Deploy to Railway

Deploy Bun applications to Railway with zero-configuration builds, automatic SSL, and optional PostgreSQL provisioning.

Railway is an infrastructure platform with instant deployments from GitHub, automatic SSL, and built-in database provisioning. It auto-detects Bun projects and requires zero configuration for most apps.

Prerequisites:

• A Bun application ready for deployment
• A Railway account
• A GitHub account (for dashboard deployments) or the Railway CLI

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Method 1: Deploy via CLI

1. Install the Railway CLI

   bun install -g @railway/cli
   
2. Log in

   railway login
   
3. Initialize a new project

   Run this from your project directory:

   railway init
   
4. Add a database (optional)

   If your app uses PostgreSQL, add it before deploying:

   # Add PostgreSQL — do this before adding the app service
   railway add --database postgres
   
   # Add the app service and wire up the database URL
   railway add --service my-bun-app --variables DATABASE_URL=\${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}
   

   Skip this step if your application does not need a database.

5. Deploy and expose a public domain

   # Deploy the application
   railway up
   
   # Generate a public HTTPS domain
   railway domain
   

   Your app is now live. Railway auto-deploys on every push to your connected branch.

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Method 2: Deploy via Dashboard

1. Create a new project

   1. Go to the Railway Dashboard.
   2. Click + New → GitHub repo.
   3. Authorize Railway and select your repository.
2. Add a database (optional)

   1. In the project canvas, click + New → Database → Add PostgreSQL.
   2. Select your app service (not the database).
   3. Go to the Variables tab.
   4. Click + New Variable → Add Reference and select DATABASE_URL from the Postgres service.

   Skip this step if your application does not need a database.

3. Generate a public domain

   1. Select your app service.
   2. Go to the Settings tab.
   3. Under Networking, click Generate Domain.

Your app is now live. Railway re-deploys automatically on every GitHub push.

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Configuration

By default, Railway uses Nixpacks to auto-detect and build your Bun project with zero configuration.

For better Bun support and guaranteed compatibility with the latest Bun versions, use Railpack instead. Create a railway.json in your project root:

railway.json

{
  "$schema": "https://railway.com/railway.schema.json",
  "build": {
    "builder": "RAILPACK"
  }
}

Custom start command

To override the default start command, set it in the Railway dashboard under Settings → Deploy → Start command, or add it to railway.json:

railway.json

{
  "$schema": "https://railway.com/railway.schema.json",
  "build": {
    "builder": "RAILPACK"
  },
  "deploy": {
    "startCommand": "bun run src/index.ts"
  }
}

Environment variables

Set environment variables in the Railway dashboard under your service’s Variables tab. They are injected into process.env at runtime:

const port = parseInt(process.env.PORT ?? "3000");
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;

Railway automatically injects a PORT environment variable. Always use process.env.PORT rather than a hard-coded port number.