# railwayapp/railpack

Zero-config application builder that automatically analyzes and turns your code into an image

Repository: https://github.com/railwayapp/railpack
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/railpack
Homepage: https://railpack.com
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: buildkit, oci-image, railway
Last push: 2026-09-03T00:56:54+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 87, longevity 42
- inputs: {"age_days": 595, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 7, "gap_med": 0.5, "n_releases_24m": 139}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1181, forks 150 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:17.239568+00:00)

## What it is
Railpack is a zero-config application builder that automatically analyzes source code and turns it into an optimized OCI container image using BuildKit. It is the successor to Nixpacks, developed by Railway, and supports many languages and frameworks out of the box.

## Use cases
- build a container image from source code without writing a Dockerfile
- deploy a Next.js app to production with zero build configuration
- automatically detect project language and framework when building images
- build images for Node, Python, Go, PHP, Java, Ruby, and more
- replace Nixpacks for building app images on a PaaS
- cross-compile images for a different CPU architecture via a remote BuildKit host

## When to choose
- you want Dockerfile-free, zero-config container image builds from source
- you deploy on Railway or run a platform that needs automatic app detection and builds
- you want efficient builds built on BuildKit LLB with a custom frontend
- you need broad language support including modern frameworks like Vite, Astro, and Next.js

## When to avoid
- you need full control over every layer and build step and prefer hand-written Dockerfiles
- your environment cannot run a BuildKit instance
- you build non-application artifacts like base images or complex multi-stage pipelines

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: build-tool, deployment, container-runtime, developer-tools
- domain: cloud-computing, developer-tools
- platform: cli, cloud
- tags: zero-config, buildkit, oci-image, container-image-builder, nixpacks-successor, railway, devops, containers, automation, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- railwayapp/railpack (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:17.239568+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:28:48.911329+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/railwayapp/railpack (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:17.239568+00:00, sha 34fd619fa48d)
  - homepage: https://railpack.com (fetched 2026-08-29T12:34:47.582228+00:00, sha f0b3771180b9)
  - site_page: https://railpack.com/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T12:34:47.591547+00:00, sha 8492fcc5e3a4)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.