Railway Deploy

SKILL.md

---
name: deploy
description: This skill should be used when the user wants to push code to Railway, says "railway up", "deploy", "deploy to railway", "ship", or "push". For initial setup or creating services, use new skill. For Docker images, use environment skill.
allowed-tools: Bash(railway:*)
---

# Deploy

Deploy code from the current directory to Railway using `railway up`.

## When to Use

- User asks to "deploy", "ship", "push code"
- User says "railway up" or "deploy to Railway"
- User wants to deploy local code changes
- User says "deploy and fix any issues" (use --ci mode)

## Commit Message

Always use the `-m` flag with a descriptive commit message summarizing what's being deployed:

```bash
railway up --detach -m "Add user authentication endpoint"
```

Good commit messages:
- Describe what changed: "Fix memory leak in worker process"
- Reference tickets/issues: "Implement feature #123"
- Be concise but meaningful: "Update deps and fix build warnings"

## Modes

### Detach Mode (default)
Starts deploy and returns immediately. Use for most deploys.

```bash
railway up --detach -m "Deploy description here"
```

### CI Mode
Streams build logs until complete. Use when user wants to watch the build or needs to debug issues.

```bash
railway up --ci -m "Deploy description here"
```

**When to use CI mode:**
- User says "deploy and watch", "deploy and fix issues"
- User is debugging build failures
- User wants to see build output

## Deploy Specific Service

Default is linked service. To deploy to a different service:

```bash
railway up --detach --service backend -m "Deploy description here"
```

## Deploy to Unlinked Project

Deploy to a project without linking first:

```bash
railway up --project <project-id> --environment production --detach -m "Deploy description here"
```

Requires both `--project` and `--environment` flags.

## CLI Options

| Flag | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `-m, --message <MSG>` | Commit message describing the deploy (always use this) |
| `-d, --detach` | Don't attach to logs (default) |
| `-c, --ci` | Stream build logs, exit when done |
| `-s, --service <NAME>` | Target service (defaults to linked) |
| `-e, --environment <NAME>` | Target environment (defaults to linked) |
| `-p, --project <ID>` | Target project (requires --environment) |
| `[PATH]` | Path to deploy (defaults to current directory) |

## Directory Linking

Railway CLI walks UP the directory tree to find a linked project. If you're in a subdirectory of a linked project, you don't need to relink.

For subdirectory deployments, prefer setting `rootDirectory` via the environment skill, then deploy normally with `railway up`.

## After Deploy

### Detach mode
```
Deploying to <service>...
```
Use `deployment` skill to check build status (with `--lines` flag).

### CI mode
Build logs stream inline. If build fails, the error will be in the output.

**Do NOT run `railway logs --build` after CI mode** - the logs already streamed. If you need
more context, use `deployment` skill with `--lines` flag (never stream).

## Composability

- **Check status after deploy**: Use `service` skill
- **View logs**: Use `deployment` skill
- **Fix config issues**: Use `environment` skill
- **Redeploy after config fix**: Use `environment` skill

## Error Handling

### No Project Linked
```
No Railway project linked. Run `railway link` first.
```

### No Service Linked
```
No service linked. Use --service flag or run `railway service` to select one.
```

### Build Failure (CI mode)
The build logs already streamed - analyze them directly from the `railway up --ci` output.
Do NOT run `railway logs` after CI mode (it streams forever without `--lines`).

Common issues:
- Missing dependencies → check package.json/requirements.txt
- Build command wrong → use environment skill to fix
- Dockerfile issues → check dockerfile path