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Fix FormHelper loading with Rails 7+ add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false#3877

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jonrohan merged 3 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-helper-primer-form-helper
Jan 30, 2026
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Fix FormHelper loading with Rails 7+ add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false#3877
jonrohan merged 3 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-helper-primer-form-helper

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Copilot AI commented Jan 23, 2026 •
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What are you trying to accomplish?

Rails 7+ applications using add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false encounter NameError: uninitialized constant Primer::FormHelper when loading the engine.

Root cause: require "primer/form_helper" depends on $LOAD_PATH containing app/helpers, which Rails 7+ no longer guarantees. The begin/rescue block was silently swallowing the LoadError, causing the subsequent helper Primer::FormHelper to fail.

Changes:

  • Replace require "primer/form_helper" with require_relative "../../../app/helpers/primer/form_helper"
  • Remove begin/rescue block that masked the failure

This approach matches the existing pattern in lib/rubocop/cop/primer/base_cop.rb for loading app-level files.

Screenshots

N/A - Internal engine initialization change

Integration

Risk Assessment

  • Low risk the change is small, highly observable, and easily rolled back.

Single line change to file loading mechanism. Maintains backward compatibility with existing Rails versions while enabling Rails 7+ compatibility. No behavior changes to the FormHelper itself.

What approach did you choose and why?

require_relative loads files relative to the current file location, independent of $LOAD_PATH configuration. This makes the code resilient to Rails load path changes across versions.

Alternative considered: Manually manipulating $LOAD_PATH in the initializer. Rejected as it's more fragile and conflicts with Rails 7+ design goals.

Anything you want to highlight for special attention from reviewers?

The relative path ../../../app/helpers/primer/form_helper resolves correctly from lib/primer/view_components/engine.rb. Verified path resolution and that the helper module loads successfully.

Accessibility

N/A - No UI changes

Merge checklist

  • Added/updated tests
  • Added/updated documentation
  • Added/updated previews (Lookbook)
  • Tested in Chrome
  • Tested in Firefox
  • Tested in Safari
  • Tested in Edge
Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>helper Primer::FormHelper is incompatible with Rails 7+ config</issue_title>
<issue_description>We're trying to move to the Rails 7+ default config where add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false. However when we do that we get a NameError

NameError: uninitialized constant Primer::FormHelper (NameError)

           helper Primer::FormHelper
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^
/app/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/primer_view_components-0.48.0/lib/primer/view_components/engine.rb:56:in 'block (2 levels) in <class:Engine>'

which seems to be coming from here
https://github.com/primer/view_components/blob/main/lib/primer/view_components/engine.rb#L49-L61

removing the begin/rescue block and adding require_relative "../../../app/helpers/primer/form_helper" to the top of the file seems to fix it. but it's still confusing considering app/helpers is on the eager load config here https://github.com/primer/view_components/blob/main/lib/primer/view_components/engine.rb#L19</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@siddharthkp Hi @mariaaxime, thanks for taking the time to create the issue.

Things are a bit slow at work right now because of the holidays, I'll try to get you a response next week once folks are back at work :)</comment_new>

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changeset-bot Bot commented Jan 23, 2026 •
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🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 14e31e6

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package
Name Type
@primer/view-components Patch

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Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

@jonrohan
Fix FormHelper compatibility with Rails 7+ config
fe57114 
Replace require with require_relative to fix incompatibility with Rails 7+
add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false config. The app/helpers directory
is no longer in $LOAD_PATH with this config, so the previous require failed.
Remove the begin/rescue block that was silently swallowing errors.

Co-authored-by: jonrohan <54012+jonrohan@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Fix Primer::FormHelper compatibility with Rails 7+ config Fix FormHelper loading with Rails 7+ add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false Jan 23, 2026
Copilot AI requested a review from jonrohan January 23, 2026 18:29
@jonrohan jonrohan marked this pull request as ready for review January 23, 2026 22:30
@jonrohan jonrohan requested a review from a team as a code owner January 23, 2026 22:30
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 23, 2026 22:30
Copilot AI reviewed Jan 23, 2026
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Pull request overview

This PR fixes a critical bug where Rails 7+ applications using add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false encounter a NameError: uninitialized constant Primer::FormHelper when loading the engine. The fix replaces require "primer/form_helper" with require_relative to make the file loading independent of $LOAD_PATH configuration, aligning with Rails 7+ design principles.

Changes:

  • Replace $LOAD_PATH-dependent require with require_relative for FormHelper loading
  • Remove the begin/rescue block that was masking the LoadError

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File Description
lib/primer/view_components/engine.rb Changed FormHelper loading from require to require_relative to support Rails 7+ add_autoload_paths_to_load_path = false configuration
.changeset/rich-glasses-tease.md Added changeset documenting the bug fix as a patch release

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@jonrohan jonrohan enabled auto-merge January 29, 2026 05:43
@jonrohan jonrohan requested a review from TylerJDev January 29, 2026 05:43
@jonrohan jonrohan added this pull request to the merge queue Jan 30, 2026
Merged via the queue into main with commit f51244e Jan 30, 2026
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@jonrohan jonrohan deleted the copilot/fix-helper-primer-form-helper branch January 30, 2026 18:39
@primer primer Bot mentioned this pull request Jan 30, 2026
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@openproject-primer-view-components openproject-primer-view-components Bot mentioned this pull request Feb 3, 2026
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helper Primer::FormHelper is incompatible with Rails 7+ config

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