Set up the CLI

Install the openrail CLI on your laptop or in CI, log in to your console, and optionally make it answer to railway.

Install

On macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://openrail.app/install.sh | sh -s -- --cli

It installs only the openrail command, no server parts, and needs no root. It goes to /usr/local/bin when you can write there (or run it as root), otherwise to ~/.local/bin. If that folder is not on your PATH, the installer says so; add it in your shell's profile:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

With wget:

wget -qO- https://openrail.app/install.sh | sh -s -- --cli

Archives for every platform are on the repository's Releases page.

Log in

openrail login https://console.example.com

The CLI prints a code and opens the console's Approve CLI login page in your browser. Check that the code matches and approve it. On a machine with no browser, add --browserless and open the printed link anywhere you are logged in.

Check it worked:

openrail whoami

The CLI keeps one token per console in ~/.config/5050/config.json (mode 0600), so you can log in to several installs.

Tokens for servers and CI

Create a token in the console. There are two kinds:

Settings, API tokens: an account token. It acts as you, with your role.
A project's Project Settings, Tokens, under Environment tokens: a token that can deploy, read logs and set variables in one environment. It suits CI best.

Copy the token at once; it is not shown again.

Then either log in with it:

openrail login https://console.example.com --token 5050_xxxxxxxx

or skip login and set two variables, which suits CI best:

export OPENRAIL_URL=https://console.example.com
export OPENRAIL_TOKEN=5050_xxxxxxxx

A GitHub Actions step that deploys the checked-out code to a linked service:

- name: Deploy to openrail
  env:
    OPENRAIL_URL: ${{ secrets.OPENRAIL_URL }}
    OPENRAIL_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.OPENRAIL_TOKEN }}
  run: |
    curl -fsSL https://openrail.app/install.sh | sh -s -- --cli
    export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
    openrail up -c --service web

-c (--ci) streams the build logs and exits when the deployment finishes, with a non-zero code if it failed.

Link a project

In your app's folder:

openrail link
openrail up

openrail link asks for the project, environment and service, and remembers them for this folder. openrail up uploads the folder, builds it and deploys it.

The railway alias

openrail alias install

This adds a railway command next to openrail, unless a real railway binary is already on your PATH. The first time you run it, it prints Using openrail at <url>; run openrail alias remove to undo. As railway, it accepts Railway's verbs and flags and reads RAILWAY_TOKEN and RAILWAY_API_TOKEN; put an openrail token in them, not a Railway one. openrail alias remove takes it away. See The railway alias.

Upgrade the CLI

Run the install command again. It replaces the binary in place.

What success looks like

openrail whoami prints your email and the console's address.
openrail status (or railway status with the alias) prints the linked project, environment and service.