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status skill

/plugins/railway/skills/status

This skill checks Railway project status and presents environments, services, and deployments to help you monitor uptime and progress.

npx playbooks add skill railwayapp/railway-skills --skill status

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (5)
SKILL.md
2.3 KB
---
name: status
description: This skill should be used when the user asks "railway status", "is it running", "what's deployed", "deployment status", or about uptime. NOT for variables ("what variables", "env vars", "add variable") or configuration queries - use environment skill for those.
allowed-tools: Bash(railway:*), Bash(which:*), Bash(command:*)
---

# Railway Status

Check the current Railway project status for this directory.

## When to Use

- User asks about Railway status, project, services, or deployments
- User mentions deploying or pushing to Railway
- Before any Railway operation (deploy, update service, add variables)
- User asks about environments or domains

## When NOT to Use

Use the `environment` skill instead when user wants:
- Detailed service configuration (builder type, dockerfile path, build command, root directory)
- Deploy config (start command, restart policy, healthchecks, predeploy command)
- Service source (repo, branch, image)
- Compare service configs
- Query or change environment variables

## Check Status

Run:
```bash
railway status --json
```

First verify CLI is installed:
```bash
command -v railway
```

## Handling Errors

### CLI Not Installed
If `command -v railway` fails:

> Railway CLI is not installed. Install with:
> ```
> npm install -g @railway/cli
> ```
> or
> ```
> brew install railway
> ```
> Then authenticate: `railway login`

### Not Authenticated
If `railway whoami` fails:

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

### No Project Linked
If status returns "No linked project":

> No Railway project linked to this directory.
>
> To link an existing project: `railway link`
> To create a new project: `railway init`

## Presenting Status

Parse the JSON and present:
- **Project**: name and workspace
- **Environment**: current environment (production, staging, etc.)
- **Services**: list with deployment status
- **Active Deployments**: any in-progress deployments (from `activeDeployments` field)
- **Domains**: any configured domains

Example output format:
```
Project: my-app (workspace: my-team)
Environment: production

Services:
- web: deployed (https://my-app.up.railway.app)
- api: deploying (build in progress)
- postgres: running
```

The `activeDeployments` array on each service shows currently running deployments
with their status (building, deploying, etc.).

Overview

This skill checks the current Railway project and deployment status for the directory you are in. It is designed to run the Railway CLI status command, interpret the JSON output, and present a concise, human-friendly summary of project, environment, services, active deployments, and domains. Use this skill when the user asks about deployment state, uptime, or what is currently deployed.

How this skill works

The skill verifies the Railway CLI is available and the user is authenticated, then runs `railway status --json` to retrieve structured project data. It parses the JSON to extract project name and workspace, current environment, service list with deployment statuses, any activeDeployments per service, and configured domains. If the CLI is missing, the user is unauthenticated, or no project is linked, the skill returns clear, actionable instructions to resolve the issue.

When to use it

  • User asks 'railway status', 'is it running', or 'what's deployed' for the current project
  • Before performing a deploy, update, or rollback to confirm current state
  • When the user wants a quick summary of services and any in-progress deployments
  • When checking which environment (production/staging) is currently active
  • When verifying domain configuration or service URLs

Best practices

  • Run this from the project directory that should be linked to a Railway project
  • Ensure Railway CLI is installed and you are logged in (`railway login`) before running status
  • If status reports 'No linked project', link with `railway link` or create one with `railway init`
  • Use the JSON output to programmatically inspect activeDeployments for build/deploy progress
  • Present concise summaries: project, environment, service list with status, active deployments, and domains

Example use cases

  • User asks 'Is my site up?' — report service statuses and public URLs
  • User asks 'What's deployed to production?' — show services in production and their deployment states
  • User asks 'Are there any deployments running?' — list activeDeployments and their progress
  • Pre-deploy checklist — verify no in-progress deployments and confirm environment
  • Troubleshooting — detect missing CLI, not logged in, or no linked project and provide fixes

FAQ

What if the Railway CLI is not installed?

Install with `npm install -g @railway/cli` or `brew install railway`, then run `railway login`.

What if status says 'No linked project'?

Link an existing project with `railway link` or create one with `railway init` in the current directory.