Railway Templates

Deploy from Railway's 650+ template library

Activation Triggers

•Deploying databases (Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB)
•Adding message queues (RabbitMQ, Redis)
•Deploying pre-built services
•Using deploy-template tool

Using deploy-template

The deploy-template tool deploys services from Railway's template marketplace.

Syntax

code

deploy-template with description of what you need

Examples

code

"Deploy a Postgres database"
"Deploy Redis for caching"
"Deploy a MongoDB database"
"Deploy RabbitMQ for message queuing"

Popular Database Templates

PostgreSQL

code

deploy-template: "Postgres database"

Variables provided:

•DATABASE_URL - Full connection string
•PGHOST, PGPORT, PGUSER, PGPASSWORD, PGDATABASE

Use in your app:

code

DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}

MySQL

code

deploy-template: "MySQL database"

Variables provided:

•MYSQL_URL - Full connection string
•MYSQLHOST, MYSQLPORT, MYSQLUSER, MYSQLPASSWORD, MYSQLDATABASE

Use in your app:

code

DATABASE_URL=${{MySQL.MYSQL_URL}}

MongoDB

code

deploy-template: "MongoDB database"

Variables provided:

•MONGO_URL - Full connection string

Use in your app:

code

MONGODB_URI=${{MongoDB.MONGO_URL}}

Cache & Queue Templates

Redis

code

deploy-template: "Redis"

Variables provided:

•REDIS_URL - Full connection string

Use in your app:

code

REDIS_URL=${{Redis.REDIS_URL}}

Common uses:

•Session storage
•Caching
•Rate limiting
•Pub/sub messaging
•Job queues (with Bull/BullMQ)

RabbitMQ

code

deploy-template: "RabbitMQ"

Variables provided:

•RABBITMQ_URL - AMQP connection string

Use in your app:

code

RABBITMQ_URL=${{RabbitMQ.RABBITMQ_URL}}

Search & Analytics Templates

Meilisearch

code

deploy-template: "Meilisearch"

Full-text search engine.

Typesense

code

deploy-template: "Typesense"

Typo-tolerant search engine.

ClickHouse

code

deploy-template: "ClickHouse"

Analytics database for OLAP workloads.

Storage Templates

MinIO

code

deploy-template: "MinIO"

S3-compatible object storage.

Variables provided:

•MINIO_ROOT_USER
•MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD
•Endpoint URL

Application Templates

n8n

code

deploy-template: "n8n"

Workflow automation platform.

Metabase

code

deploy-template: "Metabase"

Business intelligence and analytics.

Strapi

code

deploy-template: "Strapi"

Headless CMS.

Ghost

code

deploy-template: "Ghost"

Publishing platform.

Uptime Kuma

code

deploy-template: "Uptime Kuma"

Self-hosted monitoring tool.

Template Deployment Workflow

Basic: Add Database to Existing Project

code

1. check-railway-status
2. deploy-template "Postgres database"
3. list-variables (on Postgres service)
4. set-variables (on your app):
   DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}
5. deploy

Full Stack: App + Database

code

1. check-railway-status
2. create-project-and-link
3. deploy-template "Postgres database"
4. set-variables:
   NODE_ENV=production
   DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}
5. deploy
6. generate-domain

App + Database + Cache

code

1. check-railway-status
2. create-project-and-link
3. deploy-template "Postgres database"
4. deploy-template "Redis"
5. set-variables:
   DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}
   REDIS_URL=${{Redis.REDIS_URL}}
6. deploy
7. generate-domain

Template Selection Guide

Need	Template
Relational data	PostgreSQL, MySQL
Document storage	MongoDB
Caching	Redis
Sessions	Redis
Job queues	Redis + Bull, RabbitMQ
Full-text search	Meilisearch, Typesense
File storage	MinIO
Analytics DB	ClickHouse
Monitoring	Uptime Kuma
CMS	Strapi, Ghost

Connecting Templates to Your App

Pattern 1: Reference Variable

code

# In your app's environment variables:
DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}

Pattern 2: Private Networking

code

# For internal-only access:
DB_HOST=${{Postgres.RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}
DB_PORT=5432

Pattern 3: Multiple Databases

code

# Primary database
DATABASE_URL=${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}

# Read replica (if set up)
DATABASE_REPLICA_URL=${{Postgres-Replica.DATABASE_URL}}

# Cache
REDIS_URL=${{Redis.REDIS_URL}}

Template Customization

After deploying a template, you can customize it:

Changing Database Settings

code

1. list-services → Find database service
2. set-variables (on database service):
   POSTGRES_MAX_CONNECTIONS=200
3. Service restarts with new config

Persistent Storage

Most database templates include persistent volumes by default. Data survives restarts.

Common Template Configurations

Postgres with Extensions

Some Postgres templates support extensions:

code

# Enable in your migration or connection
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "uuid-ossp";
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS "pgcrypto";

Redis Persistence

Railway's Redis template typically has persistence enabled:

•AOF (Append Only File) for durability
•RDB snapshots

MongoDB Replica Set

For production, consider MongoDB Atlas integration or multiple MongoDB instances.

Troubleshooting Templates

Template not connecting

code

1. list-services → Verify template deployed
2. list-variables → Check connection variables exist
3. Verify reference syntax: ${{ServiceName.VARIABLE}}

Template using too many resources

code

1. Check Railway dashboard for metrics
2. Consider upgrading plan for more resources
3. Optimize queries/usage patterns

Template data disappeared

code

1. Check if volume is attached
2. Verify service wasn't deleted
3. Check deployment logs

Browse All Templates

Visit railway.com/templates for:

•650+ templates
•One-click deployments
•Community contributions
•Official Railway templates

Quick Reference

I want...	Template
SQL database	`Postgres` or `MySQL`
NoSQL database	`MongoDB`
Cache	`Redis`
Message queue	`RabbitMQ` or `Redis`
Search	`Meilisearch`
Object storage	`MinIO`
Monitoring	`Uptime Kuma`