GitHub - yingbo/compose-launcher: A lightweight GUI tool that lets you drop in multiple Docker Compose files, manage them in one place, and run any stack with a single click.

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A lightweight GUI to start, stop, and manage Docker Compose stacks. Perfect for developers running multiple compose files locally.

  • Visual stack management
  • Start / stop environments in one click
  • Lightweight alternative to Docker Desktop
  • Built for local development workflows

Platform Docker Compose Status

Why Compose Launcher

  • Manage multiple Docker Compose projects from one app
  • See all running services across projects at a glance
  • Stream and search logs without terminal clutter
  • Edit Compose YAML directly inside the app
  • Designed for local multi-stack development on macOS

Who is this for?

  • Developers running multiple compose environments
  • Teams with several local services
  • People who don't want to memorize docker-compose commands

The Problem

When you work across multiple local Docker Compose projects, the terminal workflow gets messy fast:

  • too many terminal tabs and windows
  • hard to remember which stacks are running
  • logs scattered across sessions
  • editing Compose files and monitoring services happen in different tools

The Solution

Compose Launcher centralizes your local Compose workflow in one macOS app. You can manage projects in a sidebar, control runtime state, inspect logs, and edit YAML from the same interface. This reduces terminal hopping and makes multi-stack development easier to track.

Why not just use the CLI?

docker compose works well for individual projects, but local development gets harder when you are managing multiple stacks at once. Compose Launcher gives you a single place to track projects, inspect logs, and edit Compose files without bouncing between terminal sessions and windows.

Features

Features

Core capabilities:

  • Manage multiple Compose projects
  • Start/stop stacks from one interface
  • Stream and search logs
  • Built-in Compose YAML editor
  • .env file support

Project Management

  • Import and manage multiple Compose files (including compose.yaml, docker-compose.yml, and custom filenames)
  • Directory-aware sidebar tree for quick navigation
  • .env file support (auto-detect or custom path per project)
  • Persistent settings stored in YAML

Runtime Control

  • Start and stop selected Compose projects
  • Service status visibility in one interface

Logs & Debugging

  • Live log streaming
  • Search and filter logs
  • Configurable log retention (default: 100,000 lines)

Editing

  • Built-in YAML editor with save support
  • External editor integration

Requirements

  • macOS 14.0 or later
  • Docker Desktop installed and running
  • Xcode 15+ (if building from source)

Installation

Option 1: Download a release build

Download the latest Compose-Launcher-macos.zip from this repository's Releases page. Extract it, then launch Compose Launcher.app.

Code signing note: release builds are unsigned. On first launch, right-click and choose Open, or run:

xattr -cr "Compose Launcher.app"

Option 2: Build from source

You can also build locally from source:

This creates Compose Launcher.app and launches it.

Alternative manual build:

cd ComposeLauncher
swift build -c release

Binary output:

ComposeLauncher/.build/release/ComposeLauncher

Quick Start

  1. Launch the app.
  2. Click Add Compose File (⌘O).
  3. Select your compose.yaml or docker-compose.yml.
  4. Click Start Selected (⌘R).
  5. View logs or edit configuration from the sidebar.

Interface Preview

Main Window Running Services Built-in Editor Settings

Use Cases

  • Microservice development with multiple local stacks
  • Managing several Compose projects at the same time
  • Switching between local environments quickly
  • Using a GUI workflow for day-to-day Docker Compose tasks

Who This Is For

Compose Launcher is useful if you:

  • run multiple Docker Compose projects locally
  • work on microservice architectures
  • prefer a GUI over managing stacks purely in terminal
  • frequently switch between local environments

Comparison

Option Best for
docker compose CLI Operating one project at a time from terminal
Compose Launcher Managing multiple projects with GUI controls, logs, and editor

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Add Compose File ⌘O
Start Selected ⌘R
Stop Selected ⌘.
Save Editor ⌘S
Settings ⌘,

Roadmap

Planned improvements:

  • richer project grouping and workspace organization
  • deeper service health/status visibility
  • expanded log tooling
  • packaging/distribution improvements

Documentation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT License