Docker Compose Applications

Deploy complex multi-container applications using Docker Compose files.

Overview

Docker Compose apps allow you to deploy applications defined in a docker-compose.yml file. This is ideal for:

• Multi-service applications (web app + database + cache)
• Applications with complex networking requirements
• Services that need to share volumes
• Development environments with multiple containers

Creating a Compose Application

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to your project
2. Click "New Application"
3. Select "Docker Compose" as the application type
4. Enter application name and description
5. Click Create Application

Configure Git Source

After creating the app:

1. Go to the Sources tab
2. Choose GitHub (with GitHub App) or Public Git (any public repo)
3. Enter repository URL containing your docker-compose.yml
4. Select the branch to deploy
5. Save configuration

docker-compose.yml Requirements

Your repository must contain a docker-compose.yml file in the root directory (or the configured root directory).

Basic Example

version: '3.8'

services:
  web:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://db:5432/myapp
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:15
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Supported Features

• Build from Dockerfile - Use build: . to build images
• Pre-built images - Use image: to pull from registries
• Environment variables - Defined in compose file or via Mist env vars
• Volumes - Named volumes and bind mounts
• Networking - Default network created for all services
• Depends on - Service startup ordering

Environment Variables

Environment variables added via Mist dashboard are passed to docker compose up and available to all services.

Service Status

Compose apps show aggregate status for all services:

Status	Description
Running	All services are running
Partial	Some services running, some stopped
Stopped	All services stopped

Individual Container Statistics

The dashboard displays detailed information for each service in your compose stack:

Field	Description
Service Name	Name defined in docker-compose.yml
State	Current state (running, stopped, restarting, exited)
Status	Container status with uptime (e.g., "Up 2 hours")

Each container shows its individual state, making it easy to identify which services are running and which may have issues.

Container Operations

Start All Services

Runs docker compose up -d to start all services in detached mode.

Stop All Services

Runs docker compose down to stop and remove all containers.

Restart All Services

Runs docker compose restart to restart all running containers.

Logs

View aggregated logs from all services in your compose stack. Logs are combined from all containers with service name prefixes.

Deployments

When you trigger a deployment:

1. Repository is cloned/updated
2. docker compose up -d runs with environment variables
3. Services are started in dependency order
4. Status updates to reflect running services

Best Practices

Use Named Volumes

Persist data across deployments:

volumes:
  db_data:

services:
  db:
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

Set Resource Limits

Prevent runaway containers:

services:
  web:
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '1.0'
          memory: 512M

Health Checks

Add health checks for reliable service discovery:

services:
  web:
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

Limitations

• No domain routing - Compose apps don't automatically get Traefik routing. Configure Traefik labels in your compose file if needed.
• Single stack - Each Mist app manages one compose stack
• Root directory - The docker-compose.yml must be in the configured root directory

Related

• Git Integration - Configure repository source
• Environment Variables - Pass configuration to services
• Applications Guide - Overview of all application types