railway-new

---
name: railway-new
description: Create Railway projects, services, and databases with proper configuration. Use when user says "setup", "deploy to railway", "initialize", "create project", "create service", or wants to deploy from GitHub. Handles initial setup AND adding services to existing projects. For databases, use railway-railway-database skill instead.
version: 1.0.0
author: Railway
license: MIT
tags: [Railway, Project, Service, Setup, Initialize, Deploy, Infrastructure, Scaffolding]
dependencies: [railway-cli]
allowed-tools: Bash(railway:*), Bash(which:*), Bash(command:*), Bash(npm:*), Bash(npx:*)
---

# New Project / Service / Database

Create Railway projects, services, and databases with proper configuration.

## When to Use

- User says "deploy to railway" (add service if linked, init if not)
- User says "create a railway project", "init", "new project" (explicit new project)
- User says "link to railway", "connect to railway"
- User says "create a service", "add a backend", "new api service"
- User says "create a vite app", "create a react website", "make a python api"
- User says "deploy from github.com/user/repo", "create service from this repo"
- User says "add postgres", "add a database", "add redis", "add mysql", "add mongo"
- User says "connect to postgres", "wire up the database", "connect my api to redis"
- User says "add postgres and connect to the server"
- Setting up code + Railway service together

## Prerequisites

Check CLI installed:

```bash
command -v railway
```

If not installed:

> Install Railway CLI:
>
> ```
> npm install -g @railway/cli
> ```
>
> or
>
> ```
> brew install railway
> ```

Check authenticated:

```bash
railway whoami --json
```

If not authenticated:

> Run `railway login` to authenticate.

## Decision Flow

```
railway status --json (in current dir)
     │
┌────┴────┐
Linked    Not Linked
  │            │
  │       Check parent: cd .. && railway status --json
  │            │
  │       ┌────┴────┐
  │    Parent      Not linked
  │    Linked      anywhere
  │       │            │
  │   Add service   railway list
  │   Set rootDir      │
  │   Deploy       ┌───┴───┐
  │       │      Match?  No match
  │       │        │        │
  │       │      Link    Init new
  └───────┴────────┴────────┘
           │
    User wants service?
           │
     ┌─────┴─────┐
    Yes         No
     │           │
Scaffold code   Done
     │
railway add --service
     │
Configure if needed
     │
Ready to deploy
```

## Check Current State

```bash
railway status --json
```

- **If linked**: Add a service to the existing project (see below)
- **If not linked**: Check if a PARENT directory is linked (see below)

### When Already Linked

**Default behavior**: "deploy to railway" = add a service to the linked project.

Do NOT create a new project unless user EXPLICITLY says:

- "new project", "create a project", "init a project"
- "separate project", "different project"

App names like "flappy-bird" or "my-api" are SERVICE names, not project names.

```
User: "create a vite app called foo and deploy to railway"
Project: Already linked to "my-project"

WRONG: railway init -n foo
RIGHT: railway add --service foo
```

### Parent Directory Linking

Railway CLI walks up the directory tree to find a linked project. If you're in a subdirectory:

```bash
cd .. && railway status --json
```

**If parent is linked**, you don't need to init/link the subdirectory. Instead:

1. Create service: `railway add --service <name>`
2. Set `rootDirectory` to subdirectory path via environment skill
3. Deploy from root: `railway up`

**If no parent is linked**, proceed with init or link flow.

## Init vs Link Decision

**Skip this section if already linked** - just add a service instead.

Only use this section when NO project is linked (directly or via parent).

### Check User's Projects

The output can be large. Run in a subagent and extract only:
- Project `id` and `name`
- Workspace `id` and `name`

```bash
railway list --json
```

### Decision Logic

1. **User explicitly says "new project"** → Use `railway init`
2. **User names an existing project** → Use `railway link`
3. **Directory name matches existing project** → Ask: link existing or create new?
4. **No matching projects** → Use `railway init`
5. **Ambiguous** → Ask user

## Create New Project

```bash
railway init -n <name>
```

Options:

- `-n, --name` - Project name (auto-generated if omitted in non-interactive mode)
- `-w, --workspace` - Workspace name or ID (required if multiple workspaces exist)

### Multiple Workspaces

If the user has multiple workspaces, `railway init` requires the `--workspace` flag.

Get workspace IDs from:

```bash
railway whoami --json
```

The `workspaces` array contains `{ id, name }` for each workspace.

**Inferring workspace from user input:**
If user says "deploy into xxx workspace" or "create project in my-team", match the
name against the workspaces array and use the corresponding ID:

```bash
# User says: "create a project in my personal workspace"
railway whoami --json | jq '.workspaces[] | select(.name | test("personal"; "i"))'
# Use the matched ID: railway init -n myapp --workspace <matched-id>
```

## Link Existing Project

```bash
railway link -p <project>
```

Options:

- `-p, --project` - Project name or ID
- `-e, --environment` - Environment (default: production)
- `-s, --service` - Service to link
- `-t, --team` - Team/workspace

## Create Service

After project is linked, create a service:

```bash
railway add --service <name>
```

**For GitHub repo sources**: Create an empty service, then invoke the railway-environment skill to configure the source via staged changes API. Do NOT use `railway add --repo` - it requires GitHub app integration which often fails.

Flow:

1. `railway add --service my-api`
2. Invoke railway-environment skill to set `source.repo` and `source.branch`
3. Apply changes to trigger deployment

### Configure Based on Project Type

Reference [railpack.md](../reference/railpack.md) for build configuration.
Reference [monorepo.md](../reference/monorepo.md) for monorepo patterns.

**Static site (Vite, CRA, Astro static):**

- Railpack auto-detects common output dirs (dist, build)
- If non-standard output dir: invoke railway-environment skill to set `RAILPACK_STATIC_FILE_ROOT`
- Do NOT use `railway variables` CLI - always use the environment skill

**Node.js SSR (Next.js, Nuxt, Express):**

- Verify `start` script exists in package.json
- If custom start needed: invoke railway-environment skill to set `startCommand`

**Python (FastAPI, Django, Flask):**

- Verify `requirements.txt` or `pyproject.toml` exists
- Auto-detected by Railpack, usually no config needed

**Go:**

- Verify `go.mod` exists
- Auto-detected, no config needed

### Monorepo Configuration

**Critical decision:** Root directory vs custom commands.

**Isolated monorepo** (apps don't share code):

- Set Root Directory to the app's subdirectory (e.g., `/frontend`)
- Only that directory's code is available during build

**Shared monorepo** (TypeScript workspaces, shared packages):

- Do NOT set root directory
- Set custom build/start commands to filter the package:
  - pnpm: `pnpm --filter <package> build`
  - npm: `npm run build --workspace=packages/<package>`
  - yarn: `yarn workspace <package> build`
  - Turborepo: `turbo run build --filter=<package>`
- Set watch paths to prevent unnecessary rebuilds

See [monorepo.md](../reference/monorepo.md) for detailed patterns.

## Project Setup Guidance

Analyze the codebase to ensure Railway compatibility.

### Analyze Codebase

Check for existing project files:

- `package.json` → Node.js project
- `requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml` → Python project
- `go.mod` → Go project
- `Cargo.toml` → Rust project
- `index.html` → Static site
- None → Guide scaffolding

**Monorepo detection:**

- `pnpm-workspace.yaml` → pnpm workspace (shared monorepo)
- `package.json` with `workspaces` field → npm/yarn workspace (shared monorepo)
- `turbo.json` → Turborepo (shared monorepo)
- Multiple subdirs with separate `package.json` but no workspace config → isolated monorepo

### Scaffolding Hints

If no code exists, suggest minimal patterns from [railpack.md](../reference/railpack.md):

**Static site:**

> Create an `index.html` file in the root directory.

**Vite React:**

```bash
npm create vite@latest . -- --template react
```

**Astro:**

```bash
npm create astro@latest
```

**Python FastAPI:**

> Create `main.py` with FastAPI app and `requirements.txt` with dependencies.

**Go:**

> Create `main.go` with HTTP server listening on `PORT` env var.

## Databases

For adding databases (Postgres, Redis, MySQL, MongoDB), use the railway-railway-database skill.

The railway-railway-database skill handles:
- Creating database services
- Connection variable references
- Wiring services to databases

## Composability

- **After service created**: Use railway-deploy skill to push code
- **For advanced config**: Use railway-environment skill (buildCommand, startCommand)
- **For domains**: Use railway-domain skill
- **For status checks**: Use railway-status skill
- **For service operations** (rename, delete, status): Use railway-service skill

## Error Handling

### CLI Not Installed

```
Railway CLI not installed. Install with:
  npm install -g @railway/cli
or
  brew install railway
```

### Not Authenticated

```
Not logged in to Railway. Run: railway login
```

### No Workspaces

```
No workspaces found. Create one at railway.com or verify authentication.
```

### Project Name Taken

```
Project name already exists. Either:
- Link to existing: railway link -p <name>
- Use different name: railway init -n <other-name>
```

### Service Name Taken

```
Service name already exists in this project. Use a different name:
  railway add --service <other-name>
```

## Examples

### Create HTML Static Site

```
User: "create a simple html site and deploy to railway"

1. Check status → not linked
2. railway init -n my-site
3. Guide: create index.html
4. railway add --service my-site
5. No config needed (index.html in root auto-detected)
6. Use deploy skill: railway up
7. Use domain skill for public URL
```

### Create Vite React Service

```
User: "create a vite react service"

1. Check status → linked (or init/link first)
2. Scaffold: npm create vite@latest frontend -- --template react
3. railway add --service frontend
4. No config needed (Vite dist output auto-detected)
5. Use deploy skill: railway up
```

### Add Python API to Project

```
User: "add a python api to my project"

1. Check status → linked
2. Guide: create main.py with FastAPI, requirements.txt
3. railway add --service api
4. No config needed (FastAPI auto-detected)
5. Use deploy skill
```

### Link and Add Service

```
User: "connect to my backend project and add a worker service"

1. railway list --json → find "backend"
2. railway link -p backend
3. railway add --service worker
4. Guide setup based on worker type
```

### Deploy to Railway (Ambiguous)

```
User: "deploy to railway"

1. railway status → not linked
2. railway list → has projects
3. Directory is "my-app", found project "my-app"
4. Ask: "Found existing project 'my-app'. Link to it or create new?"
5. User: "link"
6. railway link -p my-app
7. Ask: "Create a service for this code?"
```

### Add Service to Isolated Monorepo

```
User: "create a static site in the frontend directory"

1. Check: /frontend has its own package.json, no workspace config
2. This is isolated monorepo → use root directory
3. railway add --service frontend
4. Invoke environment skill to set rootDirectory: /frontend
5. Set watch paths: /frontend/**
```

### Add Service to TypeScript Monorepo

```
User: "add a new api package to this turborepo"

1. Check: turbo.json exists, pnpm-workspace.yaml exists
2. This is shared monorepo → use custom commands, NOT root directory
3. Guide: create packages/api with package.json
4. railway add --service api
5. Invoke environment skill to set buildCommand and startCommand (do NOT set rootDirectory)
6. Set watch paths: /packages/api/**, /packages/shared/**
```

### Deploy Existing pnpm Workspace Package

```
User: "deploy the backend package to railway"

1. Check: pnpm-workspace.yaml exists → shared monorepo
2. railway add --service backend
3. Invoke environment skill to set buildCommand and startCommand
4. Set watch paths for backend + any shared deps
```

### Deploy Subdirectory of Linked Project

```
User: "create a vite app in my-app directory and deploy to railway"
CWD: ~/projects/my-project/my-app (parent already linked to "my-project")

1. Check status in my-app → not linked
2. Check parent: cd .. && railway status → IS linked to "my-project"
3. DON'T init/link the subdirectory
4. Scaffold: bun create vite my-app --template react-ts
5. cd my-app && bun install
6. railway add --service my-app
7. Invoke environment skill to set rootDirectory: /my-app
8. Deploy from root: railway up
```