cloudthinker-ai Managing Railway
Manage Railway platform using the railway CLI and Railway GraphQL API.
MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern
Always discover available resources before performing analysis.
Phase 1: Discovery
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Current Project ==="
railway status 2>/dev/null
echo ""
echo "=== Projects ==="
railway list 2>/dev/null | head -20
echo ""
echo "=== Services in Current Project ==="
railway service list 2>/dev/null | head -20
echo ""
echo "=== Environments ==="
railway environment list 2>/dev/null | head -10
echo ""
echo "=== Variables ==="
railway variables list 2>/dev/null | head -20
echo ""
echo "=== Volumes ==="
railway volume list 2>/dev/null | head -10
Phase 2: Analysis
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Deployment History ==="
railway logs --deployment 2>/dev/null | head -30
echo ""
echo "=== Service Health (Recent Logs) ==="
railway logs --lines 30 2>/dev/null | tail -20
echo ""
echo "=== Project Details via API ==="
curl -s "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query": "{ me { projects { edges { node { id name description services { edges { node { id name } } } environments { edges { node { id name } } } } } } } }"}' 2>/dev/null | jq '.data.me.projects.edges[] | .node | {id, name, description, services: [.services.edges[].node.name], environments: [.environments.edges[].node.name]}' | head -30
echo ""
echo "=== Deployment Status via API ==="
curl -s "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query": "{ me { projects { edges { node { name deployments(first: 5) { edges { node { id status createdAt } } } } } } } }"}' 2>/dev/null | jq '.data.me.projects.edges[].node | {project: .name, deployments: [.deployments.edges[].node | {id: .id[:12], status, createdAt}]}' | head -20
Output Format
PROJECT SERVICE ENVIRONMENT STATUS
my-app web production deployed
my-app api production deployed
my-app postgres production running
Safety Rules
- Use read-only commands:
status,list,logs - Never run
delete,down,removewithout explicit user confirmation - Use
| head -Nto limit log output - Limit output to stay under 50 lines
Anti-Hallucination Rules
- NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
- NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or
--helpoutput. - NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
- ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
- ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.
Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "I'll skip discovery and check known resources" | Always run Phase 1 discovery first | Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors |
| "The user only asked for a quick check" | Follow the full discovery → analysis flow | Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures |
| "Default configuration is probably fine" | Audit configuration explicitly | Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled |
| "Metrics aren't needed for this" | Always check relevant metrics when available | API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues |
| "I don't have access to that" | Try the command and report the actual error | Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative |