Inertia Rails Architecture

This is the entry point for any Inertia Rails project. It's a decision matrix that stops you from reaching for SPA patterns that break Inertia's server-driven model. The core insight is simple: the server owns routing, data, and auth; React just renders. So no useEffect fetching, no React Query, no client-side routing. Instead you get a lookup table for common needs (forms, navigation, data refresh) and which Inertia primitive solves each one. Load this first when building features, then it routes you to the specific skill you need. The rules section is worth scanning even if you've used Inertia before, especially the bit about why fetch breaks CSRF and error handling that the Form component handles automatically.