# Deploy a Bun application on Railway

> Deploy a Bun application to Railway from the CLI or dashboard, with optional PostgreSQL setup and automatic SSL

Railway is an infrastructure platform: you provision infrastructure, develop against it locally, then deploy to the cloud. Railway deploys from GitHub with zero configuration, handles SSL automatically, and provisions databases.

This guide deploys a Bun application with an optional PostgreSQL database, the same setup the following template provides.

You can either follow this guide step-by-step or deploy the pre-configured template with one click:

<a
  href="https://railway.com/deploy/bun-react-postgres?referralCode=Bun&utm_medium=integration&utm_source=template&utm_campaign=bun"
  target="_blank"
>
  <img src="https://railway.com/button.svg" alt="Deploy on Railway" />
</a>

---

**Prerequisites**:

- A Bun application ready for deployment
- A [Railway account](https://railway.com/)
- Railway CLI (for CLI deployment method)
- A GitHub account (for Dashboard deployment method)

---

## Method 1: Deploy via CLI

<Steps>
<Step title="Step 1">
Install the Railway CLI.

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
bun install -g @railway/cli
```

</Step>
<Step title="Step 2">
Log into your Railway account.

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
railway login
```

</Step>
<Step title="Step 3">
After authenticating, initialize a new project.

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
railway init
```

</Step>
<Step title="Step 4">
After initializing the project, add a new database and service.

<Note>Step 4 is only necessary if your application uses a database. If you don't need PostgreSQL, skip to Step 5.</Note>

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
# Add PostgreSQL database. Make sure to add this first!
railway add --database postgres

# Add your application service.
railway add --service bun-react-db --variables DATABASE_URL=\${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}}
```

</Step>
<Step title="Step 5">
After creating and connecting the services, deploy the application to Railway. By default, services are only accessible within Railway's private network, so generate a public domain to make your app publicly accessible.

```bash terminal icon="terminal"
# Deploy your application
railway up

# Generate public domain
railway domain
```

</Step>
</Steps>

Your app is now live. `railway up` deploys your local directory rather than a GitHub repository. To have Railway auto-deploy on every GitHub push, connect the service to your repository with `railway service source connect --repo <owner>/<repo> --branch <branch>`.

---

## Method 2: Deploy via Dashboard

<Steps>
<Step title="Step 1">
Create a new project

1. Go to [Railway Dashboard](https://railway.com/dashboard?utm_medium=integration&utm_source=docs&utm_campaign=bun)
2. Click **"+ New"** → **"GitHub repo"**
3. Choose your repository

</Step>
<Step title="Step 2">
Add a PostgreSQL database, and connect this database to the service

<Note>Step 2 is only necessary if your application uses a database. If you don't need PostgreSQL, skip to Step 3.</Note>

1. Click **"+ New"** → **"Database"** → **"Add PostgreSQL"**
2. After Railway creates the database, select your service (not the database)
3. Go to **"Variables"** tab
4. Click **"+ New Variable"** → **"Add Reference"**
5. Select `DATABASE_URL` from postgres

</Step>
<Step title="Step 3">
Generate a public domain

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

</Step>
</Steps>

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

---

## Configuration (Optional)

By default, Railway uses [Railpack](https://docs.railway.com/builds/railpack) to automatically detect and build your Bun application with zero configuration.

Railpack detects Bun from your `bun.lock` and installs the latest version of Bun unless you pin one with the `engines.bun` or `packageManager` field in `package.json`. Railway's previous builder, [Nixpacks](https://github.com/railwayapp/nixpacks), is in maintenance mode.

If your service still builds with Nixpacks, switch it to Railpack by adding the following to your `railway.json`:

```json railway.json icon="file-json"
{
  "$schema": "https://railway.com/railway.schema.json",
  "build": {
    "builder": "RAILPACK"
  }
}
```

For more build configuration settings, see the [Railway documentation](https://docs.railway.com/builds/build-configuration).