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General
Deployment

Railway

Learn how to deploy your application to Railway.

Railway is a modern platform that makes it easy to deploy full-stack applications. It offers a generous free tier and seamless integration with GitHub.

Why Railway?

  • Simple deployment - Connect your GitHub repo and deploy in minutes
  • Free tier available - Great for testing and MVPs
  • Automatic HTTPS - SSL certificates handled automatically
  • Database included - Can provision PostgreSQL directly
  • Environment variables - Easy management through the dashboard

Deploying to Railway

1. Create Railway Account

Sign up for a free account at railway.app.

2. Create New Project

  1. Click "New Project" in the Railway dashboard
  2. Select "Deploy from GitHub repo"
  3. Connect your GitHub account if prompted
  4. Select your repository

3. Configure Build Settings

Railway will auto-detect Next.js, but you can verify these settings:

  • Build Command: npm run build
  • Start Command: npm start
  • Root Directory: / (root of your project)

4. Add Environment Variables

Add all required environment variables in the Railway dashboard:

  1. Go to your project → Variables tab
  2. Add variables from your .env:
Railway Environment Variables
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://your-app.railway.app
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=...
STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=...
RESEND_API_KEY=...
EMAIL_FROM=...

5. Provision Database (Optional)

Railway can provision a PostgreSQL database for you:

  1. Click "New" → "Database" → "Add PostgreSQL"
  2. Railway will automatically set the DATABASE_URL environment variable
  3. Run migrations after the first deployment

6. Deploy

Railway will automatically:

  • Install dependencies
  • Build your application
  • Deploy to their infrastructure

Your app will be available at https://your-app.railway.app.

Database Migrations

To run migrations on Railway:

  1. Option 1: Add to build command

    • Update build command: npm run build && npm run db:migrate

  2. Option 2: Use Railway CLI

    Terminal
    railway run npm run db:migrate

  3. Option 3: Run after deployment

    • Connect via Railway CLI and run migrations manually

Custom Domain

To use a custom domain:

  1. Go to Settings → Domains
  2. Click "Add Domain"
  3. Follow the DNS configuration instructions
  4. Update NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL to your custom domain

Environment-Specific Variables

Railway supports environment-specific variables:

  • Production - Used for production deployments
  • Preview - Used for preview deployments (from PRs)
  • Development - Used for local development with Railway CLI

Monitoring

Railway provides:

  • Logs - View real-time application logs
  • Metrics - CPU, memory, and network usage
  • Deployments - View deployment history

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

  • Check build logs in the Railway dashboard
  • Ensure all dependencies are in package.json
  • Verify Node.js version compatibility

Database Connection Issues

  • Verify DATABASE_URL is set correctly
  • Check if database requires SSL (add ?sslmode=require)
  • Ensure database is accessible from Railway's IPs

Environment Variables Not Loading

  • Verify variables are set in the correct environment
  • Check for typos in variable names
  • Redeploy after adding new variables