--- title: "Deploy sqlite3-railway-template" description: "SQLite on persistent storage with a web manager UI - one-click deploy" category: "Storage" url: https://railway.com/deploy/sqlite3-railway-template --- # Deploy sqlite3-railway-template SQLite on persistent storage with a web manager UI - one-click deploy **[Deploy sqlite3-railway-template on Railway](https://railway.com/template/sqlite3-railway-template)** Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/sqlite3-railway-template/manifest.json - **Creator:** Nameless 's Projects - **Category:** Storage ## Template content ### sqlite3 - **Source:** https://github.com/lNamelessl/sqlite3-railway-template - **Health check:** /health - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation **SQLite on persistent storage with a web manager — for apps that don't need Postgres.** This template deploys [SQLite](https://sqlite.org) on a Railway volume and gives you [sqlite-web](https://github.com/coleifer/sqlite-web), a browser UI for managing it: browse and edit tables, run queries, change schema, and import/export CSV/JSON. Log in with a password that Railway generates for you at deploy time (visible in your Variables tab). **Deploy and Host SQLite with a web manager** [![Deploy on Railway](https://railway.com/button.svg)](https://railway.com/deploy/sqlite3-railway-template) ## What you get - **`sqlite3` service** — pinned image (`python:3.12-slim-bookworm`, sqlite-web 0.8.1, gevent 26.8.0) serving the manager UI, healthchecked on `/health`. - **Volume at `/data`** — every `*.db`/`*.sqlite` file on the volume is opened as a dataset in the UI; your data survives restarts and redeploys. A default empty `sqlite.db` is created on first boot. - **`SQLITE_WEB_PASSWORD`** — auto-generated (`${{secret(24)}}`), found in the service's Variables tab. The service will not start without it. ## Manager vs. libSQL — pick the right shape This template is a **manager**: a UI over SQLite files on a volume. It's for humans administering data — no wire protocol, no driver, no second service. If your **application services need to connect to the database over the network**, SQLite cannot do that (it's a file format, not a protocol), and Railway volumes cannot be mounted by more than one service. Deploy the **libSQL Server** template instead — a networked SQLite fork that speaks a client/server protocol and is built for exactly that case. Rule of thumb: administering data in a browser → this template; an app backend connecting over the network → libSQL. ## Working with databases - **Create** databases by setting `SQLITE_DATABASES` (comma-separated names) and redeploying, or by uploading a `.sqlite` file on the UI's *Load database* page. - **Back up** by exporting tables as CSV/JSON in the UI, downloading the `.db` file from the dataset page, and enabling Railway's volume backups for the whole `/data` directory. ## Cost estimate A single 0.5 GB RAM instance plus a small volume runs around **$5/month** including storage. SQLite files are small; scale the volume as your data grows. ## Troubleshooting - **`database is locked` under concurrent writes** — SQLite allows one writer at a time; this is inherent to SQLite. Fine for single-instance apps and admin work; for heavy multi-writer load, move to libSQL or Postgres. - **Can't connect from another service** — expected: volumes attach to one service and SQLite has no network protocol. Use the libSQL Server template for networked access. - **Login password** — it's the `SQLITE_WEB_PASSWORD` variable on the service, not your Railway account password. Regenerate it by changing the variable and redeploying. - **Deploy fails healthcheck** — the healthcheck is `GET /health` and needs no login; if it fails, check the deploy logs: the service refuses to start if `SQLITE_WEB_PASSWORD` is unset or empty. - **Where did my data go?** — it lives on the volume at `/data`. Deleting the volume deletes your databases; take Railway volume backups or download the `.db` files first. --- # Deploy and Host ## About Hosting Deploying and hosting SQLite on Railway gives you a lightweight, zero-administration database whose files live on a persistent Railway volume, administered through the bundled sqlite-web manager UI. The template provisions one service built from this repository's pinned Dockerfile (`python:3.12-slim-bookworm`, sqlite-web 0.8.1, gevent 26.8.0) and one volume mounted at `/data`. The manager UI is password-protected with a secret Railway generates at deploy time (`SQLITE_WEB_PASSWORD`), the service healthchecks on an unauthenticated `/health` endpoint, and it restarts on failure (10 retries). Set `SQLITE_DATABASES` to a comma-separated list of names to have additional empty database files created at boot; all existing `*.db`/`*.sqlite`/`*.sqlite3` files on the volume are browsable in the UI's dataset selector. ## Why Deploy SQLite is the most deployed database in the world — a single file, zero configuration, no server process to run or pay for. On Railway, this template turns that file into a managed resource: persistent across restarts, healthchecked, restart-on-failure, with a web manager so you never need a shell session to look at your data. Compared with running Postgres for a small project, you trade network access and concurrent writers for simplicity and near-zero overhead — and the template says so plainly rather than hiding the trade-off. Compared with the hand-rolled images most SQLite templates use, every dependency here is version-pinned and the base image is maintained, so deploys keep working. ## Common Use Cases - **Small app data** for a single-instance API or bot: feature flags, tokens, queues, caches, user records that don't justify Postgres. - **Administering datasets in the browser**: browse/edit rows, tweak schema, run ad-hoc SQL, and export CSV/JSON without installing anything. - **Prototyping and demos**: spin up a data-backed project in one click, then graduate to Postgres or libSQL when you outgrow single-writer SQLite. - **A scratch database for scripts and cron jobs** running elsewhere on Railway (scripts run inside this service, since the volume can't be shared across services). ## Dependencies for ### Deployment Dependencies This template has no external service dependencies — it provisions only the `sqlite3` service (Docker image built from this repo) and its volume. At deploy time Railway generates `SQLITE_WEB_PASSWORD` (a 24-character secret) automatically; no user input is required. The service binds to Railway's injected `PORT` and expects nothing beyond the attached volume at `/data`. If you later need networked database access from other services, deploy the libSQL Server template alongside your app instead — it is the networked-protocol alternative to this file-based manager. ## Similar templates - [Garage S3 Storage](https://railway.com/deploy/garage-s3-storage) — Ultra-light S3 server: fast, open-source, plug-and-play. - [Redis](https://railway.com/deploy/redis-1) — Self Host Latest Redis with Railway - [EasyImg](https://railway.com/deploy/easyimg) — Simple self-hostable Nuxt.js personal image hosting system. Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/sqlite3-railway-template