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

• 📚 No Start Command Could be Found

• 🧵 Service stuck in deletion for 24+ hours - Cannot deploy due to corrupted cache

• 🧵 Server not picking up correct memory allocation

• 🧵 Container starts successfully but is immediately stopped with no error

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

Have you tried increasing max memory in service settings?

It’s already set to 32GB max but yet still crashes with a memory heap of only 200-400mb.

instant crashes wont appear in the metrics tab. what does your railpack or nixpack look like? are you able to provide the logs?

How are you starting your Node.js app? Are you using a custom start command in the Railway UI, is it set in your railway.json or nixpacks config, or are you letting Nixpacks/Railpack auto-detect it?

I ask because I think that's likely the start command is the root of this problem.

You need to pass those Node.js memory flags to the actual start command Railway is using. You do mention you're using railway.json/nixpacks.toml so maybe some conflicts there are causing issues?
If I was in your shoes, I would go through the following steps and make sure there aren't conflicts across your config files.

Fixing this with a prod:start script in package.json

This is the first option I would think of, just use a start:prod script in your package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node --initial-old-space-size=1024 --max-old-space-size=8192 dist/app.js"
  }
}

Fixing this in the Railway UI

Go to your service settings -> Deployment -> Start Command and add node --initial-old-space-size=1024 --max-old-space-size=8192 dist/app.js or whatever your typical start command is

Fixing this using config as code / railway.json

You can use a railway.json in your repo to set this with config as code as well:

{
  "$schema": "https://railway.com/railway.schema.json",
  "deploy": {
     // other stuff goes here
    "startCommand": "node --initial-old-space-size=1024 --max-old-space-size=8192 dist/app.js"
  }
}

Fix using environment variables

Add this as a service variable:

NODE_OPTIONS=--initial-old-space-size=1024 --max-old-space-size=8192

This one should work regardless of how your app starts but can be overridden by other configs (like the other 3 options listed above).

After updating your start command, check the deployment logs to confirm those flags are being passed. You should see your app start with those memory settings in the actual start command.

If this still isn't working, can you drop some logs in here showing how your service is built and starts?