Deploy and Host LogCar on Railway

LogCar is a Railway-native database that uses Railway's logs as a storage medium, providing efficient event logging and retrieval with built-in file upload support and optional encryption for seamless data management.

About Hosting LogCar

Hosting LogCar on Railway involves deploying a Node.js/TypeScript server that acts as a REST API interface to Railway's logging system. The deployment process requires configuring environment variables for authentication, Railway API access, and optional encryption settings. LogCar automatically handles log chunking, data compression, and encryption while providing a familiar CRUD API interface. The service integrates directly with Railway's infrastructure, making it ideal for Railway-hosted applications that need persistent data storage.

Common Use Cases

• Event Logging System: Store application events, user actions, and system logs with automatic compression and encryption
• File Storage Service: Upload and store files with metadata, leveraging Railway's log system as a file storage backend
• Configuration Management: Store and retrieve application configuration data with version control through Railway logs
• Audit Trail System: Maintain immutable audit logs for compliance and tracking purposes using Railway's persistent logging
• Microservice Data Store: Lightweight database alternative for microservices that need simple CRUD operations

Dependencies for LogCar Hosting

• Node.js (v16 or higher) - Runtime environment for the TypeScript/JavaScript server
• Railway API Key - Required for accessing Railway's GraphQL API and log management
• TypeScript - For compilation and type safety during development and build process

Deployment Dependencies

• Railway Platform - Primary hosting platform
• Railway API Documentation - For understanding API integration
• Node.js Official - For runtime requirements
• PNPM Package Manager - Package management (as specified in package.json)

Implementation Details

Environment Configuration

Create these environment variables in your Railway project:

# Required
RAILWAY_API_KEY=your_railway_api_key_here
PORT=3000

# Optional - Authentication
AUTH_TOKEN=your_secret_auth_token

# Optional - Encryption
DATABASE_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED=true
DATABASE_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_encryption_key

# Optional - Log Configuration
RAILWAY_LOG_MAX_CHUNK_LENGTH=60000
RAILWAY_LOG_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE=5000

Build Configuration

Railway will automatically detect the Node.js project and use these scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc",
    "start": "node dist/index.js",
    "dev": "ts-node src/index.ts"
  }
}

API Usage Example

// Create data
const response = await fetch('https://your-logcar-app.railway.app/create', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer your-auth-token',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ message: "Hello LogCar!" })
});

// Read data
const data = await fetch('https://your-logcar-app.railway.app/read?id=some-id', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-auth-token' }
});

Why Deploy LogCar 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 LogCar 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.