Railway — CLI Deployment & Management

Complete guide for deploying and managing applications on Railway.

Prerequisites

bash

# Install CLI
npm install -g @railway/cli
# or
brew install railway

# Authenticate
railway login

# Check auth
railway whoami --json

# Link project
railway link

Part 1: Deploy

Deploy Code

bash

# Deploy with commit message (always use -m)
railway up --detach -m "Add user authentication"

# Watch build logs (for debugging)
railway up --ci -m "Fix memory leak"

# Deploy specific service
railway up --detach --service backend -m "Update API"

# Deploy to unlinked project
railway up --project PROJECT_ID --environment production --detach -m "Deploy"

Flag	Description
`-m, --message`	Commit message (always use)
`-d, --detach`	Don't attach to logs (default)
`-c, --ci`	Stream build logs until done
`-s, --service`	Target service
`-e, --environment`	Target environment

Part 2: Deployments & Logs

List Deployments

bash

railway deployment list --limit 10 --json
railway deployment list --service backend --limit 10 --json

View Logs

bash

# Deploy logs (last 100 lines)
railway logs --lines 100 --json

# Build logs
railway logs --build --lines 100 --json

# Latest deployment (including failed)
railway logs --latest --lines 100 --json

# Filter errors
railway logs --lines 50 --filter "@level:error" --json

# Text search
railway logs --lines 50 --filter "connection refused" --json

# Time-based
railway logs --since 1h --lines 100 --json
railway logs --since 30m --until 10m --lines 100 --json

Logs from Specific Deployment

bash

# Get deployment ID first
railway deployment list --json

# Then fetch logs
railway logs DEPLOYMENT_ID --lines 100 --json
railway logs --build DEPLOYMENT_ID --lines 100 --json

Part 3: Status & Config

Check Status

bash

railway status --json

Returns: project, environment, services, active deployments, domains.

Environment Config

bash

# Full config (source, build, deploy, variables)
railway environment config --json

# Rendered variable values
railway variables --json

Switch Environment

bash

railway environment staging
railway environment production

Create Environment

bash

# New empty environment
railway environment new staging

# Duplicate existing
railway environment new staging --duplicate production

Part 4: Variables

View Variables

bash

railway variables --json

Set Variables

bash

railway variables set DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."
railway variables set API_KEY="secret" DEBUG="false"

Delete Variables

bash

railway variables delete OLD_VAR

Part 5: Domains

Generate Railway Domain

bash

railway domain --json
railway domain --json --service backend

Add Custom Domain

bash

railway domain example.com --json

Returns DNS records to add to your provider.

Part 6: Databases

Add Database

Use templates:

Database	Command
PostgreSQL	`railway add --template postgres`
Redis	`railway add --template redis`
MySQL	`railway add --template mysql`
MongoDB	`railway add --template mongodb`

Check Existing Databases

bash

railway status --json

Look for services with postgres, redis, mysql, mongo in name/image.

Part 7: Services

Create Service

bash

# With local code
railway up --detach -m "Initial deploy"

# Empty service (then configure)
# Use GraphQL API - see templates section

Service from Template

bash

railway add --template ghost
railway add --template strapi
railway add --template n8n
railway add --template minio
railway add --template uptime-kuma

Link Different Service

bash

railway service
# Interactive selection

railway link
# Relink project/service

Part 8: Metrics

Query via GraphQL API:

Metric	Description
`CPU_USAGE`	CPU cores used
`MEMORY_USAGE_GB`	Memory in GB
`NETWORK_RX_GB`	Network received
`NETWORK_TX_GB`	Network transmitted
`DISK_USAGE_GB`	Disk usage

Part 9: Project Management

List Projects

bash

railway list

Link Project

bash

railway link
# Interactive selection

railway link --project PROJECT_ID

Unlink

bash

railway unlink

Stop Deployment

bash

railway down

Note: This stops the deployment but keeps the service. To delete a service entirely, use the dashboard or API.

Quick Reference

Common Workflows

Deploy changes:

bash

railway up --detach -m "Description of changes"

Debug failed deploy:

bash

railway logs --build --latest --lines 200 --json

Check what's running:

bash

railway status --json

Add database and connect:

bash

railway add --template postgres
railway variables --json  # Get DATABASE_URL

Add custom domain:

bash

railway domain mydomain.com --json
# Add DNS records shown in output

CLI Cheatsheet

bash

# Auth
railway login
railway whoami

# Project
railway link
railway status --json
railway list

# Deploy
railway up -d -m "message"
railway down

# Logs
railway logs --lines 100
railway logs --build --lines 100
railway logs --filter "@level:error"

# Config
railway environment config --json
railway variables --json
railway variables set KEY="value"

# Domains
railway domain --json
railway domain custom.com --json

# Databases
railway add --template postgres
railway add --template redis

Troubleshooting

Issue	Check
Deploy failed	`railway logs --build --latest --lines 200`
Service down	`railway status --json`
Missing vars	`railway variables --json`
Wrong env	`railway environment production`
Not linked	`railway link`

Resources

•Docs: https://docs.railway.app/
•CLI Reference: https://docs.railway.app/reference/cli-api
•Templates: https://railway.app/templates