How do I convert a docker run command to docker-compose.yml?

Paste your raw 'docker run' command into the input editor. The converter automatically parses all flags (e.g., -p for ports, -v for volumes, -e for environment variables, --restart, --name, --health-cmd, and resource limits) and generates clean, production-ready Docker Compose YAML formatted according to the latest Compose Specification.

How do I convert a docker-compose.yml file back to a docker run command?

Switch the converter to 'Compose YAML ➔ Docker Run' mode, paste your docker-compose.yml content, and select your service. The tool reconstructs the exact CLI command with all volume mounts, environment flags, port mappings, and healthchecks in multi-line bash or single-line format.

Is this Docker Compose converter safe for passwords and API keys?

Yes, 100% private. All parsing, flag tokenization, and YAML serialization happen completely in your browser's local JavaScript engine. Zero network requests, commands, or secrets are ever uploaded to any external server.

Why use this tool instead of Composerize?

Unlike Composerize, this tool is bidirectional (it converts both Docker Run ➔ Compose and Compose ➔ Docker Run). It also supports modern Docker Compose features including healthchecks, custom networks, hardware device mappings (/dev/dri), resource limits (CPU/memory), named volume extraction, and multi-service Compose files.

Does the converter support Docker healthchecks and restart policies?

Yes! Flags like --health-cmd, --health-interval, --health-timeout, --health-retries, and --restart (unless-stopped, always, on-failure) are fully parsed and converted into proper Compose healthcheck and restart directives.

How are named volumes vs bind mounts handled?

Relative paths (./data) or absolute paths (/var/lib/...) are mapped as host bind mounts. Non-path volume strings (e.g., postgres_data:/data) are identified as named volumes and automatically declared in the top-level 'volumes:' block of the Compose file.

Does the tool support multi-service docker-compose.yml files?

Yes! When converting from Compose to Docker Run, the tool detects all services in your file (e.g. web, db, redis) and allows you to generate individual commands per service or batch commands for all services at once.

Docker Run to Docker Compose Converter (Bidirectional)

services: my-nginx: image: nginx:alpine container_name: my-nginx restart: unless-stopped ports: - "80:80" - "443:443" volumes: - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro

Why Convert Between Docker Run and Docker Compose?

Containerized development requires flexibility between ad-hoc terminal debugging and reproducible infrastructure-as-code. Developers frequently encounter two opposite challenges:

Migrating GitHub README commands to Compose: Open-source projects (like Nextcloud, PostgreSQL, or Nginx) typically document installation with long docker run -d -p 8080:80 -v ... commands. Pasting them directly into a terminal makes version control, secrets management, and automated restarts difficult. Converting them into docker-compose.yml allows versioned, single-command deployment with docker compose up -d.
Quick CLI Testing from Compose: When debugging a failing container in a multi-service Compose stack, spinning up the entire stack with docker compose up can be slow. Extracting an equivalent docker run command lets engineers test flags, override entrypoints, and attach interactive shells (-it) in seconds.

Docker Run Flags vs. Docker Compose Directives

The table below outlines how common Docker CLI flags map to modern Docker Compose Specification keys:

Docker Run Flag	Compose YAML Directive	Purpose
-p 8080:80	ports: - "8080:80"	Binds host port 8080 to container port 80
-v ./data:/app:ro	volumes: - ./data:/app:ro	Binds host directory with read-only permission
-e DB_PASS=secret	environment: - DB_PASS=secret	Passes environment variables to container processes
--restart unless-stopped	restart: unless-stopped	Defines container crash and system reboot recovery
--health-cmd "curl -f ..."	healthcheck: test: [...]	Monitors application health status for service readiness
--memory 1g --cpus 2	deploy: resources: limits: ...	Prevents container out-of-memory crashes on shared hosts

Handling Named Volumes vs. Host Bind Mounts

Docker distinguishes between host bind mounts (which point to specific directories on the host operating system) and Docker-managed named volumes (stored under /var/lib/docker/volumes/):

Bind Mounts: Any path starting with ./, ../, /, or ~ is treated as a bind mount and stays under the service's volumes: list.
Named Volumes: Any volume without leading path separators (e.g. pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data) is detected as a named volume. This tool automatically declares it in the root-level volumes: section of the generated docker-compose.yml file.

Security & Privacy: 100% In-Browser Execution

When dealing with infrastructure commands, developers frequently paste sensitive credentials such as database passwords, Stripe webhooks, or AWS credentials in -e flags. Unlike legacy online converters that send your commands to external backend servers, this tool parses every token using in-browser JavaScript. Your infrastructure commands and secrets never leave your device.

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Docker Run ⇄ Docker Compose Converter

Why Convert Between Docker Run and Docker Compose?

Docker Run Flags vs. Docker Compose Directives

Handling Named Volumes vs. Host Bind Mounts

Security & Privacy: 100% In-Browser Execution