Deploy and Host Kilnx on Railway

Kilnx is a declarative backend language that compiles to a single binary. You write models, routes, SQL queries, and auth in a .kilnx file. The compiler generates a standalone executable with an embedded HTTP server, SQLite database, and htmx. 27 keywords cover everything from CRUD to WebSockets.

About Hosting Kilnx

Deploying Kilnx on Railway requires no runtime, no package manager, and no external database.

The template uses a pre-built Docker image (ghcr.io/kilnx-org/kilnx) to compile your .kilnx file into a standalone binary during the build phase. The resulting container runs a single executable that serves your app, manages its own SQLite database, and handles authentication, CSRF, and session management out of the box. Push changes to your GitHub repo and Railway rebuilds automatically in under 30 seconds.

Common Use Cases

• Internal tools, admin panels, and dashboards with auth and role-based access
• CRUD web apps with server-rendered HTML, inline htmx interactions, and SQLite persistence
• REST/JSON APIs with rate limiting, pagination, and webhook receivers

Dependencies for Kilnx Hosting

• Pre-built Kilnx CLI Docker image (pulled automatically during build)
• Railway Volume mounted at /data for persistent SQLite storage across deploys

Deployment Dependencies

• Kilnx language repo
• Grammar reference
• Feature list
• Example apps

Implementation Details

The Dockerfile compiles your app at build time using the published Kilnx image:

FROM ghcr.io/kilnx-org/kilnx:1.0.1 AS builder
COPY app.kilnx /kilnx/app.kilnx
RUN kilnx build app.kilnx -o /app/server

FROM alpine:3.21
COPY --from=builder /app/server /usr/local/bin/server
CMD ["server"]

The app reads PORT from Railway automatically. SQLite data is stored in /data/. A health check endpoint is available at /healthz.

Why Deploy Kilnx 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 Kilnx 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.