Projects Toolkit

A Railway skill for managing multiple projects — listing all projects in your account, switching between projects, viewing project details, and configuring project-level settings. Projects Toolkit is essential when working across multiple Railway projects or managing team workspaces.

When to Use This Skill

Choose Projects Toolkit when:

• Listing all Railway projects in your account or team
• Switching the CLI context between different projects
• Viewing project details (services, environments, members)
• Managing project-level settings and team access

Consider alternatives when:

• You need to create a new project from scratch (use New System)
• You're managing individual service deployments (use deployment tools)
• You need database management within a project (use database tools)

Quick Start

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claude "Show me all my Railway projects"

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# List all projects
railway list

# Link CLI to a specific project
railway link

# View current project status
railway status

# Switch to a different project interactively
railway link
# (presents project picker)

Core Concepts

Project Hierarchy

Level	Description	Command
Account	Your Railway account or team	railway login
Project	Collection of services + environments	railway list / railway link
Environment	Isolated scope within project	railway environment
Service	Individual deployed application	railway status

Project Context

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# Check which project you're linked to
railway status
# Output shows: project name, environments, services

# Link to a different project
railway link
# Stores project context in .railway directory

# Unlink from current project
railway unlink

Team Projects

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# List projects across all teams
railway list

# Projects are organized by:
# - Personal projects (your account)
# - Team projects (shared workspaces)

# Team members see projects based on their role:
# - Owner: full access
# - Admin: manage services and variables
# - Member: deploy and view
# - Viewer: read-only access

Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default
default_project	Auto-link to this project in directory	None
team_scope	Filter projects by team	All teams
sort_by	Sort project list by name, date, or activity	activity
show_environments	Include environment details in list	false
auto_link	Auto-link when entering project directory	true

Best Practices

1. Use one terminal per project. Railway CLI uses the linked project as context for all commands. If you're working on multiple projects simultaneously, use separate terminal sessions to avoid accidentally deploying to the wrong project.

2. Name projects descriptively. Use names like my-app-api and my-app-frontend instead of generic names. When you have 10+ projects, clear naming prevents costly mistakes like deploying to production instead of staging.

3. Check railway status before deploying. Always verify which project and environment you're linked to before running railway up. A quick status check prevents deploying code to the wrong project.

4. Use .railway directory in .gitignore. The .railway directory stores project linking metadata. Since each developer links to their own project/environment, this directory shouldn't be shared via version control.

5. Archive unused projects. Railway may charge for idle services. Periodically review your project list and remove or archive projects you're no longer using to keep your account clean and avoid unnecessary costs.

Common Issues

CLI commands affect the wrong project. You're linked to a different project than expected. Run railway status to check, then railway link to switch. This commonly happens when you cd between project directories without re-linking.

Cannot see team projects in project list. Verify your team membership in the Railway dashboard. If you were recently added, you may need to re-authenticate: railway logout && railway login. Team projects only appear for accounts with active team membership.

Project linking doesn't persist after terminal restart. The .railway directory might be in .gitignore or getting cleaned. Ensure .railway/ exists in your project root after running railway link. If it keeps disappearing, check for cleanup scripts or IDE settings that remove dot-directories.