Deploy and Host Openclaw Sandbox Browser on Railway

OpenClaw Sandbox Browser is a headless Chromium browser instance designed for Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) control. Built on Debian with a Caddy reverse proxy, Xvfb, and noVNC support, it provides an isolated, sandboxed environment for AI agents like OpenClaw to perform automated web browsing, web scraping, and visual debugging.

About Hosting Openclaw Sandbox Browser

Deploying OpenClaw Sandbox Browser on Railway provides a cloud-hosted Chromium instance without requiring you to manage local browser binaries or virtual display servers. Railway provisions and runs the containerized environment directly from the Docker image, handling automated HTTP and TCP proxy routing for CDP communication and optional VNC desktop viewing.

The application operates statelessly in memory, so persistent volumes or external databases are not required. Railway manages HTTPS termination automatically, giving you secure endpoint access to control your browser sandbox remotely. As browser automation demands scale, you can easily adjust compute resources directly within the Railway console.

Common Use Cases

AI agent browser automation integration with OpenClaw
Automated web scraping and programmatic data extraction
Visual debugging, automated UI testing, and screenshot generation

Dependencies for Openclaw Sandbox Browser Hosting

No external runtime databases or persistent storage volumes required

Deployment Dependencies

Implementation Details

Docker

Runs from the official pre-built Docker image: ghcr.io/canyugs/openclaw-sandbox-browser:main

Public Networking

Proxy Type	Target Port	Protocol	Description
HTTP Proxy	9222	HTTP / WebSocket	Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP)
HTTP Proxy	6080	HTTP	noVNC Web Interface
TCP Proxy	5900	TCP	VNC Server

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`OPENCLAW_BROWSER_CDP_PORT`	No	`9222`	CDP port to expose
`OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS`	No	`1`	Run in headless mode (`1` = yes, `0` = no)
`OPENCLAW_BROWSER_VNC_PORT`	No	`5900`	VNC server port
`OPENCLAW_BROWSER_NOVNC_PORT`	No	`6080`	noVNC web interface port
`OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ENABLE_NOVNC`	No	`1`	Enable noVNC interface (`1` = yes, `0` = no)

OPENCLAW_BROWSER_CDP_PORT=9222
OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS=1
OPENCLAW_BROWSER_VNC_PORT=5900
OPENCLAW_BROWSER_NOVNC_PORT=6080
OPENCLAW_BROWSER_ENABLE_NOVNC=1

Persistent Storage

Persistent storage is not documented and is not required. The browser operates statelessly entirely in memory.

Database

No external database services (such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Redis) are required.

Build & Start

No custom build or start commands are required. Railway automatically pulls and runs the Docker image.

Accessing the Application & CDP Endpoints

Navigate to Railway Service Settings → Networking → Generate Domain to expose the required proxy endpoints.

Available CDP endpoints on port 9222:

GET /json/version — Browser version info
GET /json/list — List open tabs
GET /json/new?url= — Open a new tab
WebSocket — DevTools protocol control connections

Test the CDP connection via curl:

curl https:///json/version

Visual Debugging Access

When OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS is set to 0:

noVNC (Web): Access the generated HTTP Proxy domain targeting port 6080 directly in your browser.
VNC Client: Direct any standard VNC client to the generated TCP Proxy address targeting port 5900.

OpenClaw Configuration Guide

Option 1: JSON Configuration (openclaw.json)

{
  "browser": {
    "enabled": true,
    "attachOnly": true,
    "defaultProfile": "remote",
    "profiles": {
      "remote": {
        "cdpUrl": "https://",
        "color": "#FF4500"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: OpenClaw Web UI

Open the OpenClaw Web UI.
Go to Settings → Browser.
Enable Browser Tool and enable Attach Only mode.
Set Default Profile to remote.
Under Profiles, click + Add Entry.
Set Profile Name to remote and CDP URL to https://.
Save settings to apply changes automatically.

Ignorable Log Messages

The following log error messages are expected and can be safely ignored:

Failed to connect to the bus — No D-Bus inside the container.
Failed to adjust OOM score — Container permission limitation.
DEPRECATED_ENDPOINT — Google Cloud Messaging notice not needed for headless mode.

Why Deploy Openclaw Sandbox Browser 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 Openclaw Sandbox Browser 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.