Deploy and Host NextChat on Railway

NextChat pinned to a release, with an access code generated for you and no API key demanded before deployment.

About Hosting NextChat

The NextChat template on Railway builds the app from its GitHub repository rather than using the published image, and declares CODE and OPENAI_API_KEY with empty values. Railway turns every empty value into a required field, so the Deploy button stays dark until you paste an OpenAI key - for a chat UI you have not seen run yet. A quarter of its deployments do not come up.

This one runs the official image at a pinned version, generates the access code, and asks for nothing. You add a provider key afterwards, or let people bring their own.

Common Use Cases

• A private chat front end for yourself or a small team, behind one access code
• A shared UI where each person supplies their own API key
• A self-hosted alternative to a vendor chat page, on your own domain

Dependencies for NextChat Hosting

• An API key for a provider - OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others are supported. Set OPENAI_API_KEY (or the equivalent) in the service variables when you want the server to hold the key, or leave it unset and let each person enter their own in the app.
• Nothing else. Conversations live in the browser, so there is no database and no volume.

Deployment Dependencies

• Source and docs: https://github.com/ChatGPTNextWeb/NextChat

Implementation Details

Find the generated CODE in the service variables after deploying, and share it with whoever should have access. Change it there to cut someone off.

Worth knowing before choosing this: conversations are stored in the browser, not on the server. That keeps the deployment stateless and cheap, but history does not follow you between devices and clearing site data clears it.

Why Deploy NextChat on Railway?

One service, one domain, TLS included, and a pinned version - so a redeploy gives you back the build you were running rather than whatever landed upstream since.