chruby

Lightweight Ruby version switcher

TLDR

List available Ruby versions

$ chruby

Switch to specific Ruby

$ chruby ruby-3.2.0

Switch to system Ruby

$ chruby system

Show current Ruby

$ chruby | grep '\*'

chruby switches between multiple Ruby versions by modifying PATH and related environment variables. Lightweight alternative to RVM and rbenv. Just 90 lines of shell script.Works with rubies installed by ruby-install or built from source.

SETUP

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

$ source /usr/local/share/chruby/chruby.sh

For auto-switching:

$ source /usr/local/share/chruby/auto.sh

AUTO-SWITCHING

With auto.sh loaded, chruby reads .ruby-version files:

$ echo "ruby-3.2.0" > .ruby-version

Checks current and parent directories automatically.

DEFAULT VERSION

Set in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

$ chruby ruby-3.2.0

ENVIRONMENT

RUBIES

Array of Ruby installation paths

RUBY_ROOT

Current Ruby installation path

GEM_HOME / GEM_PATH

Gem directories

INSTALL

brew install chruby

nix profile install nixpkgs#chruby

CAVEATS

Only switches versions - use ruby-install to install rubies. Does not override cd command (uses pre-prompt hook).