Docker Run to Compose Converter

How to use it

1. Paste a docker run command. Line continuations and both quoting styles parse; several commands split on newlines, ; or &&, and conversion runs as you type.
2. Read the compose.yaml pane — services are named after their images, and flags the converter does not recognize sit as comments above their service; flags compose cannot express at all appear in the report below.
3. Work through the conversion report: every flag you typed appears exactly once, grouped under headings like Ports & networking, Resources, or Not representable.
4. Copy or download the file. Turning on .env extraction moves literal -e values into a separate .env, loaded back through env_file.

A docker run command and a compose file describe the same container in two different grammars. Paste one or more run commands to get a services: block back, next to a flag-by-flag report saying where each option went — mapped to a compose key, kept as a comment, or not expressible at all. Backslash continuations, docker create, and podman run convert too, and the command never leaves this device.

Examples

docker run -d -p 8080:80 -v ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html --restart unless-stopped nginx:1.27

services:
  nginx:
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    volumes:
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html
    restart: unless-stopped
    image: nginx:1.27

docker run -d --name db -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret postgres:17

services:
  # named volume 'pgdata' is marked as "external" (used by service 'postgres'), so either remove "external" from volume definition or it needs to be created using: docker volume create pgdata
  postgres:
    container_name: db
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    env_file:
      - .env
    image: postgres:17
volumes:
  pgdata:
    external: true
    name: pgdata

docker run -d --name web -p 8080:80 nginx
docker run -d --name cache redis:7

services:
  nginx:
    container_name: web
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    image: nginx
  redis:
    container_name: cache
    image: redis:7

docker run -d --network container:web --name sidecar busybox

services:
  busybox:
    # --network container:web maps to "network_mode: container:web" — compose does not create or manage that container; make sure "web" is running before "docker compose up" (not a full docker run equivalent).
    network_mode: container:web
    container_name: sidecar
    image: busybox

Every example on this page is executed against the same engine that powers the tool, on every build.

Common errors

Unclosed quote starting at column 24 on line 1.

The pre-parser reads your command the way a shell would, so an unfinished quote stops conversion before any guessing starts. Columns are 1-based on the pasted line, and Jump to error lands the cursor there — usually a clipped copy lost the closing quote.

This looks like a Dockerfile, not a docker run command — paste a docker run, docker create, podman run, or podman create command.

FROM, RUN, COPY, or ARG at the head of a line reads as a Dockerfile, which builds an image rather than starting a container. Convert the docker run command that launches the finished image — the two kinds do not translate into each other.

Input is larger than the 64 KB limit for this tool. For bigger commands use the CLI: npx composerize docker run -d -p 8080:80 --restart unless-stopped nginx:1.27

The cap refuses outright rather than trimming, so conversion covers your whole input or none of it. 64 KB outruns any real command line; beyond it, the npx line runs the same conversion library from your terminal.

Keyboard shortcuts

⌘/Ctrl + Enter

Re-run the conversion immediately.

⌘/Ctrl + S

Download compose.yaml, overriding the browser's save dialog.

⌘/Ctrl + C

Copy the compose output while no text is selected.

⌘/Ctrl + Shift + C

Copy the whole output even mid-selection.

t

Advance the theme.

?

Open the shortcut help overlay.

Esc

Dismiss the topmost overlay.