Deploy

---

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

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:

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:**

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

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: