diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 9bcce7a80..c08bc0c03 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# Ignore everything by default
 **
-!release-packages
-!ci
+
+# Include only what's needed for the Railway build
+!Dockerfile
+!railway-entrypoint.sh
+!railway.json
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..380af387f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Custom code-server image for Railway with persistent Node.js and extensions
+FROM codercom/code-server:latest
+
+USER root
+
+# Install Node.js 20 LTS
+RUN curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | bash - \
+    && apt-get install -y nodejs \
+    && npm install -g npm@latest \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Set HOME to /home/coder (the volume mount point on Railway)
+# This ensures all user data goes to the persistent volume
+ENV HOME=/home/coder
+ENV USER=coder
+
+# Set XDG directories to use the persistent volume
+ENV XDG_DATA_HOME=/home/coder/.local/share
+ENV XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/coder/.config
+ENV XDG_CACHE_HOME=/home/coder/.cache
+ENV XDG_STATE_HOME=/home/coder/.local/state
+
+# Ensure Node.js is in PATH and add code-server CLI
+ENV PATH="/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/home/coder/.local/bin:/home/coder/.local/node/bin:/usr/lib/code-server/lib/vscode/bin/remote-cli:${PATH}"
+
+# Set entrypoint.d to the persistent volume for custom startup scripts
+ENV ENTRYPOINTD=/home/coder/entrypoint.d
+
+# Create necessary directories
+RUN mkdir -p /home/coder/.local/share \
+    /home/coder/.config \
+    /home/coder/.cache \
+    /home/coder/.local/state \
+    /home/coder/.local/bin \
+    /home/coder/entrypoint.d \
+    && chown -R 1000:1000 /home/coder
+
+# Copy custom entrypoint
+COPY railway-entrypoint.sh /usr/bin/railway-entrypoint.sh
+RUN chmod +x /usr/bin/railway-entrypoint.sh
+
+EXPOSE 8080
+
+# Use our custom entrypoint that handles Railway's root user
+ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/bin/railway-entrypoint.sh"]
+CMD ["--bind-addr", "0.0.0.0:8080", "."]
diff --git a/railway-entrypoint.sh b/railway-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c63536dbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/railway-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# Railway runs containers as root, but we want all data in /home/coder (the volume)
+# This script ensures proper environment setup for persistence
+
+echo "=== Railway Code-Server Startup ==="
+echo "User: $(whoami) (UID: $(id -u))"
+echo "HOME: $HOME"
+echo "XDG_DATA_HOME: $XDG_DATA_HOME"
+echo "XDG_CONFIG_HOME: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME"
+
+# Ensure HOME is set correctly (Railway might override it)
+export HOME=/home/coder
+
+# Ensure XDG directories exist and are writable
+mkdir -p "$XDG_DATA_HOME" "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" "$XDG_CACHE_HOME" "$XDG_STATE_HOME"
+mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin" "$HOME/entrypoint.d"
+
+# Ensure the code-server data directory exists
+mkdir -p "$XDG_DATA_HOME/code-server"
+
+# Set up VS Code Server data directory symlink if running as root
+# This ensures extensions installed by code-server persist
+if [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ]; then
+    # Create root's directories pointing to volume
+    mkdir -p /root/.local
+
+    # Symlink root's local share to the volume (for VS Code extensions)
+    if [ ! -L /root/.local/share ]; then
+        rm -rf /root/.local/share 2>/dev/null || true
+        ln -sf "$XDG_DATA_HOME" /root/.local/share
+    fi
+
+    # Symlink root's config to the volume
+    if [ ! -L /root/.config ]; then
+        rm -rf /root/.config 2>/dev/null || true
+        ln -sf "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" /root/.config
+    fi
+
+    # Symlink root's cache to the volume
+    if [ ! -L /root/.cache ]; then
+        rm -rf /root/.cache 2>/dev/null || true
+        ln -sf "$XDG_CACHE_HOME" /root/.cache
+    fi
+
+    echo "Created symlinks from /root to $HOME for persistence"
+fi
+
+# Ensure Node.js is accessible
+echo "Node.js version: $(node --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'Not found in PATH')"
+echo "npm version: $(npm --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'Not found in PATH')"
+echo "PATH: $PATH"
+
+# Run any custom startup scripts from entrypoint.d
+if [ -d "$HOME/entrypoint.d" ]; then
+    for script in "$HOME/entrypoint.d"/*.sh; do
+        if [ -f "$script" ] && [ -x "$script" ]; then
+            echo "Running startup script: $script"
+            "$script"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
+
+echo "=== Starting code-server ==="
+
+# Start code-server with dumb-init for proper signal handling
+exec dumb-init /usr/bin/code-server "$@"
diff --git a/railway.json b/railway.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1188f2743
--- /dev/null
+++ b/railway.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://railway.app/railway.schema.json",
+  "build": {
+    "builder": "DOCKERFILE",
+    "dockerfilePath": "Dockerfile"
+  },
+  "deploy": {
+    "startCommand": null,
+    "restartPolicyType": "ON_FAILURE",
+    "restartPolicyMaxRetries": 10
+  }
+}