3.6. Docker Template

The Docker Template containerizes the generated project — a single Dockerfile plus a docker-compose.yml generated automatically from whatever else is installed.

3.6.1. Dynamic, one service per entry point

Right after install, and again whenever you ask it to, this template scans runners/main for every Runner that exposes a start action and writes one docker-compose.yml service per match — the CLI’s own runner, a Flask app if installed, and so on. Install just the CLI and you get one service; add flask_api and a flask service appears too, with no manual compose editing.

If you install a new runners/main template later, refresh the compose file explicitly:

python tools docker generate_compose

This is a full rewrite of the file, so back up any manual edits (ports, volumes, environment variables) first — it isn’t run automatically on every unrelated template install specifically so those edits aren’t clobbered without warning.

3.6.2. Building and running

Everything routes through the project root — no need to cd into infrastructure/docker first:

python tools docker build [service=<name>]
python tools docker up [service=<name>]
python tools docker down

Omit service to act on every service in the compose file. These wrap the docker compose CLI (falling back to the standalone docker-compose v1 binary if the modern plugin isn’t installed).

3.6.3. No hardcoded package manager

The image installs dependencies through whichever of Poetry, Pipenv, or uv your project is actually using — no changes needed if you switch package managers later. It also runs as a non-root user.

3.6.4. Development vs. production

The image installs only your project’s runtime dependencies: dev-only tooling (linters, doc builders, and so on) is always left out, whatever config/app.toml’s environment says. That setting does matter for the application itself: with environment = "production", the Flask Template runs under a production-grade server instead of the development one — see Flask.

3.6.5. One thing to set up yourself

The generated docker-compose.yml doesn’t guess exposed ports, since that’s specific to how you’re actually deploying. Add a ports: entry to a service if you need to reach it from outside the container, e.g.:

services:
  flask:
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"