Docker Run to Compose Converter

Turn a long docker run into a service definition. Some of what you typed describes how you were running the command rather than what the service is, and that part does not carry across.

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Examples

Real input you can load into the tool above. Each one shows a different thing going wrong, because that is what the tool is for.

A typical detached run

The -d does not carry across, and a restart policy is added

docker run -d --name web -p 8080:80 -e NODE_ENV=production -v /srv/data:/data nginx:alpine

A credential on the command line

Transient in shell history, permanent in a committed file

docker run -d --name api -e API_KEY=REPLACE_ME myapp:1

A privileged container

Carries across, and converting is a good moment to find out what it actually needed

docker run --privileged --name agent myagent:1

Common mistakes

These are the ones that fail silently. The config is accepted, nothing raises an error, and the consequence arrives later.

  1. Carrying -it and --rm into the compose file

    They describe the invocation. --rm has no equivalent, and stdin_open with tty on an ordinary service is noise that occasionally changes behaviour.

    Instead:Drop them. Use docker compose up -d to detach.

  2. Leaving the service with no restart policy

    docker run defaults to no restart, so a compose service converted verbatim stays down after any exit or reboot.

    Instead:Add restart: unless-stopped unless it really is a one-off.

  3. Pasting -e values straight into the file

    A value that lived in shell history is now committed and shared with everyone who has the repository.

    Instead:Use environment: ['API_KEY=${API_KEY}'] with a gitignored .env, or env_file.

A compose file describes a service, not an invocation

--rm, -d and -it are all about the command you typed. None of them belongs in a file that describes what a service is, and one of them has no equivalent at all.

What does not carry across

--rm has no compose equivalent. -d is docker compose up -d, a property of how you start the stack. -it maps to stdin_open and tty, which are only meaningful for a service you deliberately attach to, and setting them on a normal service is noise.

A restart policy is worth adding

docker run defaults to no restart, which is right for a one-off command and wrong for a service in a file somebody will bring up and walk away from. unless-stopped survives a reboot and respects a deliberate stop, which is what most people mean.

network_mode is not a compose network

It attaches to something that already exists and is incompatible with the networks key and with links. Compose creates a network per project and puts every service on it, which is why most compose files have no network configuration at all.

A credential on a command line becomes a credential in a file

-e API_KEY=... was transient in shell history. In a compose file it is committed and shared. Reference it instead, with the value in a gitignored .env, or use env_file.

Relative paths change meaning

docker run resolves a relative volume path against your current directory. Compose resolves it against the compose file's directory, so the same string can point somewhere else once converted.

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