The Digital Press

Hexagonal architecture in Rails, once a popular design trend, aimed to reduce coupling to Rails by introducing complex abstractions like repositories, but it often adds unnecessary complexity and maintenance burden.

Why it matters: Hexagonal Rails apps can complicate development and upkeep with extra tooling, indirections, and non-standard patterns.

The big picture: The original hexagonal idea promotes thin interfaces and modularity but often fails in Rails apps due to Rails-centric delivery and ecosystem realities.

Quick takeaway: The main practical benefit is API narrowing for large teams, but most Rails apps don’t need this complexity and should prioritize discipline instead.

Commenters say: Many see repositories as useful for controlling database access but criticize over-engineering; some prefer wrapping ActiveRecord rather than replacing it.