Deploy to Railway

# Deploy to Railway ## When to use Use this skill when you need to deploy a web application (FastAPI, Next.js, Express, etc.) to Railway with optional Postgres, Redis, or other add-ons. ## Prerequisites - Railway CLI installed and authenticated: `railway whoami` should return `worklocalinc` - If not installed: `npm install -g @railway/cli && railway login` - Project source code ready with a valid Dockerfile or supported runtime ## Instructions ### Step 1: Initialize the Railway project ```bash cd /path/to/project railway init # Select "Empty Project" or link to existing ``` If linking to a GitHub repo: ```bash railway link # Select the project from the list ``` ### Step 2: Add a Postgres database (if needed) ```bash railway add -d postgres ``` This provisions a Postgres instance and sets `DATABASE_URL`, `DATABASE_PUBLIC_URL`, `PGHOST`, `PGPORT`, `PGUSER`, `PGPASSWORD`, `PGDATABASE` as service variables automatically. For Prisma projects, the internal `DATABASE_URL` uses private networking (faster, no egress cost). Use `DATABASE_PUBLIC_URL` only for external access (migrations from local machine, etc.). ### Step 3: Set environment variables ```bash railway variables set NODE_ENV=production railway variables set SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32) # Add any project-specific vars ``` To set multiple at once: ```bash railway variables set KEY1=val1 KEY2=val2 KEY3=val3 ``` ### Step 4: Deploy ```bash railway up --detach ``` The `--detach` flag returns immediately. Railway auto-detects the runtime: - Dockerfile present -> Docker build - package.json -> Node.js (Nixpacks) - requirements.txt / pyproject.toml -> Python (Nixpacks) ### Step 5: Get a public domain ```bash railway domain ``` This generates a `*.up.railway.app` URL. For custom domains: ```bash railway domain add api.example.com ``` Then add a CNAME record pointing `api.example.com` to the Railway-provided target. ### Step 6: Verify deployment ```bash railway logs railway status ``` ### Common patterns **FastAPI deploy:** ```bash # Ensure Dockerfile or Procfile exists # Procfile: web: uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT railway up --detach ``` **Next.js deploy:** ```bash # Railway auto-detects Next.js from package.json # Set PORT=3000 if not auto-detected railway variables set PORT=3000 railway up --detach ``` **Switch between services in multi-service project:** ```bash railway service <service-name> railway logs # now shows logs for that service ``` **Link GitHub for auto-deploy on push:** ```bash railway add --repo worklocalinc/<repo-name> ``` ## Troubleshooting - **Build fails**: Check `railway logs` for Nixpacks/Docker errors. Ensure start command is correct. - **Port issues**: Railway injects `$PORT`. Your app must listen on `0.0.0.0:$PORT`, not localhost. - **DB connection refused**: Use the internal URL (`DATABASE_URL`), not the public one, from within Railway services. - **Deploy stuck**: `railway redeploy` forces a fresh build. - **CLI not linked**: Run `railway link` to re-associate the local directory with a project. ## References - Railway docs: https://docs.railway.com - Railway CLI: https://docs.railway.com/guides/cli - James's Railway account: `worklocalinc`