Hey there! We've found the following might help you get unblocked faster:

• 🧵 Build Failure: npm: not found in Nixpacks Python/Node.js Project

• 🧵 Forcing fresh Docker builds on Railway (cache not invalidating)

• 🧵 failing to deploy django project from github

If you find the answer from one of these, please let us know by solving the thread!

Cause

Your Dockerfile is FROM ghcr.io/railwayapp/nixpacks:ubuntu…, which is a minimal base used by Nixpacks. It doesn’t include Python or pip, so pip install … fails with pip: command not found.

Fix (pick one)

If you do A or B, the pip error goes away and the backend will deploy cleanly.

Option A: Let Railway/Nixpacks handle Python (no Dockerfile)

• 1. Put your Python app (and requirements.txt) in the service root (or set your service to build from the backend/ subdir).

• 2. Add a start command (e.g. via nixpacks.toml):

toml

# nixpacks.toml

[start]

cmd = "gunicorn backend.main:app --bind [::]:${PORT-8000}"

Nixpacks auto-detects Python & sets up a venv with pip; it will run the start command on ${PORT}.

Option B: Keep Dockerfile, use a Python base image

Replace your FROM with an official Python image and install deps:

dockerfile

FROM python:3.12-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY backend/requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY backend/ .
# your app must bind to $PORT on Railway
CMD ["gunicorn","backend.main:app","--bind","[::]:${PORT-8000}"]

This is the clean, fast path for Python Docker builds.

Option C: If you insist on the Nixpacks base image

Explicitly install Python + pip first, then run your install:

dockerfile

FROM ghcr.io/railwayapp/nixpacks:ubuntu-<tag>
WORKDIR /app
COPY . /app
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip && ln -sf /usr/bin/pip3 /usr/bin/pip
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r backend/requirements.txt
CMD ["gunicorn","backend.main:app","--bind","[::]:${PORT-8000}"]

(This works, but is slower/heavier than Option B.)

Notes

• If you’re deploying from a monorepo (e.g., code in /backend), make sure the service builds/starts from that directory or set proper paths/commands; otherwise Nixpacks can’t pick the right plan.

• Your server must listen on ${PORT} for Railway to route traffic. If Nixpacks can’t detect a start command, set one explicitly.