deploy

SKILL.md

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:

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.

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.

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:

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

Deploy to Unlinked Project

Deploy to a project without linking first:

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

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