Dokploy Compose Structure

When to Use This Skill

• When creating a new Dokploy template from scratch
• When converting an existing docker-compose to Dokploy format
• When adding new services to existing Dokploy templates
• When user asks to "create a dokploy template for [application]"
• When user asks about "dokploy compose patterns"

When NOT to Use This Skill

• For Kubernetes manifests (use kubernetes patterns instead)
• For standalone Docker deployments without Dokploy
• For modifying existing working templates without understanding context (use dokploy-template-validation first)

Prerequisites

• Application name and version to deploy
• Required services (database, cache, etc.)
• Port mappings needed for external access
• Storage requirements (persistent volumes)

---

Core Patterns

Pattern 1: Network Structure (MANDATORY)

Every Dokploy template MUST have exactly two networks:

networks:
  ${app-name}-net:
    driver: bridge
  dokploy-network:
    external: true

Rules:

• ${app-name}-net: Internal app communication (bridge driver)
• dokploy-network: External network for Traefik routing (ALWAYS external: true)
• Web-facing services connect to BOTH networks
• Internal-only services (databases) connect ONLY to app-net

Pattern 2: Service Definition Template

services:
  ${service-name}:
    image: ${image}:${version}  # ALWAYS pin version, NEVER use :latest
    restart: always             # ALWAYS set restart policy
    depends_on:
      ${dependency}:
        condition: service_healthy  # Use health-based dependencies
    volumes:
      - ${volume-name}:/path/in/container
    environment:
      REQUIRED_VAR: ${REQUIRED_VAR:?Set description here}
      OPTIONAL_VAR: ${OPTIONAL_VAR:-default_value}
    networks:
      - ${app-name}-net
      - dokploy-network  # ONLY for web-facing services
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      # ... additional traefik labels
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "command"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

Pattern 3: Volume Definition

volumes:
  ${service-name}-data:
    driver: local

Rules:

• ALWAYS use named volumes (never bind mounts)
• Naming convention: ${service-name}-${type} (e.g., mongodb-data, postgres-data)
• Use driver: local for standard storage

Pattern 4: Image Version Pinning

# CORRECT - Pinned versions
image: postgres:16-alpine
image: mongo:7
image: redis:7-alpine
image: wardpearce/paaster:3.1.7

# WRONG - Never use these
image: postgres:latest
image: mongo
image: myapp  # implies :latest

---

Complete Examples

Example 1: Simple Web Application (1 service)

Context: Single container app like AnonUpload

services:
  anonupload:
    image: supernero/anonupload:latest-1.0.3
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - anonupload-data:/var/www/html/files
    environment:
      UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE: ${UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE:-1024}
      DELETE_FILES_OLDER_THAN: ${DELETE_FILES_OLDER_THAN:-30}
    networks:
      - anonupload-net
      - dokploy-network
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.anonupload.rule=Host(`${ANONUPLOAD_DOMAIN}`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.anonupload.entrypoints=websecure"
      - "traefik.http.routers.anonupload.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
      - "traefik.http.services.anonupload.loadbalancer.server.port=80"
      - "traefik.docker.network=dokploy-network"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:80/"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

volumes:
  anonupload-data:
    driver: local

networks:
  anonupload-net:
    driver: bridge
  dokploy-network:
    external: true

Example 2: Web App with Database (2 services)

Context: Paaster with MongoDB (from actual template)

services:
  paaster:
    image: wardpearce/paaster:3.1.7
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      mongodb:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      PAASTER_DOMAIN: ${PAASTER_DOMAIN:?Set your domain}
      COOKIE_SECRET: ${COOKIE_SECRET:?Set a secure random cookie secret}
      MONGO_DB: ${MONGO_DB:-paasterv3}
      MONGO_URL: mongodb://mongodb:27017/${MONGO_DB:-paasterv3}
      # S3 storage (Cloudflare R2)
      S3_ENDPOINT: ${S3_ENDPOINT:?Set Cloudflare R2 endpoint}
      S3_REGION: ${S3_REGION:-auto}
      S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID:?Set R2 access key ID}
      S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY:?Set R2 secret access key}
      S3_BUCKET: ${S3_BUCKET:?Set R2 bucket name}
      S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE: "false"
    networks:
      - paaster-net
      - dokploy-network
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paaster.rule=Host(`${PAASTER_DOMAIN}`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paaster.entrypoints=websecure"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paaster.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
      - "traefik.http.services.paaster.loadbalancer.server.port=3000"
      - "traefik.docker.network=dokploy-network"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--no-verbose", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:3000"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

  mongodb:
    image: mongo:7
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - mongodb-data:/data/db
    environment:
      MONGO_INITDB_DATABASE: ${MONGO_DB:-paasterv3}
    networks:
      - paaster-net
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mongosh", "--eval", "db.adminCommand('ping')"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

volumes:
  mongodb-data:
    driver: local

networks:
  paaster-net:
    driver: bridge
  dokploy-network:
    external: true

Example 3: Complex Multi-Service (5+ services)

Context: Paperless-ngx with PostgreSQL, Redis, Gotenberg, Tika

services:
  paperless:
    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx:2.13
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy
      gotenberg:
        condition: service_started
      tika:
        condition: service_started
    volumes:
      - paperless-data:/usr/src/paperless/data
      - paperless-media:/usr/src/paperless/media
      - paperless-export:/usr/src/paperless/export
      - paperless-consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume
    environment:
      PAPERLESS_REDIS: redis://redis:6379
      PAPERLESS_DBHOST: postgres
      PAPERLESS_DBNAME: ${POSTGRES_DB:-paperless}
      PAPERLESS_DBUSER: ${POSTGRES_USER:-paperless}
      PAPERLESS_DBPASS: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?Set database password}
      PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY: ${PAPERLESS_SECRET_KEY:?Set secret key}
      PAPERLESS_URL: https://${PAPERLESS_DOMAIN}
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENABLED: 1
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENDPOINT: http://tika:9998
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_GOTENBERG_ENDPOINT: http://gotenberg:3000
    networks:
      - paperless-net
      - dokploy-network
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paperless.rule=Host(`${PAPERLESS_DOMAIN}`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paperless.entrypoints=websecure"
      - "traefik.http.routers.paperless.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
      - "traefik.http.services.paperless.loadbalancer.server.port=8000"
      - "traefik.docker.network=dokploy-network"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 60s

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB:-paperless}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER:-paperless}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?Set database password}
    networks:
      - paperless-net
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER:-paperless} -d ${POSTGRES_DB:-paperless}"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 30s

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    networks:
      - paperless-net
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 10s

  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8
    restart: always
    networks:
      - paperless-net
    command:
      - "gotenberg"
      - "--chromium-disable-javascript=true"
      - "--chromium-allow-list=file:///tmp/.*"

  tika:
    image: apache/tika:2.9.1.0
    restart: always
    networks:
      - paperless-net

volumes:
  paperless-data:
    driver: local
  paperless-media:
    driver: local
  paperless-export:
    driver: local
  paperless-consume:
    driver: local
  postgres-data:
    driver: local
  redis-data:
    driver: local

networks:
  paperless-net:
    driver: bridge
  dokploy-network:
    external: true

---

Quality Standards

Mandatory Requirements

• [ ] All images have pinned versions (no :latest)
• [ ] All services have restart: always
• [ ] Two networks defined (app-net + dokploy-network)
• [ ] dokploy-network marked as external: true
• [ ] All volumes are named (not bind mounts)
• [ ] Web services connect to both networks
• [ ] Database services connect only to app-net
• [ ] All services have health checks
• [ ] Required env vars use :? syntax with error message
• [ ] Optional env vars use :- syntax with default

Naming Conventions

• Service names: lowercase, hyphenated (e.g., my-service)
• Network names: ${app}-net (e.g., paaster-net)
• Volume names: ${service}-${type} (e.g., postgres-data)
• Environment variables: UPPER_SNAKE_CASE

---

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Using :latest tags

Issue: Images break when upstream updates Solution: Always pin to specific version (major.minor at minimum)

Pitfall 2: Missing dokploy-network

Issue: Traefik cannot route to service Solution: Ensure dokploy-network is defined as external and web services connect to it

Pitfall 3: Bind mounts for data

Issue: Data lost on redeployment, path issues Solution: Use named volumes with driver: local

Pitfall 4: Missing health checks

Issue: Dependencies start before services are ready Solution: Add health checks to all services, use service_healthy condition

Pitfall 5: Database on external network

Issue: Database exposed to other containers Solution: Connect databases ONLY to app-net, not dokploy-network

---

Integration

Skills-First Approach (v2.0+)

This skill is part of the skills-first architecture - loaded progressively by generic agents instead of being embedded in specialized agents.

Related Skills

• dokploy-traefik-routing: Configure Traefik labels
• dokploy-health-patterns: Define health checks
• dokploy-environment-config: Environment variable patterns
• dokploy-multi-service: Complex service dependencies

Invoked By

• /dokploy-create command: Phase 3 (Generation) - Step 1

Order in Workflow (Progressive Loading)

1. This skill: Create base compose structure (loaded first)
2. dokploy-traefik-routing: Add routing labels
3. dokploy-health-patterns: Add health checks
4. dokploy-environment-config: Configure environment
5. dokploy-template-toml: Create template.toml

See: .claude/commands/dokploy-create.md for full workflow