Hotwire Native path configuration

One Rails app, two native shells. A path configuration JSON maps URL patterns to native navigation rules (push / replace / modal / tab roots / image viewer) on iOS and Android; the Rails side detects native via turbo_native_app? and serves trimmed markup via request variants. This skill helps you author both correctly and keep the two platform configs in sync.

Full schema + the server setup: references/path-config-guide.md. Real-world note: piazza-web/wip/analysis/05-hotwire-native-variants.md.

When to use

• A native screen opens with the wrong presentation (pushed when it should be modal, or doesn't switch the bottom tab).
• Adding a new native route / screen.
• Setting up native navigation for a Rails app across iOS + Android.
• Web chrome (top navbar) shows up inside the native apps.

The model (1-minute version)

{ "settings": {}, "rules": [
  { "patterns": ["/.*"],            "properties": { "context": "default", "uri": "app://fragment/web" } },
  { "patterns": ["^/$", "/profile$"], "properties": { "presentation": "replace_root", "uri": "app://fragment/web/tab" } },
  { "patterns": ["/new$", "/edit$"], "properties": { "context": "modal", "uri": "app://fragment/web/modal" } }
] }

• Rules match top-to-bottom, later wins → catch-all FIRST, specifics BELOW.
• context: default | modal. presentation: default|push|pop|replace|replace_root|clear_all|refresh|none.
• Android rules need a uri (deep-link to a registered destination). iOS uses view_controller / modal_style instead.
• Modal in 1.x = context: "modal". presentation: "modal" is a Strada-beta-ism.
• Tab switching: tab-root URLs use replace/replace_root; a server redirect to a tab URL then selects that native tab instead of pushing. Keep tab-root patterns in sync with the native tab bar's URLs.

Server side (don't forget)

# strip web chrome + serve mobile markup for the native apps
def set_request_variant
  request.variant = turbo_native_app? ? :mobile : (Browser.new(request.user_agent).device.mobile? ? :mobile : :desktop)
end

turbo_native_app? (turbo-rails) is true because Hotwire Native appends Turbo Native / Hotwire Native to the WebView User-Agent. Guard web-only nav with unless turbo_native_app?.

Start a config

sed 's/__SCHEME__/yourapp/g' templates/path_configuration.json.tmpl > path_configuration.json

Bundle it (iOS Piazza/path_configuration.json, Android assets/json/configuration.json) or serve it from Rails (e.g. /configurations/ios.json) so you can change native navigation without an app-store release — keep the bundled file as the offline fallback.

Validate

scripts/lint_path_config.sh path_configuration.json           # one file
scripts/lint_path_config.sh --compare ios.json android.json   # cross-platform drift

Validation: valid JSON; rules present; each rule has patterns + properties; regex patterns compile; property keys/values are in the 1.x schema; flags the presentation: "modal" beta-ism; flags unanchored short patterns (/new also matches /renew → use /new$); checks the catch-all is first. --compare normalizes anchors and reports paths handled on one platform but not the other (heuristic, names its ceiling). Needs ruby.