name: railway-moltbot
description: Deploy Moltbot to Railway with Telegram integration. Use when user wants to set up moltbot, deploy moltbot to railway, create a remote moltbot instance, or run an AI assistant on Railway with Telegram. Handles complete setup from scratch including credential collection, GitHub repo creation, Railway deployment, and Telegram bot configuration.

Railway Moltbot Deployment

Deploy a fully functional Moltbot instance to Railway with Telegram integration. Works from a blank slate.

Step 1: Collect Credentials

Use AskUserQuestion to gather all required credentials. Ask for all three at once:

Question to ask:
"To deploy Moltbot to Railway, I need three things. Please provide them (or tell me which ones you need help creating):

1. Railway Account Token - From https://railway.com/account/tokens
2. Anthropic API Key - From https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys
3. Telegram Bot Token - From @BotFather on Telegram

Do you have all three ready?"

If user needs help creating any credential:

Railway Token

1. Go to https://railway.com (create account if needed)
2. Navigate to https://railway.com/account/tokens
3. Click "Create Token"
4. Name it (e.g., "moltbot-deploy")
5. Copy the token immediately (only shown once)
6. IMPORTANT: Must be an Account Token, NOT a Project Token

Anthropic API Key

1. Go to https://console.anthropic.com (create account if needed)
2. Navigate to Settings → API Keys
3. Click "Create Key"
4. Copy the key (starts with sk-ant-)

Telegram Bot Token

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot
3. Choose a name (e.g., "My Moltbot")
4. Choose a username (must end in bot, e.g., MyMoltbot_bot)
5. Copy the token (looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHI...)

Once user provides all three, store them in variables:

RAILWAY_TOKEN="<user provided>"
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="<user provided>"
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="<user provided>"

Step 2: Verify Credentials

Test each credential before proceeding:

Test Railway Token

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"query": "{ me { email } }"}'

Expected: {"data":{"me":{"email":"..."}}}
If error: Token is invalid or is a Project Token (needs Account Token)

Test Anthropic API Key

curl -s "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages" \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"claude-sonnet-4-20250514","max_tokens":1,"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]}'

Expected: Response with content (or rate limit error - both mean key is valid)
If "invalid api key": Key is wrong

Test Telegram Bot Token

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getMe"

Expected: {"ok":true,"result":{"username":"..."}}
If error: Token is invalid

If any credential fails, ask user to provide correct one before continuing.

Step 3: Check Prerequisites

Verify GitHub CLI

gh auth status

If not authenticated: Tell user to run gh auth login first.

Get GitHub Username

gh api user --jq '.login'

Store as GITHUB_USERNAME.

Ask for Project Name

Ask user: "What would you like to name this project? (lowercase, no spaces, e.g., 'my-moltbot')"
Store as PROJECT_NAME.

Step 4: Create Project Files

Create a new directory and files:

mkdir -p ~/$PROJECT_NAME && cd ~/$PROJECT_NAME

Create Dockerfile

Copy from assets/Dockerfile to the project directory.

Create moltbot.json

Copy from assets/moltbot.json to the project directory.

Step 5: Create GitHub Repository

cd ~/$PROJECT_NAME
git init
git add Dockerfile moltbot.json
git commit -m "Initial moltbot deployment"
gh repo create $PROJECT_NAME --private --source=. --push

Step 6: Deploy to Railway

The Railway CLI has token auth issues - use GraphQL API directly.

6.1 Get Workspace ID

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"query": "{ me { workspaces { id name } } }"}'

Extract and store WORKSPACE_ID from first workspace.

6.2 Create Project

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { projectCreate(input: { name: \\\"$PROJECT_NAME\\\", teamId: \\\"$WORKSPACE_ID\\\" }) { id environments { edges { node { id name } } } } }\"}"

Extract PROJECT_ID and ENVIRONMENT_ID from response.

6.3 Create Service

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { serviceCreate(input: { projectId: \\\"$PROJECT_ID\\\", name: \\\"moltbot\\\" }) { id } }\"}"

Extract SERVICE_ID.

6.4 Add Environment Variables

# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { variableUpsert(input: { projectId: \\\"$PROJECT_ID\\\", environmentId: \\\"$ENVIRONMENT_ID\\\", serviceId: \\\"$SERVICE_ID\\\", name: \\\"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY\\\", value: \\\"$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY\\\" }) }\"}"

# TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN
curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { variableUpsert(input: { projectId: \\\"$PROJECT_ID\\\", environmentId: \\\"$ENVIRONMENT_ID\\\", serviceId: \\\"$SERVICE_ID\\\", name: \\\"TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN\\\", value: \\\"$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN\\\" }) }\"}"

6.5 Connect GitHub Repository

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"mutation { serviceConnect(id: \\\"$SERVICE_ID\\\", input: { repo: \\\"$GITHUB_USERNAME/$PROJECT_NAME\\\", branch: \\\"main\\\" }) { id } }\"}"

If "User does not have access to the repo" error:
Tell user:
1. Go to https://railway.com/account
2. Under "Connected Accounts", click GitHub → Configure
3. Grant access to the repository
4. Come back and say "done"

Then retry the serviceConnect mutation.

Step 7: Monitor Deployment

Check Status (poll every 30s until SUCCESS/FAILED)

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"{ service(id: \\\"$SERVICE_ID\\\") { deployments(first: 1) { edges { node { id status } } } } }\"}"

Status progression: BUILDING (3-5 min) → DEPLOYING (30s) → SUCCESS

If FAILED or CRASHED: Get build/deployment logs to diagnose.

Get Build Logs (if build fails)

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"{ buildLogs(deploymentId: \\\"$DEPLOYMENT_ID\\\", limit: 100) { message } }\"}"

Get Runtime Logs

curl -s -X POST "https://backboard.railway.app/graphql/v2" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAY_TOKEN" \
  -d "{\"query\": \"{ deploymentLogs(deploymentId: \\\"$DEPLOYMENT_ID\\\", limit: 50) { message } }\"}"

Step 8: Verify Success

Check logs for these indicators:
- [gateway] listening on ws://127.0.0.1:18789 ✅
- [telegram] starting provider (@BOT_USERNAME) ✅
- [gateway] agent model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514 ✅

Step 9: Final Message

Once successful, tell user:

🎉 Moltbot deployed successfully!

Your Telegram Bot: @BOT_USERNAME
Railway Dashboard: https://railway.com

To test: Open Telegram, search for @BOT_USERNAME, and send a message!

Project location: ~/$PROJECT_NAME

Troubleshooting