> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ouim.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Railway & Render

> Deploy Reacher on Railway or Render with automatic HTTPS and GitHub-based deployments.

Railway and Render are managed platforms that deploy directly from a GitHub repository. Both handle HTTPS, DNS, and container orchestration automatically — no VPS configuration needed.

<Warning>
  Both platforms offer free tiers that **spin down idle services** after a period of inactivity. A sleeping server cannot receive requests from Claude.ai. For reliable operation, use a paid plan or deploy to an always-on host (a VPS with Docker or bare Node.js).
</Warning>

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Railway">
    ## Deploy on Railway

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Create a new project">
        Go to [railway.app](https://railway.app) and click **New Project**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Connect your GitHub repository">
        Choose **Deploy from GitHub repo** and select your Reacher repository.

        Railway detects the `Dockerfile` automatically and uses it to build the image.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Configure the start command">
        In the service settings under **Deploy**, confirm the start command is:

        ```bash theme={null}
        node index.js
        ```

        If Railway does not detect it automatically, set it explicitly.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Set environment variables">
        Navigate to the **Variables** tab of your service and add the following:

        | Variable                | Required | Value                                                   |
        | ----------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
        | `MCP_SECRET`            | Yes      | A random secret (`openssl rand -hex 32`)                |
        | `TAILSCALE_API_KEY`     | Yes      | Your Tailscale API key                                  |
        | `GITHUB_TOKEN`          | Yes      | Your GitHub personal access token                       |
        | `PROXY_ALLOWED_DOMAINS` | Yes      | Comma-separated list, e.g. `api.github.com`             |
        | `PORT`                  | No       | Railway injects `PORT` automatically; you can omit this |

        Add any additional variables from `.env.example` that apply to your setup.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Deploy">
        Railway builds and deploys automatically after you save the variables. Watch the build logs from the **Deployments** tab.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Get your public URL">
        Once deployed, go to **Settings** > **Networking** and click **Generate Domain**. Railway assigns a public HTTPS URL.

        Use this to connect Claude.ai:

        ```
        https://your-app.up.railway.app/mcp?token=YOUR_MCP_SECRET
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Connect to Claude.ai">
        Go to **Claude.ai** > **Settings** > **Integrations** > **Add custom connector** and paste the URL from the previous step.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    ### Auto-deploys

    Railway redeploys automatically on every push to your connected branch. No manual trigger needed.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Render">
    ## Deploy on Render

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Create a new Web Service">
        Go to [render.com](https://render.com), click **New**, and select **Web Service**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Connect your GitHub repository">
        Authorize Render to access your GitHub account if prompted, then select your Reacher repository and branch.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Configure the service">
        Set the following in the service configuration:

        * **Runtime**: `Node`
        * **Root Directory**: leave blank (or `.` if your repo root contains `index.js`)
        * **Build Command**: `npm install`
        * **Start Command**: `node index.js`
      </Step>

      <Step title="Set environment variables">
        Scroll to the **Environment Variables** section and add:

        | Variable                | Required | Value                                       |
        | ----------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------- |
        | `MCP_SECRET`            | Yes      | A random secret (`openssl rand -hex 32`)    |
        | `TAILSCALE_API_KEY`     | Yes      | Your Tailscale API key                      |
        | `GITHUB_TOKEN`          | Yes      | Your GitHub personal access token           |
        | `PROXY_ALLOWED_DOMAINS` | Yes      | Comma-separated list, e.g. `api.github.com` |

        Add any additional variables from `.env.example` that apply to your setup.

        <Note>
          Render injects `PORT` automatically. Do not set it manually — Render assigns the port and expects your app to listen on `process.env.PORT`.
        </Note>
      </Step>

      <Step title="Deploy">
        Click **Create Web Service**. Render builds from your repository and starts the container. Monitor progress in the **Logs** tab.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Get your public URL">
        Render assigns a public HTTPS URL in the format `https://your-app.onrender.com`. It is shown at the top of the service dashboard.

        Use this to connect Claude.ai:

        ```
        https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp?token=YOUR_MCP_SECRET
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Connect to Claude.ai">
        Go to **Claude.ai** > **Settings** > **Integrations** > **Add custom connector** and paste the URL from the previous step.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    ### Auto-deploys

    Render redeploys automatically on every push to your connected branch. This can be disabled in the service settings if you prefer manual deploys.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Health check path

For both platforms, set the health check path to `/health`. Note that this endpoint requires the `MCP_SECRET` token as a query parameter (`?token=YOUR_SECRET`) — configure your platform's health check accordingly, or use a platform-level TCP check on port 3000 instead.

## Environment variable reference

See [`.env.example`](https://github.com/thezem/reacher/blob/main/.env.example) for the full list of supported variables and descriptions.