# A Packwerk Retrospective

DevFeed: [A Packwerk Retrospective](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/a-packwerk-retrospective-1283.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://shopify.engineering/a-packwerk-retrospective>)

Author: Gannon McGibbon

Published: 2024-02-07T21:40:35Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Shopify Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/shopify-engineering.md>), [Shopify Engineering - Shopify Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/shopify-engineering-shopify-engineering.md>)

Topics: [Rails](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/rails.md>), [Dependency management](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dependency-management.md>), [Ruby](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ruby.md>), [Command-line interface](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cli.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [Shopify](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/shopify.md>)

Tags: [analysis](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/analysis.md>), [article](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/article.md>), [blog](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/blog.md>), [command-line](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/command-line.md>), [dependencies](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dependencies.md>), [modular](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/modular.md>), [retrospective](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/retrospective.md>), [ruby](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ruby.md>), [shopify](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/shopify.md>), [tool](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tool.md>)

## AI overview

A retrospective on Packwerk, a Ruby gem released by Shopify in 2020 to enforce boundaries and modularize Rails applications. It describes Packwerk as a static analysis and dependency management tool that analyzes constant references, organizes code into packages, and identifies violations of declared dependency relationships.

## Source excerpt

This article was originally posted on the Rails at Scale blog. In September, 2020, our team at Shopify released a Ruby gem named Packwerk, a tool to enforce boundaries and modularize Rails applications. Since its release, Packwerk has taken on a life of its own, inspiring blog posts, conference talks, and even an entire gem ecosystem. Its popularity is an indication that Packwerk clearly filled a void in the Rails community.