Switch from Render to Railway deployment

- Remove all Render-related configuration files (render.yaml, DEPLOYMENT.md)
- Add Railway configuration files (railway.json, railway.toml for both services)
- Update Vite config to remove Render-specific base path logic
- Create comprehensive Railway deployment documentation
- Railway provides native Java/Maven support and no cold starts

Author: FloppyDoval

.gitignore

@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ server/src/main/resources/firebase_config.json
 # mac
 .DS_Store
 
+.vercel

RAILWAY_DEPLOYMENT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# LanguageGO Railway Deployment Guide
+
+## Prerequisites
+- GitHub account
+- Railway account (free): https://railway.app
+- Firebase project with service account key
+- Clerk account for authentication
+
+## Step 1: Set up Firebase Service Account
+1. Go to your Firebase Console: https://console.firebase.google.com
+2. Select your project
+3. Go to Project Settings > Service Accounts
+4. Click "Generate new private key"
+5. Save the JSON file securely - you'll need its contents for environment variables
+
+## Step 2: Deploy to Railway
+
+### Deploy the Java Backend
+1. Go to https://railway.app and sign in with GitHub
+2. Click "New Project" → "Deploy from GitHub repo"
+3. Select `FloppyDoval/LanguageGO`
+4. Railway will detect multiple services, choose to deploy the **backend first**
+5. Configure the backend service:
+   - **Root Directory**: `server`
+   - Railway should auto-detect it's a Java/Maven project
+   - **Start Command**: `java -cp target/classes:target/lib/* edu.brown.cs.student.main.server.Server`
+
+6. **Environment Variables** (in Railway dashboard):
+   - `FIREBASE_CREDENTIALS`: Paste the entire contents of your Firebase service account JSON
+   - `PORT`: Railway will automatically set this
+   
+7. Deploy and note the generated URL (e.g., `https://your-backend-name.railway.app`)
+
+### Deploy the React Frontend
+1. In the same Railway project, click "New Service"
+2. Choose "GitHub Repo" and select the same repository
+3. Configure the frontend service:
+   - **Root Directory**: `client`
+   - Railway should auto-detect it's a Node.js project
+   - Build command will be automatically detected: `npm run build`
+   - Start command: `npm run serve` (or Railway will serve the built files)
+
+4. **Environment Variables**:
+   - `VITE_API_URL`: Use the backend URL from step 7 above
+   - `VITE_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`: Your Clerk publishable key from Clerk dashboard
+   - `NODE_ENV`: `production`
+
+5. Deploy the frontend
+
+## Step 3: Verify Deployment
+1. **Backend Health Check**: Visit `https://your-backend-url/ping` - should return "pong"
+2. **Frontend**: Visit your frontend URL - should load the application
+3. **API Integration**: Test that frontend can communicate with backend
+
+## Step 4: Configure CORS (if needed)
+Your Java server already has CORS configured to allow all origins (`*`). For production, you might want to restrict this to your frontend domain only.
+
+## Environment Variables Summary
+
+### Backend Service
+- `FIREBASE_CREDENTIALS`: Your complete Firebase service account JSON
+- `PORT`: (Automatically set by Railway)
+
+### Frontend Service  
+- `VITE_API_URL`: Your Railway backend URL
+- `VITE_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`: Your Clerk publishable key
+- `NODE_ENV`: `production`
+
+## Local Development
+Use the provided script:
+```bash
+./start-local.sh
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+- **Build Failures**: Check Railway logs in the dashboard
+- **503 Errors**: Backend might be starting up (Railway has no cold starts)
+- **API Connection Issues**: Verify `VITE_API_URL` points to correct backend URL
+- **Firebase Issues**: Ensure `FIREBASE_CREDENTIALS` is properly formatted JSON
+- **Maven Issues**: Railway should automatically detect Java 17 from `pom.xml`
+
+## Railway Advantages
+- ✅ Native Java/Maven support
+- ✅ No cold starts (unlike Render free tier)
+- ✅ Automatic deployments on Git push
+- ✅ Built-in database options
+- ✅ Easy environment variable management
+- ✅ Generous free tier ($5/month credit)
+
+## Production Considerations
+- Consider using Railway's database services for production data
+- Set up custom domains for your services
+- Monitor usage to stay within free tier limits
+- Configure proper CORS origins for security

client/railway.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[build]
+builder = "NIXPACKS"
+
+[deploy]
+startCommand = "npm start"

client/vite.config.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { defineConfig, loadEnv } from "vite";
 export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
   const env = loadEnv(mode, process.cwd(), "");
   return {
-    base: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && process.env.GITHUB_PAGES ? "/LanguageGO/" : "/",
+    base: process.env.GITHUB_PAGES ? "/LanguageGO/" : "/",
     build: {
       outDir: "build",
     },