Issue

I'm trying to run a Python web scraper using Selenium and ChromeDriver in my Railway deployment. The packages install correctly, but ChromeDriver exits with Status Code 1 when initialized.

Error Message

Error initializing scraper: Message: Service /usr/bin/chromedriver unexpectedly exited. Status code was: 1

Environment Setup

• Railway deployment with nixpacks.toml configuration
• Confirmed packages are being installed correctly during build:

"setup │ python3, ffmpeg-headless, gcc, chromium-browser, chromium-driver, libgconf-2-4, libnss3, libgbm1, libxss1, libasound2, libatk1.0-0, libatk-bridge2.0-0, libcups2, libdrm2, libxkbcommon0, libxcomposite1, libxdamage1, libxfixes3, libxrandr2, libpango-1.0-0"

• Current nixpacks.toml providers = ["..."] [phases.setup] aptPkgs = [ "...", "chromium-browser", "chromium-driver", "libgconf-2-4", "libnss3", "libgbm1", "libxss1", "libasound2", "libatk1.0-0", "libatk-bridge2.0-0", "libcups2", "libdrm2", "libxkbcommon0", "libxcomposite1", "libxdamage1", "libxfixes3", "libxrandr2", "libpango-1.0-0" ] paths = ["/usr/bin"] [start] cmd = "uvicorn whatsapp_server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT"
• Solutions Already Tried
  • Modified nixpacks.toml to include all necessary dependencies
  • Added extensive Chrome options to disable sandboxing features
  • Tried multiple ChromeDriver initialization approaches (with/without Service object)
  • Tried explicit paths to both Chrome and ChromeDriver binaries
  • Added debugging code to verify binary locations and permissions
• Questions
  • Is there a known issue with running ChromeDriver in Railway deployments?
  • Are there specific sandbox/container restrictions in Railway that prevent ChromeDriver from working?
  • Are there additional configuration options or environment variables I should set? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!