Optional support for compiling native extensions for :path gems in monorepos

[akiellor]

Describe the problem as clearly as you can

Bundler does not compile native extensions for gems declared using the :path source. I understand this is documented and intentional behaviour.

However, this limitation becomes significant in monorepos where many internal gems live side-by-side and are composed via path: dependencies. In our case, gems live under packages/*, and one internal gem includes a native extension implemented in Rust (via rb_sys) and configured using extconf.rb.

Because Bundler does not run extension build steps for :path gems, bundle exec fails at runtime unless the extension is manually built ahead of time, or the dependency is converted to :git or packaged as a gem. Both alternatives significantly degrade the monorepo development workflow.

I am not reporting a bug in current behaviour, but requesting consideration of an opt-in feature to allow native extensions to be compiled for :path gems.

Proposed feature / behaviour

Introduce an explicit, opt-in Bundler configuration that allows native extensions to be built for :path gems, while preserving current behaviour by default.

• Opt-in only, via Bundler config (global or per-gem), so existing behaviour is unchanged unless explicitly enabled.
• Out-of-tree builds: native extensions would be compiled into a Bundler-managed build/cache directory rather than writing build artefacts into the working tree.
• Standard extension pipeline: Bundler would invoke the existing RubyGems extension build mechanism (e.g. extconf.rb, including Rust extensions via rb_sys), without needing Rust-specific logic.
• Load path integration: the build output directory would be added to $LOAD_PATH ahead of the :path gem’s lib/, allowing require to resolve the compiled extension while Ruby source files continue to come from the local checkout.
• Monorepo-friendly: this allows internal gems under packages/* to be used via :path without requiring separate manual build steps or switching to :git.

This would preserve Bundler’s rationale for not mutating :path directories while enabling a much smoother workflow for monorepos that include native extensions.

Did you try upgrading rubygems & bundler?

Yes. This behaviour persists on the latest versions of RubyGems and Bundler available at the time of reporting.

Post steps to reproduce the problem

1. Create a monorepo with multiple gems under packages/*
2. One gem includes a native extension configured via extconf.rb
3. Another gem (or the top-level application) depends on that gem using gem "my_native_gem", path: "packages/my_native_gem"
4. Run bundle install
5. Run bundle exec ruby -e 'require "my_native_gem"'

The extension is not compiled, and the require fails at runtime because the native library is missing.

Which command did you run?

bundle install
followed by
bundle exec ruby -e 'require "my_native_gem"'

What were you expecting to happen?

With an explicit opt-in configuration, I would expect Bundler to compile the native extension for the :path gem during install, similar to how it behaves for :git or packaged gems, without writing build artefacts into the working tree.

What happened instead?

The native extension is not compiled for the :path gem, resulting in a runtime load error unless the extension is manually built beforehand.

[akiellor]

If the above proposal is reasonable, I'm happy to take a look at making the changes.