---
title: "Deploy Bifrost"
description: "Bifrost AI gateway locked down: dashboard login, keys required, providers"
category: "AI/ML"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/bifrost-3
---

# Deploy Bifrost

Bifrost AI gateway locked down: dashboard login, keys required, providers

**[Deploy Bifrost on Railway](https://railway.com/template/bifrost-3)**

Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/bifrost-3/manifest.json

- **Creator:** Dektion
- **Category:** AI/ML
- **Total deploys:** 1

## Template content

### Bifrost https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dektionstudio/railway-template-images/fb9309d954aba97c26d1d5eb511426e6a7372889/bifrost/icon.png

- **Source:** dektionstudio/railway-template-images
- **Health check:** /health
- **Public domain:** Yes

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host Bifrost on Railway

[Bifrost](https://github.com/maximhq/bifrost) is an AI gateway: one OpenAI-compatible endpoint in front of OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter and 20+ other providers, with virtual keys, budgets, rate limits, fallbacks, request logs and a dashboard. This template runs version 2.2.4.

## About Hosting Bifrost

A gateway holds your provider keys, so a public one has to be locked before anyone finds the URL. A fresh Bifrost is open: until an admin account exists its config API accepts changes without a login, and unless "enforce auth on inference" is on, anyone can send requests through your keys.

Here a start step writes Bifrost's `config.json` before every start:

- the dashboard login is on, with `BIFROST_ADMIN_PASSWORD` generated at deploy
- every model call needs a key; `BIFROST_VIRTUAL_KEY` is generated and works with every provider you add
- browser requests from other sites (CORS) are limited to your Railway domain
- each provider key you set as a variable (`OPENAI_API_KEY`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `GEMINI_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`) becomes a provider

The file only holds references to the variables, not the keys themselves. Bifrost merges it into its own database at start and keeps changes you make in the dashboard unless the matching part of the file changes. If the password or key is missing the service refuses to start, so it never runs open.

Before publishing I tested it on Railway with an OpenRouter key. `/health` answered, the config API refused anonymous reads and writes (401), a wrong password got 401, and the admin signed in and saw keys required on inference and OpenRouter as a provider. A chat completion without a key and with a wrong key got 401; with `BIFROST_VIRTUAL_KEY` it answered in under a second. After a restart the login, the key and the completion worked the same.

It used 0.27 GB of RAM, about $3 a month on Railway's usage pricing, plus what your providers charge.

## Common Use Cases

- One endpoint and one key for all your apps, with provider keys kept in one place
- Switching models or providers without changing app code, with fallbacks when a provider fails
- Budgets and rate limits per app or team through virtual keys

## Dependencies for Bifrost Hosting

At least one provider key: set it as a variable when you deploy, or add providers later in the dashboard. `GROQ_API_KEY`, `MISTRAL_API_KEY`, `DEEPSEEK_API_KEY` and `XAI_API_KEY` also work as variables.

### Deployment Dependencies

- Bifrost: https://github.com/maximhq/bifrost
- Docs: https://docs.getbifrost.ai
- The start step this template builds: https://github.com/dektionstudio/railway-template-images/tree/main/bifrost

### Implementation Details

```
curl "$BIFROST_OPENAI_BASE_URL/chat/completions" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BIFROST_VIRTUAL_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "openrouter/openai/gpt-4o-mini", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}'
```

Models are named `provider/model`, for example `openai/gpt-4o-mini` or `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5`. In OpenAI SDKs and tools, set the base URL to `BIFROST_OPENAI_BASE_URL` and the API key to `BIFROST_VIRTUAL_KEY`. Create more virtual keys, with their own budgets, in the dashboard.

## Why Deploy Bifrost on Railway?

Your apps on Railway reach the gateway over one URL, the dashboard is on HTTPS behind a login from the first minute, and the config and logs stay on a volume across redeploys.


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