprockets-rails from your Ruby on Rails project](https://qameta.com/posts/howto-remove-sprockets-rails-from-your-ruby-on-rails-project/)
* [Analyzing SassC::SyntaxError in Ruby on Rails 7.0](https://qameta.com/posts/analyzing-sassc-syntax-error-in-ruby-on-rails-7-0/)

## Summary

Webpacker won't get safer or faster by staying on it. We move projects to
jsbundling-rails and cssbundling-rails with the frontend build and asset
output verified at every step, so the site looks and behaves exactly the same
- just on tooling that is still maintained.

Still running Webpacker? [Get in touch](mailto:info@qameta.com).