---
title: "Deploy Argilla | (Just Updated) Data Labeling & Annotation Platform for LLMs"
description: "Argilla LLM data labeling & annotation platform, Postgres + Elasticsearch"
category: "AI/ML"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/argilla-or-just-updated-data-labeling-an
---

# Deploy Argilla | (Just Updated) Data Labeling & Annotation Platform for LLMs

Argilla LLM data labeling & annotation platform, Postgres + Elasticsearch

**[Deploy Argilla | (Just Updated) Data Labeling & Annotation Platform for LLMs on Railway](https://railway.com/template/argilla-or-just-updated-data-labeling-an)**

Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/argilla-or-just-updated-data-labeling-an/manifest.json

- **Creator:** SuperSlowSloth
- **Category:** AI/ML

## Template content

### redis

- **Image:** redis:7.4-alpine

### worker

- **Image:** ghcr.io/bon5co/argilla-railway@sha256:b01e48c5277dbeb405e4340e8d6b1b3dc273f0a1777abae791e74d2ab32c2014
- **Start command:** `/bin/bash /home/argilla/railway-entrypoint.sh python -m argilla_server worker --num-workers 2`

### postgres

- **Image:** postgres:17.10-alpine

### elasticsearch

- **Image:** ghcr.io/bon5co/argilla-elasticsearch-railway@sha256:8b2bb6c6aefdbac0f240b53e5e50f8168ace9adbe55b0aabd8340bc2d9e8fa44

### argilla

- **Image:** ghcr.io/bon5co/argilla-railway@sha256:b01e48c5277dbeb405e4340e8d6b1b3dc273f0a1777abae791e74d2ab32c2014
- **Health check:** /
- **Public domain:** Yes

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host Argilla on Railway

Argilla is an open-source data labeling and annotation platform for LLM feedback. Teams use it to
collect human preference data, rank and rate model outputs, label text for classification and
extraction, and build instruction-tuning and RLHF datasets, with a Python SDK and a REST API for
loading records and reading annotations back.

This deployment differs from the one-container quickstart image in four ways that matter once real
annotators depend on it.

**Your datasets survive a redeploy.** The quickstart image keeps its database and search index
inside one container filesystem. Here Postgres and Elasticsearch each have a volume, so annotations,
datasets and users are still there after a redeploy or a restart.

**The owner account exists before the first request.** The owner user, its password and its API key
are created at boot from `PASSWORD` and `API_KEY`, both generated for you. Nobody has to open the UI
and register first, and anonymous registration is refused.

**The image is pinned, not `latest`.** Argilla 2.8.0 is pinned by digest, because the Argilla
server migrates its schema forward on boot and an unrequested upgrade on redeploy is not a feature.

**Elasticsearch is password protected on the private network.** The search index is a private
service with a generated `ELASTIC_PASSWORD`; only the Argilla server and worker are given the URL.

## About Hosting Argilla

Argilla 2.x is a FastAPI server backed by PostgreSQL for metadata, Elasticsearch 8 for dataset search
and filtering, and Redis plus a background worker for queued jobs. This template deploys all five
pieces as five Railway services: `argilla` (the public web UI and API), `worker`, `postgres`, `redis`
and `elasticsearch`.

The server waits for Postgres, Redis and Elasticsearch to answer before it starts, so first boot
needs no ordering from you, and it honours Railway's injected `$PORT`. The healthcheck is
`GET /`, which is served without credentials.

### Agent contract

- Public URL: `https://RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN` (the generated domain of the `argilla` service)
- Private URL: `http://argilla.railway.internal:8080`
- Credentials: the variables `API_KEY` and `PASSWORD` on the `argilla` service; the owner user name is `argilla` (add a `USERNAME` variable to change it before the first boot)
- Auth: send the API key as the header `X-Argilla-Api-Key: $API_KEY`. A write without the header answers `401`, and a write with a wrong key answers `401`. The web UI logs in with the user name `argilla` and `PASSWORD`.
- Health: `GET /` returns 200

```bash
#!/bin/sh
# needs: RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN, API_KEY (variables of the argilla service); also curl.
B="https://$RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN"
J="Content-Type: application/json"
N="agent-check-$(date +%s)"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "health: %{http_code}\n" "$B/"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "read with key: %{http_code}\n" -H "X-Argilla-Api-Key: $API_KEY" "$B/api/v1/me"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "read without key: %{http_code}\n" "$B/api/v1/me"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "write with key: %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "$J" -H "X-Argilla-Api-Key: $API_KEY" -d "{\"name\":\"$N\"}" "$B/api/v1/workspaces"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "write without key: %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "$J" -d "{\"name\":\"$N-b\"}" "$B/api/v1/workspaces"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "write with wrong key: %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "$J" -H "X-Argilla-Api-Key: ${API_KEY}x" -d "{\"name\":\"$N-c\"}" "$B/api/v1/workspaces"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "anonymous user create: %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "$J" -d '{"username":"intruder","password":"intruder-password-1"}' "$B/api/v1/users"
```

A fresh deploy prints `health: 200`, `read with key: 200`, `read without key: 401`, `write with key: 201`, `write without key: 401`, `write with wrong key: 401` and `anonymous user create: 401`.

Python SDK: `rg.Argilla(api_url="https://RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN", api_key=API_KEY)`.

## Common Use Cases

- **LLM preference and feedback data** — rank, rate and compare model answers to build RLHF and
  DPO datasets
- **Text classification and extraction labeling** — multi-label, span and free-text annotation with
  review workflows for a team
- **Evaluating RAG and agent outputs** — send responses from your pipeline to the API and have
  reviewers score them in the UI

## Dependencies for Argilla Hosting

- PostgreSQL — users, workspaces, datasets and annotations
- Elasticsearch 8 — search and filtering over dataset records
- Redis — queue for the background worker

### Deployment Dependencies

- [Argilla source, Apache-2.0](https://github.com/argilla-io/argilla)
- [Argilla documentation](https://docs.argilla.io)
- [Railway images built for this template](https://github.com/bon5co/argilla-railway)

## After Deploying

1. Wait for the first deploy to finish; the server migrates the database and creates the owner
   account before it listens.
2. Open the public URL and log in as `argilla` with the generated `PASSWORD` from the `argilla`
   service's variables.
3. Create a workspace and add annotators under **Users**, or connect with the Python SDK using the
   `API_KEY` variable.

## Why Deploy Argilla on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your
infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and
horizontally scale it.

By deploying Argilla on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack
application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.


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