Railway CLI Skill

Manage Railway deployments and infrastructure using the Railway CLI.

Pre-flight Check

Current status: !railway status 2>&1 || echo "NOT_LINKED"

Auto-Recovery

Before running any command, check the pre-flight status above:

1. If "command not found": Run npm install -g @railway/cli
2. If "Not logged in": Tell user to run railway login manually (requires browser)
3. If "NOT_LINKED" or "No project linked":
   • Run railway list to show available projects
   • Ask user which project to link, or auto-detect from package.json name
   • Link with railway link -p <project-id>

Command Routing

Based on $ARGUMENTS, execute the appropriate workflow:

"status" (default when no args)

railway status
railway domain
railway deployment list --limit 1

Report: project info, URL, and last deployment status/time.

"logs" [options]

Parse natural language options:

• "errors" → --filter "@level:error"
• "last hour" / "1h" → --since 1h
• "build" → --build
• Number like "100" → --lines 100

Default: railway logs --lines 30

Summarize output - highlight errors, warnings, or interesting patterns.

"deploy" / "up"

railway up

Then wait and check:

1. Run railway deployment list --limit 1 to get status
2. If SUCCESS, fetch the domain URL and verify it responds: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" <domain>
3. If FAILED, show build logs: railway logs --build --lines 50

"redeploy"

railway redeploy

Redeploys without rebuilding. Useful for env var changes.

"restart"

railway restart

Restarts the service without rebuild or redeploy.

"vars" / "env" [action]

railway variables

IMPORTANT: When displaying variables, redact sensitive values:

• API keys: show first 8 chars + "..."
• Passwords: show "********"
• Tokens: show first 8 chars + "..."

For setting: railway variables set KEY=value For deleting: railway variables delete KEY (ask for confirmation first!)

"deployments" / "history"

railway deployment list --limit 10

Format as a table with: ID (short), Status, Time ago, Commit message (truncated)

"domain"

railway domain

Show the public URL. If none exists, offer to create one.

"health"

railway domain

Then curl the domain to check HTTP status:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -m 10 <domain-url>

Report if healthy (2xx), unhealthy, or unreachable.

"open"

railway open

Opens the Railway dashboard in browser.

"switch <project-name>"

Switch to a different Railway project by name (fuzzy match).

# List all projects
railway list

Find the project ID that matches the name, then:

railway link -p <project-id>

Confirm the switch with railway status.

"db" / "connect"

Connect to the project's database shell (Postgres, MongoDB, Redis, etc.)

railway connect

If multiple databases exist, Railway will prompt to select one.

"link"

List available projects and link one:

railway list

Show projects in a numbered list. Ask user which to link, then:

railway link -p <project-id>

Safety Guards

Before destructive operations, ask for confirmation:

• railway down - removes deployment
• railway variables delete - removes env var
• railway unlink - unlinks project

Format: "This will [action]. Are you sure? (y/n)"

Response Format

Always provide:

1. Summary: One-line status (✓ success / ✗ failure / ⚠ warning)
2. Details: Relevant information in a clean table or list
3. URL: Public URL if applicable
4. Next steps: If something failed, suggest how to fix it

Example Responses

Status check:

✓ MyApp is deployed and healthy

| Project     | MyApp                                    |
| Environment | production                               |
| Service     | MyApp                                    |
| URL         | https://myapp-production.up.railway.app  |
| Last deploy | 2 hours ago (SUCCESS)                    |

After deploy:

✓ Deployment successful

Build completed in 45s
URL: https://myapp-production.up.railway.app
Health check: 200 OK

On error:

✗ Deployment failed

Build error at line 23: Module not found 'xyz'

Suggested fix: Run `npm install xyz` and redeploy