| 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:
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
