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!