# Deploy the API on Railway

> Deploy the Coop API with a managed Redis service, safe migrations, and health checks.


Railway is the recommended API path for a first installation because the API and Redis can share one project and private network.

<a class="provider-action" data-provider="railway" href="https://railway.com/deploy/7C_IEe">Deploy the API and Redis on Railway <span aria-hidden="true">↗</span></a>

The template creates a private Redis service and the Coop API with HTTPS networking, migrations, health checks, and a generated encryption key. It asks for the nine Supabase, Clerk, storage, and dashboard-origin values that Railway cannot generate.

The template uses a Feeble-maintained, verified Coop release internally. The installer does not need a GitHub account or repository URL.

<figure class="doc-figure">
  <img src="/screenshots/railway-template.webp" alt="Railway Coop deployment form showing Redis and coop-api services" width="1290" height="1500" loading="lazy">
  <figcaption>Deploy to a new Railway project. Redis is ready automatically; open <strong>coop-api</strong> and enter the nine required values before Deploy becomes available.</figcaption>
</figure>

<div class="callout"><strong>Choose one path</strong><p>Use the button for the shortest setup. Use the manual source-upload steps below when company policy requires deploying from the local release folder.</p></div>

## Manual source upload

## 1. Create the project and Redis

Create a new Railway project. Add a Redis service from Railway's service catalog. Keep Redis private. Copy its private `REDIS_URL` reference into the API service rather than exposing Redis to the internet.

Coop stores an encrypted, rebuildable search projection in Redis. Prefer a no-eviction policy when the provider exposes it. Backups are optional for this derived data, but silent eviction can make search incomplete until a rebuild.

## 2. Install and authenticate the Railway CLI

Follow Railway's CLI installation guide, then sign in:

```sh
railway login
```

## 3. Create the API service from the release folder

From the extracted Coop release folder:

```sh
cd apps/api
railway init
```

Choose the project that contains the Redis service and create a service named `coop-api`. The included `railway.json` selects the Dockerfile, runs `/migrate up` before deployment, starts `/api`, and checks `GET /health`. Do not set `HTTP_ADDR`; Railway injects `PORT` and Coop binds it on all interfaces.

## 4. Set the environment

Add every variable in the [configuration reference](/reference/configuration/). Use Railway reference variables for Redis when possible. Enter secrets directly in Railway, not in Git.

Set `CLERK_ALLOWED_DASHBOARD_ORIGINS` to the final dashboard origin. If you do not know it yet, use the first Vercel or Cloudflare production URL and update it after adding a custom domain.

## 5. Upload the API

From `apps/api`, run:

```sh
railway up
```

Railway uploads the local API source. It does not need a GitHub repository.

## 6. Generate a public API domain

Enable Railway HTTP networking for the API service. Record the generated HTTPS origin. Do not include `/health` or a trailing slash when using it as `VITE_API_BASE_URL`.

## 7. Run the no-write preflight

Before trusting the deployment, open a one-off command on the API service and run:

```sh
/preflight --check-storage
```

This resolves configuration, validates the database URL, and confirms that the existing object-storage bucket is reachable. It does not create tables, buckets, or objects. The normal pre-deploy migration then creates or upgrades database tables.

## 8. Verify health

Open:

```text
https://<your-api-domain>/health
```

Expect HTTP 200. A 503 means the process is running but PostgreSQL is not ready. A failed deployment usually means configuration validation or migration failed; inspect the deploy log without copying secrets into a support request.

Official references: [Railway templates](https://docs.railway.com/templates/create), [Railway CLI](https://docs.railway.com/guides/cli), and [`railway up`](https://docs.railway.com/reference/cli-api#up).