Docker Compose
docker/composeReviewed by AI
What it does
Docker Compose is the `docker compose` command. You write one file (compose.yaml) listing the parts of an application - a web server, a database, a cache - and it builds, starts, connects and stops them all together. It is for developers and people who self-host software: many projects ship a ready compose file, so running them becomes one command. It needs Docker installed and running. On Windows and Mac it comes inside Docker Desktop; on Linux you download the binary from the releases page (about 30 MB) and copy it into Docker's plugin folder.
How easy it is to install
D · terminal, several tools or a specific graphics card · Windows
- Windows D
- macOS D
- Linux D
Nothing works without Docker itself, and you drive everything from a terminal with a hand-written YAML file. Windows and Mac are the easiest: the README says Compose is already included in Docker Desktop, so one installer covers it. On Linux you download the right binary (for example docker-compose-linux-x86_64, 31 MB), rename it, make it executable and copy it into a cli-plugins folder by hand.
Coming soon: install in 1 click with the RepoPicks app.
Numbers on GitHub
- Stars
- 38,550on Oct 31, 2026
- Downloads
- 508,656,1851,863,477 this week
- Growth
- +45stars in 5 days
Stars over time
Facts
- Runs on
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- You need to install
- Docker
- To build from source
- Docker, Go
- Disk space
- 32 MB–95 MB · from the installer
- Accounts or keys
- None
- Cost
- Free · Compose itself is free and open source (Apache-2.0). On Windows and Mac it arrives with Docker Desktop, a separate Docker Inc product with its own terms that are not covered by this repository.
- License
- Apache-2.0 (Permissive)
- Last update
- Oct 30, 2026
Risk signals (3)
- Attentioncompose files can open your folders and ports
The example in the README mounts a folder from your computer into a container (`volumes: - .:/code`) and publishes a port (`ports: - "5000:5000"`). A compose file you downloaded can therefore give its containers access to your files and open ports on your machine, and the Docker engine it talks to runs with high system privileges.
AI review
- Infosends traces through opentelemetry
go.mod requires go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace, otlptracegrpc and otlptracehttp, so the command is built to report traces; where they are sent depends on the Docker CLI configuration on your machine.
AI review
- Infoswarm users lose features
README note: after the acquisition by Mirantis, 'swarm isn't maintained by Docker Inc, and as such some Docker Compose features aren't accessible to swarm users'. The old Python version of Compose is kept only on the v1 branch.
AI review
Evidence is shown in its original language.
What Radar could not check
- How much disk the container images a compose file pulls will take (the command itself is about 32-95 MB)
- Whether usage traces are actually sent while you use it, and to where
- What a compose file taken from the internet really starts, which folders it mounts and which ports it opens
- Whether your organisation needs a paid Docker Desktop subscription to get Compose on Windows or Mac