docker run ↔ Compose

How to use docker run ↔ Compose

1. Paste one or more docker run commands, or a Compose file, into the input, drop a file on it, or use Open file. docker run example and Compose example load samples.
2. Leave the direction on Auto-detect (a command that starts with docker, podman or sudo docker is converted to Compose, anything else is read as Compose YAML), or choose docker run → Compose or Compose → docker run.
3. For Compose → docker run, tick Add -d (detached) and One option per line as you like.
4. Read the warnings and notes under the output, then copy the result, download it as docker-compose.yml or docker-run.sh, or send it to another tool.

How it works

The command is split into words with a POSIX shell tokenizer (quotes, backslash line continuations, …' strings), then each docker run is parsed: short flags can be clustered (-dit) or have their value attached (-p8080:80), --flag=value and --flag value both work, and the first word that isn’t an option is the image; everything after it is the command. Several commands separated by newlines, && or ; become several services. Flags map to service keys, for example -p to ports, -e to environment, -v to volumes, --mount to long-form volumes, --health-* to healthcheck, --cpus and --memory to deploy.resources.limits, and --add-host, --cap-add, --cap-drop and --privileged to their Compose keys. Named volumes are declared under top-level volumes, and named networks under top-level networks (marked external: true, because docker run needs them to exist).

Compose → docker run reads the YAML with the yaml package (anchors and merge keys supported). Each service becomes one docker run command, listed in depends_on order, with ports, environment, volumes, networks, health check, resources and command written as flags. Declared networks that Compose would create get a docker network create line first. Anything without an equivalent is reported as a warning.

Limits

• Input is limited to about 1 MB. Only docker run (and docker container run, podman run) commands are converted; other commands in the same paste are skipped with a warning.
• Flags with no Compose service key (-P, --cpu-period, --detach-keys and similar) are ignored and listed as warnings. -d and --rm are noted rather than written, because Compose has no equivalent.
• Compose → docker run ignores build, profiles, configs, secrets, deploy.replicas and other Swarm or Compose-only keys, and warns about each. depends_on only sets the order of the commands; docker run does not wait for health.
• ${VAR} interpolation in a Compose file is passed through literally; replace those values with real ones. Relative bind mounts such as ./data need an absolute path for docker run.
• Container names, networks and volumes keep the names you give them. Compose normally prefixes them with the project name, so names can differ from a real docker compose up.
• Several --network flags in one command need Docker 25 or newer.

Privacy

Conversion happens entirely in your browser; your commands and Compose files are never uploaded or stored. Share copies a link with your input in the URL’s # fragment, which browsers don’t send to servers, though anyone with the link can read it, so avoid sharing input that contains passwords or tokens. If you use Send to… or receive text from another tool, it is handed over through this tab’s session storage and removed as soon as the receiving tool reads it.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the network marked external?

docker run --network name only works when that network already exists, so the Compose file refers to it as external: true. Delete that line if you want Compose to create the network for you.

What happens to -d and --rm?

Compose services start in the background with docker compose up -d, so -d isn’t written to the file. There is no auto-remove option for a service; use docker compose run --rm <service> for a one-off container.

Can I convert several commands at once?

Yes. Paste them one after another (separated by newlines, && or ;) and each becomes a service. The service is named after --name, or after the image (nginx:1.27 becomes nginx), with a number added if names clash.

How are ports and "no" kept as text in the YAML?

Values such as 8080:80 and no are double-quoted. Some YAML readers treat the bare forms as numbers or booleans, which Compose’s own documentation warns about.