Docker Compose Cheat Sheet: Commands & compose.yaml Keys

The docker compose commands and compose.yaml keys in one reference.

Lifecycle commands and the service definition keys for multi-container apps.

Commands

Command	Does
docker compose up -d	Start in background
docker compose up --build	Rebuild then start
docker compose down -v	Stop + remove volumes
docker compose ps	List services
docker compose logs -f svc	Follow a service log
docker compose exec svc sh	Shell into a service
docker compose run --rm svc cmd	One-off command

Service keys

Key	Purpose
image / build	Pull image or build from context
ports	host:container port maps
environment / env_file	Env vars
volumes	Bind/named mounts
depends_on	Start order (+ condition)
healthcheck	Liveness probe
networks	Attach to networks
restart	no / on-failure / always

Example

compose.yaml

services:
  api:
    build: .
    ports: ["8080:8080"]
    env_file: .env
    depends_on:
      db: { condition: service_healthy }
  db:
    image: postgres:16
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "${POSTGRES_USER}"]
      interval: 5s

Key takeaways

depends_on with condition: service_healthy waits for readiness, not just start.
down -v also drops named volumes - omit -v to keep data.
run --rm is ideal for one-off tasks like migrations.

Docker Compose Cheat Sheet: Commands & compose.yaml Keys

Commands

Service keys

Example

Key takeaways

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