---
title: "Grok Build + Railway"
description: "Deploy with Grok Build on Railway. xAI's terminal coding agent. Plan Mode, parallel subagents, and native MCP."
url: https://railway.com/agents/grok
---

# Grok Build + Railway

Grok Build is xAI's CLI-first coding agent. It plans before it edits — Plan Mode blocks changes until you approve — runs subagents in parallel, and speaks MCP out of the box. Paired with Railway, Grok Build can provision services, set variables, deploy, and read logs without leaving the terminal.

## Quick start

1. **Install Grok Build** — Install the Grok Build CLI and sign in with your SuperGrok or X Premium+ account

   ```
   curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash
   ```

2. **Install Railway CLI** — Install Railway CLI and authenticate

   ```
   npm install -g @railway/cli && railway login
   ```

3. **Open your project** — Start Grok Build in your repo. It opens in Plan Mode so you approve changes before they run

4. **Deploy a Go API with Redis** — Grok Build plans the steps, then on approval deploys with railway.com/template/gin + Redis

   ```
   Deploy this to Railway with a Redis cache for rate limiting
   ```

## Railway integrations

- MCP Server: https://docs.railway.com/ai/remote-mcp-server
- CLI: https://docs.railway.com/reference/cli-api

## Example prompts

- "Find latest information from railway on X and create a video based on them"
- "Add Redis for caching API responses"
- "Check the failing health check and fix it"
- "Set up environment variables from my .env.example file"
- "Configure the service to scale to zero when idle"
- "Add a cron service that sends daily email digests"
- "Deploy Plausible Analytics with Postgres and Clickhouse"
- "Set up a Langchain app with Postgres (pgvector) for RAG"
- "Deploy Grafana connected to my Railway metrics"
- "Create a complete auth system with Keycloak and Postgres"

## Common workflows

### Plan then deploy

- Ask Grok Build to deploy the app to Railway
- Review the plan Grok Build proposes in Plan Mode
- Approve the plan to let it run `railway up`
- Grok Build reports the deployment URL and status

### Provision a Postgres database

- Ask Grok Build to add Postgres to your project
- Grok Build runs `railway add` for the database
- It wires DATABASE_URL into your service variables
- Grok Build redeploys and confirms the connection

### Parallel service scaffolding

- Ask Grok Build to stand up an API and a worker
- It fans out subagents to scaffold each service
- Each subagent deploys its service to Railway
- Grok Build reports both deployments when done

### Headless CI deploy

- Run Grok Build in headless mode from CI
- It reads railway.toml and deploys non-interactively
- Grok Build streams `railway logs` for the deploy
- The job fails fast if the deploy is unhealthy

## Tips for success

- Keep Plan Mode on so you approve edits before they run
- Use subagents to scaffold multiple services in parallel
- Grok Build speaks MCP — point it at Railway's MCP server

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I deploy to Railway with Grok Build?

Ask Grok Build to deploy to Railway. In Plan Mode it shows the steps (`railway up`, variables, domain) before running. Approve the plan and it executes and reports the deployment URL.

### Can Grok Build use Railway's MCP server?

Yes. Grok Build supports MCP out of the box. Point it at Railway's MCP server so it can discover projects, read deployment status, and fetch logs natively.

### Do I need a subscription to use Grok Build?

Grok Build is available to SuperGrok and X Premium+ subscribers. Sign in during install to authenticate the CLI.

## Troubleshooting

**Issue:** Grok Build won't apply edits

**Solution:** Plan Mode blocks changes until you approve the plan. Review the proposed steps and approve them to let Grok Build proceed.

**Issue:** Railway CLI not found in the Grok Build session

**Solution:** Install the Railway CLI globally with `npm install -g @railway/cli` and restart your shell so `railway` is on PATH.

**Issue:** Railway commands fail with permission denied

**Solution:** Run `railway login` to re-authenticate, then retry the deploy.

## Community resources

- Railway Discord: https://discord.gg/railway
- Grok Build announcement: https://x.ai/news/grok-build-cli

## Related agents

- [Claude Code](https://railway.com/agents/claude) — Agentic coding in your terminal. Understands your codebase, runs commands, and edits files.
- [Codex](https://railway.com/agents/codex) — Lightweight terminal agent. Reads and writes files, executes commands, and browses the web.
- [OpenCode](https://railway.com/agents/opencode) — Open-source terminal agent. Works with 75+ LLMs, TUI interface, and provider-agnostic architecture.

Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/agents/grok