Docker Compose Cheat Sheet

Essential Docker Compose CLI commands and YAML syntax for defining and running multi-container applications locally.

2 PagesBeginnerJan 25, 2026

CLI Basics

Core commands to manage a Compose project.

bash

docker compose up          # Create and start all servicesdocker compose up -d       # Start in detached modedocker compose down        # Stop and remove containers/networksdocker compose down -v     # Also remove named volumesdocker compose ps          # List project containersdocker compose logs -f web # Tail logs for the 'web' servicedocker compose exec web sh # Shell into a running servicedocker compose build       # Build/rebuild imagesdocker compose restart web # Restart one service

compose.yaml Structure

A typical multi-service application definition.

yaml

services:  web:    build: .    ports:      - "3000:3000"    environment:      - NODE_ENV=production    depends_on:      - db    volumes:      - ./src:/app/src  db:    image: postgres:15    environment:      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret    volumes:      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/datavolumes:  db-data:

Key Directives

Common top-level and service-level keys.

depends_on- Controls startup order; use condition: service_healthy to wait for a healthcheck
healthcheck- Defines test/interval/retries to determine when a service is 'healthy'
networks- Custom networks for controlling which services can reach each other
env_file- Loads environment variables from a .env-style file into the service
profiles- Tags services so they only start when a matching --profile flag is passed
extends / include- Reuse configuration across compose files or include another compose file

Multi-file / Override

Layer environment-specific overrides on a base file.

bash

# docker-compose.override.yml is merged automatically with docker-compose.ymldocker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d# Validate merged config without starting anythingdocker compose config

Pro Tip

Use depends_on with condition: service_healthy plus a real healthcheck instead of sleep hacks, so dependent services only start once the database is actually ready to accept connections.

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