docker compose up Command Reference

Create and start the services defined in a compose file.

docker compose up builds (if needed), creates, and starts the services in a compose file, along with their network and volumes. In CI you run it detached with -d and ideally --wait so the job only proceeds once services are healthy.

Common flags

-d, --detach - run services in the background
--build - build images before starting, even if they exist
--wait - block until services are running and healthy
--wait-timeout - seconds to wait before failing
--abort-on-container-exit - stop all services if any container exits
--force-recreate - recreate containers even if config is unchanged

Example

shell

docker compose up -d --build --wait
docker compose run --rm app npm run test:e2e

In CI

Use -d --build --wait so the step returns only after every service with a healthcheck reports healthy, eliminating flaky "connection refused" races before tests. --wait requires healthchecks defined in the compose file; without them it returns as soon as containers are running, not ready.

Key takeaways

-d --build --wait is the canonical CI invocation.
--wait depends on compose-file healthchecks to know a service is ready.
It eliminates startup races that cause flaky "connection refused" failures.