How do I deploy Node-RED on Railway?

You can deploy Node-RED on Railway by clicking the "Deploy Now" button on this page. Railway will automatically set up all the necessary services and configurations for you.

What are the system requirements?

Railway handles all the infrastructure requirements. You only need a web browser to deploy and manage your application.

Is this template free to use?

Yes, this template is free to use within your existing Railway account.

Can I customize this template?

Yes, you can fully customize this template. After deployment, you will have full control of what you've deployed in your Railway project.

How do I get support for this template?

You can get support through our community forum: node-red-bd11790b, or click "Get template help" for this template for more assistance.

Deploy and Host

Use this page for the Railway service or template description (copy into the dashboard or link to this file). Full package docs: README.md.

About Hosting

Node-RED (and nodes like playa from node-red-contrib-play) run in the Railway container as the runtime process. The editor is loaded in the browser from your public URL; audio playback runs only on the host where Node-RED executes—here, the Railway service—via a CLI player, not in the visitor’s browser. In a typical cloud deployment there is often no physical speaker; use this deployment to try flows, the palette, and APIs. For audible output, run Node-RED on hardware with audio (e.g. Raspberry Pi, desktop, or a VM with audio forwarding).

Why Deploy

In Node-RED, Deploy pushes the current flow to the runtime. Until you deploy, playa does not run your latest wiring. The editor stop button on the node calls the admin HTTP API on the deployed instance, so deploy first if you want stop/playback behaviour to match what you see in the editor.

Common Use Cases

Automation: trigger sounds when events fire (when the host can play audio).
Prototyping: wire playa with inject/debug on Railway to validate flows before moving to a device with speakers.
Integration: combine with HTTP, MQTT, and other nodes in the same flow.

Dependencies for

What the Railway image/runtime should provide when hosting Node-RED with node-red-contrib-play.

Deployment Dependencies

Node.js >= 18 and Node-RED >= 2.0.0 (see README.md → Requirements).
Audio CLI on the container PATH if you rely on local file playback (e.g. SoX play, mpg123—install in your Dockerfile or Railway build). play-sound picks an available binary when Player is automatic.
Environment: set a strong NODE_RED_CREDENTIAL_SECRET (or your stack’s auth) and replace demo credentials for anything beyond a throwaway demo.
Files: sound paths refer to paths inside the container; uploads go under the Node-RED user directory as described in the main README.

Demo

Key	Value
Username	admin
Password	admin

Editor / backend URL: https://demo-nodered.up.railway.app/

Treat these as demo credentials only.

Note: playa plays on the Node-RED host (Railway container). There is no sound in the browser; in the cloud you may hear nothing—use the demo to explore the editor and flows.

What is Node-RED

Node-RED is an open-source, flow-based programming tool with a visual editor for wiring together hardware, APIs, and online services. You connect nodes to define how data and events move through a flow. A large library of community nodes (including palette packages like node-red-contrib-play) makes it practical to build IoT integrations, automations, and glue between systems without writing a full application from scratch.