Docker Compose — Profile Use Cases

Profiles shine in real-world scenarios where different team members or environments need different sets of services.

Use Case 1: Development Tools

services:
  api:
    build: ./api
    ports: ["3000:3000"]

  db:
    image: postgres:16

  # Dev-only tools
  adminer:
    image: adminer
    ports: ["8080:8080"]
    profiles: [dev]

  mailhog:
    image: mailhog/mailhog
    ports: ["1025:1025", "8025:8025"]
    profiles: [dev]

Developers run --profile dev; production skips dev tools.

Use Case 2: Testing

services:
  api:
    build: ./api

  db:
    image: postgres:16

  # Test runner
  test:
    build: ./api
    command: npm test
    profiles: [test]
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

docker compose --profile test run --rm test

Use Case 3: Monitoring Stack

services:
  api:
    build: ./api

  prometheus:
    image: prom/prometheus
    profiles: [monitoring]

  grafana:
    image: grafana/grafana
    profiles: [monitoring]

  alertmanager:
    image: prom/alertmanager
    profiles: [monitoring]

Use Case 4: Database Choice

services:
  api:
    build: ./api

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    profiles: [postgres]

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8
    profiles: [mysql]

  mongo:
    image: mongo:7
    profiles: [mongo]

docker compose --profile postgres up -d    # Use PostgreSQL
docker compose --profile mysql up -d       # Use MySQL

Use Case 5: CI/CD Pipeline

services:
  api:
    build: ./api

  lint:
    build: ./api
    command: npm run lint
    profiles: [ci]

  test:
    build: ./api
    command: npm test
    profiles: [ci]

  e2e:
    build: ./e2e
    profiles: [ci, e2e]

# CI runs all checks
docker compose --profile ci up --abort-on-container-exit

Summary

Use Case	Profile Name	Services
Dev tools	dev	adminer, mailhog
Testing	test	test runner
Monitoring	monitoring	prometheus, grafana
DB choice	postgres/mysql	Selected database
CI/CD	ci	lint, test, e2e

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Quick Reference

Item	Detail
Dev tools	–profile dev
Testing	–profile test run –rm test
Monitoring	–profile monitoring
DB choice	–profile postgres or –profile mysql
CI/CD	–profile ci up –abort-on-container-exit