apache · sanjana2505006 · Aug 4, 2026 · Aug 5, 2026 · Aug 6, 2026 · sbglasius
diff --git a/conf/guides.yml b/conf/guides.yml
@@ -478,6 +478,7 @@ guides:
     subtitle: 'Learn how to create your first Grails app'
     authors:
       - 'Zachary Klein'
+      - 'Sanjana'
     category: 'Grails Apprentice'
     publicationDate: '2017-01-23'
     versions:
@@ -687,7 +688,53 @@ guides:
           deployment:
             title: Deploying your App
           helpWithGrails:
-            title: Do you need help with Grails?  
+            title: Do you need help with Grails?
+      '8':
+        sourcePath: guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8
+        publicationDate: '2026-08-05'
+        tags:
+          - 'beginner'
+          - 'domain-classes'
+          - 'controllers'
+          - 'services'
+          - 'gsp'
+          - 'unit-tests'
+          - 'integration-tests'
+          - 'scaffolding'
+          - 'asset-pipeline'
+          - 'url-mappings'
+          - 'getting-started'
+          - 'crud'
+        sampleRef:
+          repo: 'grails-guides/creating-your-first-grails-app'
+          branch: 'grails8'
+        toc:
+          introduction:
+            title: Introduction
+          requirements:
+            title: What you will need
+          gettingStarted:
+            title: Getting Started
+          creatingTheApp:
+            title: Creating the app
+          runningTheApp:
+            title: Running the app
+          domainClasses:
+            title: Domain classes
+          controllers:
+            title: Controllers and scaffolding
+          views:
+            title: GSP views
+          assetPipeline:
+            title: Asset Pipeline
+          services:
+            title: Services
+          testing:
+            title: Testing
+          summary:
+            title: Summary
+          helpWithGrails:
+            title: Do you need help with Grails?
 
   - name: 'database-per-tenant'
     title: 'Database per Tenant Multi-Tenancy'

diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/assetPipeline.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/assetPipeline.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+The web starter ships with the Asset Pipeline plugin (`cloud.wondrify:asset-pipeline-grails`). It manages CSS, JavaScript, and images under `grails-app/assets/` and exposes them with `<asset:*>` tags.
+
+Common tags:
+
+[source,xml]
+----
+<asset:javascript src="application.js"/>
+<asset:stylesheet src="application.css"/>
+<asset:image src="grails.svg" alt="Grails Logo"/>
+----
+
+Convention:
+
+* `grails-app/assets/javascripts` for JS
+* `grails-app/assets/stylesheets` for CSS
+* `grails-app/assets/images` for images
+
+The default layout already wires the manifests:
+
+[source,gsp]
+.grails-app/views/layouts/main.gsp
+----
+<head>
+    ...
+    <asset:link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-ico"/>
+    <asset:stylesheet src="application.css"/>
+    ...
+</head>
+<body>
+    ...
+    <asset:image src="grails.svg" alt="Grails Logo"/>
+    ...
+    <asset:javascript src="application.js"/>
+</body>
+----
+
+`application.css` and `application.js` are manifest files. In Grails 8 they pull Bootstrap and jQuery from WebJars:
+
+[source,css]
+.grails-app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/assets/stylesheets/application.css[]
+----
+
+[source,javascript]
+.grails-app/assets/javascripts/application.js
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/assets/javascripts/application.js[]
+----
+
+To add your own script, create `grails-app/assets/javascripts/site.js` and require it from the manifest:
+
+[source,javascript]
+.grails-app/assets/javascripts/application.js
+----
+//= require webjars/jquery/%/dist/jquery.js
+//= require webjars/bootstrap/%/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.js
+//= require site
+//= require_self
+----
+
+[source,javascript]
+.grails-app/assets/javascripts/site.js
+----
+console.log('site.js loaded')
+----
+
+Reload http://localhost:8080/ and check the browser console. The same pattern works for CSS: add a file under `stylesheets/` and `*= require` it from `application.css`.
+
+At build time Asset Pipeline concatenates and can minify these assets for production.
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/controllers.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/controllers.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+Map the root URL to a home controller and use scaffolding for Make / Model CRUD.
+
+Point `/` at `HomeController`:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/controllers/example/UrlMappings.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/controllers/example/UrlMappings.groovy[]
+----
+
+`HomeController` lists vehicles and lets the visitor update a session name:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/controllers/example/HomeController.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/controllers/example/HomeController.groovy[]
+----
+
+For `Make` and `Model`, Grails 8 scaffolding is annotation-based:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/controllers/example/MakeController.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/controllers/example/MakeController.groovy[]
+----
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/controllers/example/ModelController.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/controllers/example/ModelController.groovy[]
+----
+
+`VehicleController` is a hand-written CRUD controller. The `show` action adds an estimated value from `ValueEstimateService`:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/controllers/example/VehicleController.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/controllers/example/VehicleController.groovy[]
+----
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/creatingTheApp.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/creatingTheApp.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+You can recreate `initial/` yourself with the Grails Application Forge:
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+curl -O https://start.grails.org/creating-your-first-grails-app.zip \
+  -d version=8.0.0-SNAPSHOT \
+  -d profile=web \
+  -d features=gsp,hibernate5,scaffolding,geb,h2
+unzip creating-your-first-grails-app.zip
+----
+
+Or use the https://start.grails.org[web UI], choose Grails 8, the `web` profile, and the features you need, then download the zip.
+
+This guide uses the cloned `initial/` / `complete/` trees so paths and package names (`example`) stay consistent with the sample.
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/domainClasses.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/domainClasses.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+Model a simple vehicle inventory with three domain classes under `grails-app/domain/example/`.
+
+`Make` is a plain name:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/domain/example/Make.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/domain/example/Make.groovy[]
+----
+
+`Model` belongs to a `Make`:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/domain/example/Model.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/domain/example/Model.groovy[]
+----
+
+`Vehicle` ties name, year, make, and model together:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/domain/example/Vehicle.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/domain/example/Vehicle.groovy[]
+----
+
+GORM maps these classes to tables automatically when you run the app against H2 (the starter default).
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/gettingStarted.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/gettingStarted.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Clone the repository and verify the starter project:
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+git clone -b grails8 https://github.com/grails-guides/creating-your-first-grails-app.git
+cd creating-your-first-grails-app/initial
+./gradlew test
+----
+
+The `initial/` project is a Grails 8 web starter from https://start.grails.org[start.grails.org] (`web` profile, GSP, H2, scaffolding, Spock, Geb). It has no domain model yet.
+
+To skip ahead, `cd ../complete` and run the same commands; that tree contains the finished Make / Model / Vehicle sample.
+
+Both `initial` and `complete` must pass in CI (see `.github/workflows/grails8.yml`).
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/helpWithGrails.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/helpWithGrails.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include::{commondir}/common-helpWithGrails.adoc[]
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/introduction.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/introduction.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Build a first Apache Grails 8 web application: domain classes, controllers, GSP views, Asset Pipeline, GORM data services, scaffolding, and Spock tests.
+
+This guide follows the standard Grails guides layout: work in the `initial/` project and compare your progress with `complete/`.
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/requirements.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/requirements.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+* Approximately 60 minutes
+* JDK 21 (Apache Grails 8 requires Java 21)
+* A text editor or IDE
+* The Gradle wrapper bundled in `initial/` and `complete/` (no separate Grails SDK install required)
+* Docker, if you want to run Geb integration tests (`./gradlew integrationTest`)
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/runningTheApp.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/runningTheApp.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+From `complete/` (or your working copy of `initial/` once you have added the domain model):
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+./gradlew bootRun
+----
+
+Open http://localhost:8080/[http://localhost:8080/]. You should see the home page with seeded vehicles. Try `/vehicle/index`, `/make/index`, and `/model/index` as well.
+
+The default server port is `8080`. To change it, set `server.port` in `grails-app/conf/application.yml` or pass `-Dserver.port=8090` to Gradle.
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/services.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/services.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+Prefer GORM data services for persistence and a small transactional service for domain logic.
+
+Data services seed `BootStrap` without writing repository boilerplate:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/services/example/MakeService.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/services/example/MakeService.groovy[]
+----
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/services/example/ModelService.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/services/example/ModelService.groovy[]
+----
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/services/example/VehicleService.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/services/example/VehicleService.groovy[]
+----
+
+`BootStrap` uses those services to insert sample rows on startup:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/init/example/BootStrap.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/init/example/BootStrap.groovy[]
+----
+
+`ValueEstimateService` is a regular Grails service used by `VehicleController.show`:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.grails-app/services/example/ValueEstimateService.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/services/example/ValueEstimateService.groovy[]
+----
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/summary.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/summary.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+You built a first Grails 8 web app:
+
+* Domain classes for `Make`, `Model`, and `Vehicle`
+* Annotation scaffolding for Make / Model and a custom `VehicleController`
+* GSP views with Fields tags and a home page that lists seeded vehicles
+* Asset Pipeline manifests for CSS, JavaScript, and images (including WebJars)
+* GORM data services plus `ValueEstimateService`
+* Spock unit tests and a Geb integration spec
+
+Next steps: add validation messages, secure the CRUD actions, or swap H2 for PostgreSQL in production.
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/testing.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/testing.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+Unit-test the estimate service with Spock and the Grails testing mixins:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.src/test/groovy/example/ValueEstimateServiceSpec.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/src/test/groovy/example/ValueEstimateServiceSpec.groovy[]
+----
+
+Run unit tests:
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+./gradlew test
+----
+
+Geb integration tests use Testcontainers (`ContainerGebSpec`). Docker must be running:
+
+[source,groovy]
+.src/integration-test/groovy/example/HomePageSpec.groovy
+----
+include::../snippets/src/integration-test/groovy/example/HomePageSpec.groovy[]
+----
+
+[source,bash]
+----
+./gradlew integrationTest
+----
diff --git a/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/views.adoc b/guides/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/guide/views.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+GSPs under `grails-app/views/` render the HTML. The home page uses `<g:each>` and `<g:link>`:
+
+[source,gsp]
+.grails-app/views/home/index.gsp
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/views/home/index.gsp[]
+----
+
+Vehicle list and form pages use the Fields plugin tags (`<f:table>`, `<f:all>`, `<f:display>`). The list view:
+
+[source,gsp]
+.grails-app/views/vehicle/index.gsp
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/views/vehicle/index.gsp[]
+----
+
+The show page displays the estimated value next to the vehicle:
+
+[source,gsp]
+.grails-app/views/vehicle/show.gsp
+----
+include::../snippets/grails-app/views/vehicle/show.gsp[]
+----
+
+Create and edit forms live in `create.gsp` and `edit.gsp` and call `<f:all bean="vehicle"/>`.
diff --git a/...s/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/snippets/grails-app/assets/javascripts/application.js b/...s/creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/snippets/grails-app/assets/javascripts/application.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// This is a manifest file that'll be compiled into application.js.
+//
+// Any JavaScript file within this directory can be referenced here using a relative path.
+//
+// You're free to add application-wide JavaScript to this file, but it's generally better
+// to create separate JavaScript files as needed.
+//
+//= require webjars/jquery/%/dist/jquery.js
+//= require webjars/bootstrap/%/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.js
+//= require_self
+
+if (typeof jQuery !== 'undefined') {
+    (function($) {
+        $('#spinner').ajaxStart(function() {
+            $(this).fadeIn();
+        }).ajaxStop(function() {
+            $(this).fadeOut();
+        });
+    })(jQuery);
+}
diff --git a/.../creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/snippets/grails-app/assets/stylesheets/application.css b/.../creating-your-first-grails-app/v8/snippets/grails-app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/*
+* This is a manifest file that'll be compiled into application.css, which will include all the files
+* listed below.
+*
+* Any CSS file within this directory can be referenced here using a relative path.
+*
+* You're free to add application-wide styles to this file and they'll appear at the top of the
+* compiled file, but it's generally better to create a new file per style scope.
+*
+*= require webjars/bootstrap/%/dist/css/bootstrap.css
+*= require webjars/bootstrap-icons/%/font/bootstrap-icons.css
+*= require grails.css
+*= require_self
+*/
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1 @@
		include::{commondir}/common-helpWithGrails.adoc[]
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
		Build a first Apache Grails 8 web application: domain classes, controllers, GSP views, Asset Pipeline, GORM data services, scaffolding, and Spock tests.

		This guide follows the standard Grails guides layout: work in the `initial/` project and compare your progress with `complete/`.