Deploy and Host

SurrealDB — the ultimate multi-model database as a one-click Railway template. Document, graph, relational, vector and time-series data behind one SurrealQL interface, one binary, one always-on service. Zero form fields on deploy; the root password is auto-generated.

On first boot the server binds Railway's injected PORT, creates the root user from the generated SURREAL_PASS, initializes the main namespace and main database on the persistent volume, and serves HTTP, RPC and WebSocket on the same port.

About Hosting

One service, deployed with one click:

surrealdb — SurrealDB v3.2.6 server (pinned official image surrealdb/surrealdb, digest-pinned), healthcheck GET /health, binds Railway's injected PORT
Persistent volume surrealdb-data at /data — SurrealKV storage engine at /data/db

No companion services: SurrealDB is its own storage engine. Point any SurrealDB SDK, the Surrealist UI, or plain HTTP at your Railway domain and it just works.

Why Deploy

Self-hosting SurrealDB means your data never leaves your infrastructure — no per-query pricing, no row limits, no vendor lock-in. One engine covers the workloads that normally need four databases: flexible documents, graph traversals, full-text search, vector similarity for AI apps, and time-series. On Railway it is always on, so connections, live queries and scheduled events keep running around the clock.

Common Use Cases

Backend for AI apps: vector search + documents + graph relations in one query language
Real-time apps with LIVE SELECT streaming changes over WebSocket
A schemaless document store that grows into strict schemas when you need them
Multi-model prototyping without running Postgres + Neo4j + Pinecone side by side

Configuration

Zero form fields on deploy. After deploy, the optional knobs in the service's Variables panel:

SURREAL_PASS — root password (auto-generated ${{secret(32)}} per deployment; find it in Variables). Applied only on first boot — to rotate later, run ALTER USER inside the DB.
SURREAL_USER — root username (default root)
SURREAL_DEFAULT_NAMESPACE — namespace created on first boot (default main)
SURREAL_DEFAULT_DATABASE — database created on first boot (default main)
SURREAL_LOG — log level: none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace (default info)
SURREAL_QUERY_TIMEOUT — max duration for a batch of statements (off by default)
SURREAL_STRICT — strict mode for the database (off by default)
SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL — broadly enable all engine capabilities (restricted by default)
PORT — injected by Railway automatically; the server binds 0.0.0.0:$PORT

Connect: https:// with user root, the generated password, namespace main, database main. Try Surrealist (https://surrealist.app) as a GUI, or POST /sql with Accept: application/json.

Dependencies for

Deployment Dependencies

Hobby plan or higher for the persistent volume. SurrealDB needs nothing at runtime beyond its volume — no external API keys, no companion services, no third-party accounts. GET /health returns 200 once the server is up.