---
title: Using profiles with Compose
desription: Using profiles with Compose
keywords: cli, compose, profile, profiles reference
---

Profiles help you adjust the Compose application model for various uses and
environments by selectively enabling services.
This is achieved by assigning each service to zero or more profiles. If
unassigned, the service is always started but if assigned, it is only started
if the profile is activated.

This allows you to define additional services in a single `docker-compose.yml` file
that should only be started in specific scenarios, for example for debugging or
development tasks.

## Assigning profiles to services

Services are associated with profiles through the
[`profiles` attribute](compose-file/index.md#profiles) which takes an
array of profile names:

```yaml
version: "{{ site.compose_file_v3 }}"
services:
  frontend:
    image: frontend
    profiles: ["frontend"]

  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin
    depends_on:
      - db
    profiles:
      - debug

  backend:
    image: backend

  db:
    image: mysql
```

Here the services `frontend` and `phpmyadmin` are assigned to the profiles
`frontend` and `debug` respectively and as such are only started when their
respective profiles are enabled.

Services without a `profiles` attribute are always enabled. In this
case running `docker compose up` would only start `backend` and `db`.

Valid profiles names follow the regex format of `[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+`.

> **Tip**
>
> The core services of your application shouldn't be assigned `profiles` so
> they are always enabled and automatically started.
{: .tip}

## Enable profiles

To enable profiles supply the `--profile` [command-line option](reference/index.md) or
use the [`COMPOSE_PROFILES` environment variable](reference/envvars.md#compose_profiles):

```console
$ docker compose --profile debug up
```
```console
$ COMPOSE_PROFILES=debug docker compose up
```

The above commands would both start your application with the `debug` profile enabled.
In the example, `docker-compose.yml` file above, this starts the services `backend`,
`db` and `phpmyadmin`.

### Enable multiple profiles

Multiple profiles can be specified by passing multiple `--profile` flags or
a comma-separated list for the `COMPOSE_PROFILES` environment variable:

```console
$ docker compose --profile frontend --profile debug up
```

```console
$ COMPOSE_PROFILES=frontend,debug docker compose up
```

## Auto-enabling profiles and dependency resolution

When a service with assigned `profiles` is explicitly targeted on the command
line its profiles are enabled automatically so you don't need to enable them
manually. This can be used for one-off services and debugging tools.
As an example consider the folowing configuration:

```yaml
version: "{{ site.compose_file_v3 }}"
services:
  backend:
    image: backend

  db:
    image: mysql

  db-migrations:
    image: backend
    command: myapp migrate
    depends_on:
      - db
    profiles:
      - tools
```

```sh
# Only start backend and db
$ docker compose up -d

# This runs db-migrations (and,if necessary, start db)
# by implicitly enabling the profiles `tools`
$ docker compose run db-migrations
```

But keep in mind that `docker compose` only automatically enables the
profiles of the services on the command line and not of any dependencies. 

This means that any other services the targeted service `depends_on` should either:
- Share a common profile 
- Always be enabled, by omitting `profiles` or having a matching profile enabled explicitly

```yaml
version: "{{ site.compose_file_v3 }}"
services:
  web:
    image: web

  mock-backend:
    image: backend
    profiles: ["dev"]
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: mysql
    profiles: ["dev"]

  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin
    profiles: ["debug"]
    depends_on:
      - db
```

```sh
# Only start "web"
$ docker compose up -d

# Start mock-backend (and, if necessary, db)
# by implicitly enabling profiles `dev`
$ docker compose up -d mock-backend

# This fails because profiles "dev" is disabled
$ docker compose up phpmyadmin
```

Although targeting `phpmyadmin` automatically enables the profiles `debug`, it doesn't automatically enable the profiles required by `db` which is `dev`. 

To fix this you either have to add the `debug` profile to the `db` service:

```yaml
db:
  image: mysql
  profiles: ["debug", "dev"]
```

or enable a profile of `db` explicitly:

```console
# Profiles "debug" is enabled automatically by targeting phpmyadmin
$ docker compose --profile dev up phpmyadmin
$ COMPOSE_PROFILES=dev docker compose up phpmyadmin
```


## Reference information

[`profiles`](compose-file/index.md#profiles)