--- title: "Deploy MetApi" description: "Meta-gateway for AI APIs with smart routing & auto check-ins" category: "Analytics" url: https://railway.com/deploy/metapi --- # Deploy MetApi Meta-gateway for AI APIs with smart routing & auto check-ins **[Deploy MetApi on Railway](https://railway.com/template/metapi)** - **Creator:** Muhammad Bilal - **Category:** Analytics ## Template content ### MetApi - **Image:** 1467078763/metapi:latest - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation # Deploy and Host MetApi on Railway MetApi is an open-source AI gateway and model aggregation platform that unifies multiple AI providers and API gateways behind a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. It provides intelligent model routing, centralized account management, automatic failover, balance monitoring, scheduled check-ins, and a web dashboard for managing AI infrastructure from one place. ## About Hosting MetApi Hosting MetApi on Railway provides a production-ready environment for running your own AI aggregation gateway without managing servers. Railway can deploy the official Docker image, automatically provision networking, and expose the application over HTTPS with a public domain. MetApi stores its configuration, routing rules, credentials, logs, and SQLite database locally, making a Railway Volume essential for persistent storage. While SQLite is the default database, MySQL and PostgreSQL are also supported for external deployments. Railway Variables simplify secret management for administrator authentication, proxy access, scheduled jobs, and notification services, allowing you to securely operate a centralized AI gateway with minimal infrastructure management. ## Common Use Cases * Centralize multiple AI providers behind a single OpenAI-compatible API * Intelligent routing and failover across AI gateway services * Monitor balances, models, and API usage from a unified dashboard ## Dependencies for MetApi Hosting | Dependency | Required | Purpose | | ------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Railway Volume | Yes | Stores the SQLite database, encrypted credentials, logs, and runtime data | | SQLite | Yes (default) | Default application database | | MySQL or PostgreSQL | Optional | External database backend | | Docker Image | Yes | Deploys the MetApi application | ### Deployment Dependencies | Resource | Link | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | GitHub Repository | [https://github.com/cita-777/metapi](https://github.com/cita-777/metapi) | | Docker Hub | [https://hub.docker.com/r/1467078763/metapi](https://hub.docker.com/r/1467078763/metapi) | ### Implementation Details #### Docker MetApi provides an official Docker image: ```docker 1467078763/metapi:latest ``` Railway deploys the official Docker image directly, so no custom build or start commands are required. #### Public Networking | Setting | Value | | ----------- | ---------- | | Proxy Type | HTTP Proxy | | Target Port | `4000` | Generate a Railway domain from **Settings → Networking → Generate Domain** after deployment. #### Environment Variables > **Important** > > **`AUTH_TOKEN` is required for your first login.** > > After deployment, sign in to the dashboard using the value configured for `AUTH_TOKEN`. Replace the default `change-me-admin-token` before deploying to production. | Variable | Required | Description | | --------------------------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `AUTH_TOKEN` | **Yes** | **Administrator login token used for the initial dashboard login.** | | `PROXY_TOKEN` | **Yes** | Bearer token used by downstream `/v1/*` proxy requests. | | `ACCOUNT_CREDENTIAL_SECRET` | **Yes (Production)** | Encryption key for stored credentials. Generate a unique 32+ byte random secret and do **not** reuse `AUTH_TOKEN`. | | `PORT` | Yes | Internal application listening port. Use `4000`. | | `DATA_DIR` | Yes | Directory used for persistent application data. | | `TZ` | No | Time zone for scheduled jobs and logs. | | `CHECKIN_CRON` | No | Schedule for automatic daily check-ins. | | `BALANCE_REFRESH_CRON` | No | Schedule for automatic balance refresh. | | `WEBHOOK_URL` | No | Webhook notification endpoint. | | `BARK_URL` | No | Bark notification URL. | | `SERVERCHAN_KEY` | No | ServerChan notification key. | | `TELEGRAM_ENABLED` | No | Enable Telegram notifications. | | `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` | No | Telegram bot token. | | `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID` | No | Telegram chat ID. | Raw Editor example: ```env AUTH_TOKEN=your-secure-admin-token PROXY_TOKEN=your-secure-proxy-token ACCOUNT_CREDENTIAL_SECRET=your-32-byte-random-secret PORT=4000 DATA_DIR=/app/data TZ=UTC CHECKIN_CRON=0 8 * * * BALANCE_REFRESH_CRON=0 * * * * ``` #### Persistent Storage A **Railway Volume is required**. Open your Railway service and navigate to: **Settings → Volumes → Add Volume** Mount the volume at: ```text /app/data ``` Configure: ```env DATA_DIR=/app/data ``` This directory stores the SQLite database, encrypted credentials, routing configuration, logs, and runtime data. Without a Railway Volume, this data will be lost when the container is recreated. #### Database MetApi uses SQLite by default and requires no additional database service. If preferred, you can deploy a Railway MySQL or PostgreSQL service and configure the appropriate database connection variables according to the project's documentation. #### Build & Start The official Docker image contains everything required to run MetApi. No custom build or start commands are required. #### Accessing the Application After deployment: 1. Open your Railway service. 2. Navigate to **Settings → Networking**. 3. Click **Generate Domain**. 4. Open the generated Railway URL. **First Login** Use the value of **`AUTH_TOKEN`** as the administrator login token. For example: ```env AUTH_TOKEN=my-secure-admin-token ``` Log in using: ```text my-secure-admin-token ``` If you later change the administrator token from the MetApi **Settings** page, use the updated token for all future logins. ## Why Deploy MetApi 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 MetApi 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. ## Similar templates - [Matomo Analytics + MariaDB](https://railway.com/deploy/matomo-analytics-mariadb) — Privacy-friendly analytics with MariaDB and persistent volumes. - [Bugsink](https://railway.com/deploy/bugsink) — Self-hosted Error Tracking. Sentry-SDK compatible - [SubTrackr](https://railway.com/deploy/bscottsubtrackr) — Self-hosted Subscription Tracker Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/metapi