Deploy and Host Workhorse PostgreSQL queue on Railway

PostgreSQL durable tasks with crash recovery and protected dashboard.

About Hosting Workhorse PostgreSQL queue

Three independently deployed services: PostgreSQL 17.11, a Node.js 24 worker with Workhorse SDK 0.6.1, and the matching read-only dashboard. No Redis, broker, shared service disk, Docker socket, or public database. Workhorse is public beta; this is an evaluation/small-team queue recipe, not an exactly-once or HA guarantee.

The worker's pre-deploy command installs Workhorse's ordered schema plus the recipe effect table. Runtime worker/dashboard processes only assert schema compatibility. Dashboard startup waits for the schema gate. Run the pre-deploy installer once per release, not from each worker replica; migrations require the database to already be available.

The task recipe.effect validates bounded input, deliberately fails once, saves a named preparation checkpoint, performs a lease-releasing durable wait, and writes one uniquely keyed database effect. A checkpoint callback can execute again after a crash between its effect and checkpoint write: SQL's unique key makes this fixture safe. External providers still need stable idempotency keys.

Why Deploy Workhorse PostgreSQL queue on Railway

Independent service lifecycles, explicit private networking, generated credentials and exclusive persistent volumes provide a reproducible low-volume evaluation. Authentication protects workload endpoints; this is not an HA production claim.

Common Use Cases

Evaluate the upstream product with a real authenticated workflow.
Exercise persistence, retries/replay and operational recovery before adoption.
Extend the included bounded fixture without exposing internal backends.

Dependencies for Workhorse PostgreSQL queue

Workhorse · PostgreSQL. Exact runtime/image pins live in Dockerfile, compose.yaml and the dependency locks.

Deployment Dependencies

The template connects the published tech-progress/workhorse-postgres-queue source on release-v1, deploys private PostgreSQL 17.11 with a 5,000 MB persistent volume, and creates separate Worker and Dashboard services. PostgreSQL and dashboard passwords are generated by Railway; the Worker's pre-deploy command installs the schema. No provider API key, tenant token, Redis or public database endpoint is required.

Open the generated HTTPS dashboard at /workhorse/ using the generated operator credentials. Submit tasks through a private application or Railway SSH; there is no public enqueue API. See the release README, upgrade and backup guide, and support boundaries.