managing-railway

name	managing-railway
description	Use when working with Railway — railway platform management via the railway CLI and Railway API. Covers projects, services, deployments, databases, volumes, and environment variables. Use when managing Railway deployments or checking service health.
connection_type	railway
preload	false

Managing Railway

Manage Railway platform using the railway CLI and Railway GraphQL API.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover available resources before performing analysis.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Current Project ==="
railway status 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Projects ==="
railway list 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Services in Current Project ==="
railway service list 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Environments ==="
railway environment list 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Variables ==="
railway variables list 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Volumes ==="
railway volume list 2>/dev/null | head -10

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Deployment History ==="
railway logs --deployment 2>/dev/null | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Service Health (Recent Logs) ==="
railway logs --lines 30 2>/dev/null | tail -20

echo ""
echo "=== Project Details via API ==="
curl -s "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"query": "{ me { projects { edges { node { id name description services { edges { node { id name } } } environments { edges { node { id name } } } } } } } }"}' 2>/dev/null | jq '.data.me.projects.edges[] | .node | {id, name, description, services: [.services.edges[].node.name], environments: [.environments.edges[].node.name]}' | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Deployment Status via API ==="
curl -s "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"query": "{ me { projects { edges { node { name deployments(first: 5) { edges { node { id status createdAt } } } } } } } }"}' 2>/dev/null | jq '.data.me.projects.edges[].node | {project: .name, deployments: [.deployments.edges[].node | {id: .id[:12], status, createdAt}]}' | head -20

Output Format

PROJECT       SERVICE     ENVIRONMENT   STATUS
my-app        web         production    deployed
my-app        api         production    deployed
my-app        postgres    production    running

Safety Rules

• Use read-only commands: status, list, logs
• Never run delete, down, remove without explicit user confirmation
• Use | head -N to limit log output
• Limit output to stay under 50 lines

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative