Deploy and Host OpenClaw on Railway

OpenClaw on Railway is a complete, security-focused deployment of the official OpenClaw container. It adds a protected browser setup wizard, persistent storage, health checks, and a secure handoff to the OpenClaw dashboard—without requiring users to configure a shell or copy Gateway tokens.

About Hosting OpenClaw

The template creates one OpenClaw service and a persistent volume mounted at /data. Railway provides the public HTTPS endpoint while the OpenClaw Gateway remains private on loopback. During first run, the user unlocks the setup dashboard with SETUP_PASSWORD, then either configures and validates an AI provider or defers provider setup until the OpenClaw dashboard. Telegram and Discord remain optional.

Configured provider and channel credentials stay in OpenClaw's private state on the persistent /data volume. After setup, channel DM access requests can be reviewed and approved from Settings → Channels → DM access requests in the official OpenClaw dashboard. The entire deployment, provider setup, channel setup, and pairing flow works in the browser—no terminal or Railway shell is required.

Configuration and workspace data persist across normal redeployments. The included /healthz and /readyz endpoints provide deployment and Gateway readiness signals.

Common Use Cases

Run a personal or team OpenClaw agent without managing a server manually
Launch a persistent AI workspace with browser-based onboarding
Connect OpenClaw to OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter, or xAI
Add Telegram or Discord during first-run setup
Approve channel DM access from the official dashboard without a terminal
Maintain a reproducible, version-pinned OpenClaw deployment

Dependencies for OpenClaw Hosting

A Railway account
An API key for a supported AI provider, only when configuring it during first run
One strong setup password entered before deployment
Normal Railway compute and persistent-volume usage

Security and Persistence

Only the setup wrapper is exposed through Railway HTTPS. The Gateway listens at 127.0.0.1:18789, and application processes run without root privileges after the volume is initialized. The /data volume provides persistence, but users should still create independent backups before major upgrades.

Why Deploy OpenClaw on Railway?

Railway handles container builds, HTTPS networking, health checks, environment variables, and persistent storage in one deployment flow. This template turns those capabilities into a guided OpenClaw installation that is easier to operate, update, and recover.

This is an independent Railway integration built around the official OpenClaw project. OpenClaw retains its own license and trademarks.