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
- 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
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
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.
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.
Core capabilities:
- Manage multiple Compose projects
- Start/stop stacks from one interface
- Stream and search logs
- Built-in Compose YAML editor
.envfile support
- Import and manage multiple Compose files (including
compose.yaml,docker-compose.yml, and custom filenames) - Directory-aware sidebar tree for quick navigation
.envfile support (auto-detect or custom path per project)- Persistent settings stored in YAML
- Start and stop selected Compose projects
- Service status visibility in one interface
- Live log streaming
- Search and filter logs
- Configurable log retention (default: 100,000 lines)
- Built-in YAML editor with save support
- External editor integration
- macOS 14.0 or later
- Docker Desktop installed and running
- Xcode 15+ (if building from source)
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"You can also build locally from source:
./build-app.shThis creates Compose Launcher.app and launches it.
Alternative manual build:
cd ComposeLauncher
swift build -c releaseBinary output:
ComposeLauncher/.build/release/ComposeLauncher
- Launch the app.
- Click Add Compose File (⌘O).
- Select your
compose.yamlordocker-compose.yml. - Click Start Selected (⌘R).
- View logs or edit configuration from the sidebar.
- 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
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
| 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 |
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Add Compose File | ⌘O |
| Start Selected | ⌘R |
| Stop Selected | ⌘. |
| Save Editor | ⌘S |
| Settings | ⌘, |
Planned improvements:
- richer project grouping and workspace organization
- deeper service health/status visibility
- expanded log tooling
- packaging/distribution improvements
Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or submit a pull request.
MIT License