Deploy and Host Codex Computer on Railway

Give OpenAI Codex a persistent, private computer on Railway. This template deploys one Codex-ready Linux service with a persistent volume mounted at /data. Codex authentication, configuration, sessions, skills, and repositories survive redeploys. The template does not create a public domain or TCP proxy.

About Hosting Codex Computer

Codex Computer packages the OpenAI Codex CLI, Railway CLI, GitHub CLI, Git, tmux, ripgrep, Python, Node.js, and common development tools into a durable remote environment. User projects live in /data/workspace, Codex state lives in /data/home/.codex, and a loopback-only agentd process exposes health and runtime metadata for the future Agent Computer control plane.

The service remains private. The Agent Computer web app will connect through an authenticated private Railway transport. Railway SSH remains available as an optional direct-access and recovery path.

Common Use Cases

Keep Codex projects and sessions running away from a laptop.
Continue work from desktop and mobile clients against one persistent environment.
Isolate coding-agent tools, dependencies, and credentials from a local computer.
Maintain a durable Railway workspace for repositories, skills, and Codex configuration.
Use Railway SSH for direct terminal access while integrating the Agent Computer UI.

Dependencies for Codex Computer Hosting

A Railway account with capacity for one service and one persistent volume.
An OpenAI account or API credential supported by Codex.
Optional: the Railway CLI and a local public SSH key for direct SSH access.

Deployment Dependencies

This template builds from the public m-abdelwahab/codex-computer GitHub repository. Railway creates one service and attaches one volume at /data. No external database, public domain, or TCP proxy is required.

Why Deploy Codex Computer on Railway?

Railway supplies the persistent storage, compute, deployment lifecycle, metrics, and private access primitives needed by a remote coding computer. The template keeps those infrastructure details behind a single deployable unit while preserving Railway as an escape hatch.

The planned Agent Computer web app will guide Codex authentication and add Chat, Files, Terminal, Health, and Settings experiences over an authenticated private connection. Those product channels are not part of this initial runtime. For direct access or troubleshooting today, use Railway SSH:

railway ssh --project "$PROJECT_ID" --service codex-computer

Then authenticate and start Codex:

codex login --device-auth
cd /data/workspace
codex

Your private keys remain on your local computer. Railway receives only public SSH keys when you opt into direct SSH access.