Deploy to Railway

TL;DR

# One-time: install + log in
npm i -g @railway/cli
railway login
railway link    # pick or create the project + service

# Every deploy
mcify deploy railway

The CLI bundles your config for Node, generates railway.json with a Nixpacks plan (Node 20 + pnpm 9), then runs railway up. Railway builds + deploys the service.

Prerequisites

• A Railway account.
• railway CLI on PATH (npm i -g @railway/cli).
• railway login once.
• The project linked once: railway link.

Command

mcify deploy railway [options]

Flag	Default	What it does
--config <path>	./mcify.config.ts	Path to your mcify config.
--service <name>	last linked	Specific service inside the project.
--environment <env>	production	Target environment.
--port <n>	8888	App port (passed as PORT env var).
--dry-run	off	Generate railway.json + bundle, skip railway up.

What gets generated

.
├── railway.json       # Nixpacks plan, start command, healthcheck on /
└── dist/              # compiled Node bundle (referenced by railway.json)

If railway.json already exists it is left untouched — your edits stick.

Default railway.json

{
  "build": {
    "builder": "NIXPACKS",
    "nixpacksPlan": {
      "phases": {
        "setup": { "nixPkgs": ["nodejs_20", "pnpm-9_x"] }
      }
    }
  },
  "deploy": {
    "startCommand": "node dist/your-entry.js",
    "restartPolicyType": "ON_FAILURE",
    "restartPolicyMaxRetries": 3,
    "healthcheckPath": "/",
    "healthcheckTimeout": 30
  }
}

The healthcheck hits GET / — the runtime’s built-in health endpoint. If you mount the MCP under a custom prefix and / is no longer served, point the healthcheck somewhere that returns 200.

Setting secrets

railway variables set MCIFY_AUTH_TOKEN=...
railway variables set KHIPU_API_KEY=...

Or use the Railway dashboard. Variables are scoped per environment (production / preview / etc.).

CI/CD

Drop-in workflow: .github/workflows-templates/deploy-railway.yml

Required repo secret:

• RAILWAY_TOKEN — generate from Railway → Account Settings → Tokens.

Troubleshooting

Error: not logged in — run railway login (or set RAILWAY_TOKEN if scripting).

Error: no service linked — run railway link once in the project directory. If you have multiple services, pass --service <name> to mcify deploy railway.

Build fails on missing pnpm — the generated Nixpacks plan pins pnpm-9_x. If your repo uses npm or yarn, edit railway.json to swap the nixPkgs and the start command.

Healthcheck failing — Railway considers the service down if GET / doesn’t return 200 within 30s. Check railway logs for boot errors (usually a missing env var).

No public URL — Railway services are private by default. Click “Generate Domain” in the dashboard, or railway domain from the CLI.