How to cleanly stream LLM tokens in Rails 7/8 without complex JS frameworks

[u/irosh24a]

Most tutorials suggest setting up a separate Node microservice or heavy SPA frontend just to handle streaming AI responses.

You don't need that. You can stream token-by-token directly inside a pure Rails stack using ActionCable + Turbo Streams:

Wrap your API call (ruby-openai or anthropic) inside a dedicated Service Object.

Pass a chunk-handling block that broadcasts incoming tokens via Turbo Streams.

Target the DOM element directly—zero custom JavaScript state needed.

Keeps your codebase maintainable, fast, and native.