Deploy and Host

Canonical code: node-red-2 — deploy URL: https://railway.com/new/template/node-red-2

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Node-RED is a low-code, flow-based programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs, and online services. Deploy it on Railway in minutes to start building automations visually.

About Hosting

Node-RED runs as a single container with a persistent Railway volume at /data for flows, settings, and credentials. Railway provides the compute, TLS at the edge, and a public URL. The service restarts automatically on failures. No external database is required for basic usage — everything runs in one container.

Why Deploy

Visual programming — Build automations by connecting nodes in a browser-based flow editor. No code required.
5,000+ community nodes — Extend with nodes for databases, IoT protocols, AI/ML, messaging, and hundreds of APIs.
Zero external dependencies — Single container with a persistent volume. No database needed for basic flows.
REST API & webhooks — Trigger flows from HTTP requests, schedule them with cron, or connect to MQTT/WebSocket.
Dashboard UI — Build live dashboards and UIs with the built-in dashboard nodes.
Enterprise-ready — Used by Hitachi, Siemens, and thousands of developers worldwide.

Common Use Cases

IoT automation — Connect sensors, actuators, and devices with MQTT, Modbus, OPC-UA, and GPIO.
API orchestration — Chain HTTP requests, transform data, and integrate multiple services in a single flow.
Smart home — Automate lights, thermostats, and devices with Home Assistant, Philips Hue, and Zigbee.
Data pipelines — Ingest, transform, and route data between databases, message queues, and cloud services.
Chatbots & alerts — Build Telegram/Slack bots, send email alerts, and trigger notifications from any event.

Dependencies for Node-RED

Deployment Dependencies

Node-RED requires no external dependencies on Railway. It runs as a standalone Node.js server with a persistent Railway volume at /data for flow storage. No database or cache is required for basic usage.

Features

Flow-based editor — Drag, drop, and wire nodes in the browser
5,000+ community nodes — MQTT, HTTP, database connectors, AI, dashboards, and more
One-click deploy — Pre-configured with Railway volume for persistent flows
Built-in healthcheck — Monitored by Railway for automatic restarts
Pinned version — Node-RED v5.0.0, reproducible builds

Quick Start

Click Deploy above, then open your Railway URL to access the flow editor. All flows are saved to the persistent volume at /data.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`PORT`	No	`1880`	Container port (Railway auto-sets)
`FLOWS`	No	`flows.json`	Flow file to load from `/data`
`CREDENTIAL_SECRET`	No	—	Encryption key for stored credentials
`NODE_RED_ENABLE_PROJECTS`	No	`false`	Enable Git-backed projects
`NODE_RED_ENABLE_SAFE_MODE`	No	`false`	Start without running flows

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/INAPP-Mobile/railway-node-red && cd railway-node-red
cp .env.example .env && $EDITOR .env
docker build -t railway-node-red .
docker run -d -p 1880:1880 -v node-red-data:/data --env-file .env railway-node-red

Open http://localhost:1880 in your browser.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Flows lost after redeploy	Confirm `/data` volume is mounted in Railway
Port conflict	Override `PORT` env var — Railway auto-routes
Credentials broken	`CREDENTIAL_SECRET` was changed; re-enter credentials

License

Node-RED is Apache-2.0 licensed. Template by INAPP-Mobile.