compose

Docker Compose lets you define all of them in one YAML file and start everything with a single command. Instead of running five separate `docker run` commands with flags you'll never remember, you write a `docker-compose.yml` and run `docker compose up`.

It's become the standard way to define local development environments. Clone a repo, run `docker compose up`, and you have a fully working environment with the correct database version, the right Redis config, and all the networking already wired. No "works on my machine" problems.

Compose V2 (the current version) is built into Docker CLI as a plugin. No separate install needed. It's faster, supports GPU access, watch mode for development (auto-restart on file changes), and profiles for running subsets of services.

The catch: Compose is for development and simple deployments. It runs on a single host. For production with multiple servers, you need Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, or a platform like Coolify. The YAML syntax is straightforward but verbose. A complex stack can hit 200+ lines. And Compose doesn't handle secrets well for production. Environment variables in a YAML file aren't secure secrets management.