---
description: Introduction and Overview of Compose
keywords: documentation, docs, docker, compose, orchestration, containers
title: Overview of Docker Compose
redirect_from:
 - /compose/cli-command/
 - /compose/networking/swarm/
 - /compose/overview/
 - /compose/swarm/
---

>**Looking for Compose file reference?** [Find the latest version here](compose-file/index.md).

Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications.
With Compose, you use a YAML file to configure your application's services.
Then, with a single command, you create and start all the services
from your configuration. To learn more about all the features of Compose,
see [the list of features](#features).

Compose works in all environments: production, staging, development, testing, as
well as CI workflows. You can learn more about each case in [Common Use
Cases](#common-use-cases).

Using Compose is basically a three-step process:

1. Define your app's environment with a `Dockerfile` so it can be reproduced
anywhere.

2. Define the services that make up your app in `docker-compose.yml`
so they can be run together in an isolated environment.

3. Run `docker compose up` and the [Docker compose command](#compose-v2-and-the-new-docker-compose-command) starts and runs your entire app. You can alternatively run `docker-compose up` using the docker-compose binary.

A `docker-compose.yml` looks like this:

```yaml
version: "{{ site.compose_file_v3 }}"  # optional since v1.27.0
services:
  web:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8000:5000"
    volumes:
      - .:/code
      - logvolume01:/var/log
    links:
      - redis
  redis:
    image: redis
volumes:
  logvolume01: {}
```

For more information about the Compose file, see the
[Compose file reference](compose-file/index.md).

Compose has commands for managing the whole lifecycle of your application:

 * Start, stop, and rebuild services
 * View the status of running services
 * Stream the log output of running services
 * Run a one-off command on a service

## Compose V2 and the new `docker compose` command

> Important
>
> The new Compose V2, which supports the `compose` command as part of the Docker
> CLI, is now available.
>
> Compose V2 integrates compose functions into the Docker platform, continuing
> to support most of the previous `docker-compose` features and flags. You can
> run Compose V2 by replacing the hyphen (`-`) with a space, using `docker compose`,
> instead of `docker-compose`.
{: .important}

If you rely on using Docker Compose as `docker-compose` (with a hyphen), you can
set up Compose V2 to act as a drop-in replacement of the previous `docker-compose`.
Refer to the [Installing Compose](install.md) section for detailed instructions.

## Context of Docker Compose evolution

Introduction of the [Compose specification](https://github.com/compose-spec/compose-spec){:target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="_"}
makes a clean distinction between the Compose YAML file model and the `docker-compose`
implementation. Making this change has enabled a number of enhancements, including
adding the `compose` command directly into the Docker CLI,  being able to "up" a
Compose application on cloud platforms by simply switching the Docker context,
and launching of [Amazon ECS](../cloud/ecs-integration.md) and [Microsoft ACI](../cloud/aci-integration.md).
As the Compose specification evolves, new features land faster in the Docker CLI.

Compose V2 relies directly on the compose-go bindings which are maintained as part
of the specification. This allows us to include community proposals, experimental
implementations by the Docker CLI and/or Engine, and deliver features faster to
users. Compose V2 also supports some of the newer additions to the specification,
such as [profiles](profiles.md) and [GPU](gpu-support.md) devices.

Compose V2 has been re-written in [Go](https://go.dev), which improves integration
with other Docker command-line features, and allows it to run natively on 
[macOS on Apple silicon](../desktop/mac/apple-silicon.md), Windows, and Linux,
without dependencies such as Python. 

For more information about compatibility with the compose v1 command-line, see the [docker-compose compatibility list](cli-command-compatibility.md).


## Features

The features of Compose that make it effective are:

* [Multiple isolated environments on a single host](#multiple-isolated-environments-on-a-single-host)
* [Preserve volume data when containers are created](#preserve-volume-data-when-containers-are-created)
* [Only recreate containers that have changed](#only-recreate-containers-that-have-changed)
* [Variables and moving a composition between environments](#variables-and-moving-a-composition-between-environments)

### Multiple isolated environments on a single host

Compose uses a project name to isolate environments from each other. You can make use of this project name in several different contexts:

* on a dev host, to create multiple copies of a single environment, such as when you want to run a stable copy for each feature branch of a project
* on a CI server, to keep builds from interfering with each other, you can set
  the project name to a unique build number
* on a shared host or dev host, to prevent different projects, which may use the
  same service names, from interfering with each other

The default project name is the basename of the project directory. You can set
a custom project name by using the
[`-p` command line option](reference/index.md) or the
[`COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME` environment variable](reference/envvars.md#compose_project_name).

The default project directory is the base directory of the Compose file. A custom value
for it can be defined with the `--project-directory` command line option.


### Preserve volume data when containers are created

Compose preserves all volumes used by your services. When `docker-compose up`
runs, if it finds any containers from previous runs, it copies the volumes from
the old container to the new container. This process ensures that any data
you've created in volumes isn't lost.

If you use `docker-compose` on a Windows machine, see
[Environment variables](reference/envvars.md) and adjust the necessary environment
variables for your specific needs.


### Only recreate containers that have changed

Compose caches the configuration used to create a container. When you
restart a service that has not changed, Compose re-uses the existing
containers. Re-using containers means that you can make changes to your
environment very quickly.


### Variables and moving a composition between environments

Compose supports variables in the Compose file. You can use these variables
to customize your composition for different environments, or different users.
See [Variable substitution](compose-file/compose-file-v3.md#variable-substitution) for more
details.

You can extend a Compose file using the `extends` field or by creating multiple
Compose files. See [extends](extends.md) for more details.


## Common use cases

Compose can be used in many different ways. Some common use cases are outlined
below.

### Development environments

When you're developing software, the ability to run an application in an
isolated environment and interact with it is crucial. The Compose command
line tool can be used to create the environment and interact with it.

The [Compose file](compose-file/index.md) provides a way to document and configure
all of the application's service dependencies (databases, queues, caches,
web service APIs, etc). Using the Compose command line tool you can create
and start one or more containers for each dependency with a single command
(`docker-compose up`).

Together, these features provide a convenient way for developers to get
started on a project. Compose can reduce a multi-page "developer getting
started guide" to a single machine readable Compose file and a few commands.

### Automated testing environments

An important part of any Continuous Deployment or Continuous Integration process
is the automated test suite. Automated end-to-end testing requires an
environment in which to run tests. Compose provides a convenient way to create
and destroy isolated testing environments for your test suite. By defining the full environment in a [Compose file](compose-file/index.md), you can create and destroy these environments in just a few commands:

```console
$ docker-compose up -d
$ ./run_tests
$ docker-compose down
```

### Single host deployments

Compose has traditionally been focused on development and testing workflows,
but with each release we're making progress on more production-oriented features.

For details on using production-oriented features, see
[compose in production](production.md) in this documentation.


## Release notes

To see a detailed list of changes for past and current releases of Docker
Compose, refer to the
[CHANGELOG](https://github.com/docker/compose/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md).

## Getting help

Docker Compose is under active development. If you need help, would like to
contribute, or simply want to talk about the project with like-minded
individuals, we have a number of open channels for communication.

* To report bugs or file feature requests: use the [issue tracker on Github](https://github.com/docker/compose/issues).

* To talk about the project with people in real time: join the
  `#docker-compose` channel on the Docker Community Slack.

* To contribute code or documentation changes: submit a [pull request on Github](https://github.com/docker/compose/pulls).