DevOps Tools

Docker Compose Validator

Paste a docker-compose.yml and check it for common structural problems before running it.

Paste your docker-compose.yml below - this tool checks it's valid YAML and reviews the structure each service typically needs.

docker-compose.yml Content

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This checks common structural requirements only - always test with `docker compose config` for GitHub's own full validation before deploying.

What Does This Tool Check?

It parses your Compose file and checks that it's valid YAML, that a services block exists, and that each service defines either an image or a build context - plus reviewing ports, volumes, environment, networks, and depends_on for common mistakes.

Why Use This Tool?

A Compose file with a structural mistake often fails with a terse error only after you try to run it. Catching common issues (like a service with neither an image nor a build context) before that point saves a debugging cycle.

How to Use It

Paste your docker-compose.yml content.
Click Validate.
Review errors (likely to break the file) and warnings (worth double-checking).

Limitations

This checks common structural requirements, not full compatibility with every Docker Compose version's schema, and it does not verify that referenced images or build contexts actually exist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Valid YAML, a services section, and common structural mistakes such as a service with neither image nor build, or ports not written as a list. It does not start any containers.

No. The current Compose specification ignores the top-level version field, and recent Docker Compose releases warn that it is obsolete.

Run docker compose config in the project folder. It resolves variables and reports every error Docker itself would find.