Service Management

Check status, update properties, and advanced service creation.

When to Use

• User asks about service status, health, or deployments
• User asks "is my service deployed?"
• User wants to rename a service or change service icon
• User wants to link a different service
• User wants to deploy a Docker image as a new service (advanced)

Note: For creating services with local code (the common case), prefer the new skill which handles project setup, scaffolding, and service creation together.

For GitHub repo sources: Use new skill to create empty service, then environment skill to configure source.repo via staged changes API.

Create Service

Create a new service via GraphQL API. There is no CLI command for this.

Get Context

railway status --json

Extract:

• project.id - for creating the service
• environment.id - for staging the instance config

Create Service Mutation

mutation serviceCreate($input: ServiceCreateInput!) {
  serviceCreate(input: $input) {
    id
    name
  }
}

ServiceCreateInput Fields

Field	Type	Description
projectId	String!	Project ID (required)
name	String	Service name (auto-generated if omitted)
source.image	String	Docker image (e.g., nginx:latest)
source.repo	String	GitHub repo (e.g., user/repo)
branch	String	Git branch for repo source
environmentId	String	If set and is a fork, only creates in that env

Example: Create empty service

bash <<'SCRIPT'
scripts/railway-api.sh \
  'mutation createService($input: ServiceCreateInput!) {
    serviceCreate(input: $input) { id name }
  }' \
  '{"input": {"projectId": "PROJECT_ID"}}'
SCRIPT

Example: Create service with image

bash <<'SCRIPT'
scripts/railway-api.sh \
  'mutation createService($input: ServiceCreateInput!) {
    serviceCreate(input: $input) { id name }
  }' \
  '{"input": {"projectId": "PROJECT_ID", "name": "my-service", "source": {"image": "nginx:latest"}}}'
SCRIPT

Connecting a GitHub Repo

Do NOT use serviceCreate with source.repo - use staged changes API instead.

Flow:

1. Create empty service: serviceCreate(input: {projectId: "...", name: "my-service"})
2. Use environment skill to configure source via staged changes API
3. Apply to trigger deployment

After Creating: Configure Instance

Use environment skill to configure the service instance:

{
  "services": {
    "<serviceId>": {
      "isCreated": true,
      "source": { "image": "nginx:latest" },
      "variables": {
        "PORT": { "value": "8080" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Critical: Always include isCreated: true for new service instances.

Then use environment skill to apply and deploy.

For variable references, see reference/variables.md.

Check Service Status

railway service status --json

Returns current deployment status for the linked service.

Deployment History

railway deployment list --json --limit 5

Present Status

Show:

• Service: name and current status
• Latest Deployment: status (SUCCESS, FAILED, DEPLOYING, CRASHED, etc.)
• Deployed At: when the current deployment went live
• Recent Deployments: last 3-5 with status and timestamps

Deployment Statuses

Status	Meaning
SUCCESS	Deployed and running
FAILED	Build or deploy failed
DEPLOYING	Currently deploying
BUILDING	Build in progress
CRASHED	Runtime crash
REMOVED	Deployment removed

Update Service

Update service name or icon via GraphQL API.

Get Service ID

railway status --json

Extract service.id from the response.

Update Name

bash <<'SCRIPT'
scripts/railway-api.sh \
  'mutation updateService($id: String!, $input: ServiceUpdateInput!) {
    serviceUpdate(id: $id, input: $input) { id name }
  }' \
  '{"id": "SERVICE_ID", "input": {"name": "new-name"}}'
SCRIPT

Update Icon

Icons can be image URLs or animated GIFs.

Type	Example
Image URL	"icon": "https://example.com/logo.png"
Animated GIF	"icon": "https://example.com/animated.gif"
Devicons	"icon": "https://devicons.railway.app/github"

Railway Devicons: Query https://devicons.railway.app/{query} for common developer icons (e.g., github, postgres, redis, nodejs). Browse all at https://devicons.railway.app

bash <<'SCRIPT'
scripts/railway-api.sh \
  'mutation updateService($id: String!, $input: ServiceUpdateInput!) {
    serviceUpdate(id: $id, input: $input) { id icon }
  }' \
  '{"id": "SERVICE_ID", "input": {"icon": "https://devicons.railway.app/github"}}'
SCRIPT

ServiceUpdateInput Fields

Field	Type	Description
name	String	Service name
icon	String	Emoji or image URL (including animated GIFs)

Link Service

Switch the linked service for the current directory:

railway service link

Or specify directly:

railway service link <service-name>

Composability

• Create service with local code: Use new skill (handles scaffolding + creation)
• Configure service: Use environment skill (variables, commands, image, etc.)
• Delete service: Use environment skill with isDeleted: true
• Apply changes: Use environment skill
• View logs: Use deployment skill
• Deploy local code: Use deploy skill

Error Handling

No Service Linked

No service linked. Run `railway service link` to link a service.

No Deployments

Service exists but has no deployments yet. Deploy with `railway up`.

Service Not Found

Service "foo" not found. Check available services with `railway status`.

Project Not Found

User may not be in a linked project. Check railway status.

Permission Denied

User needs at least DEVELOPER role to create services.

Invalid Image

Docker image must be accessible (public or with registry credentials).