Docker Project Foundations

Overview

This skill guides you in Dockerizing a project from scratch. It focuses on creating the initial Docker file set, choosing a sane layout, and preferring containerized dependencies over host-level installs.

When to use this skill

Activate this skill when:

• A user asks you to set up, initialize, or Dockerize a project
• A project needs an initial Dockerfile, compose.yaml, or .dockerignore and does not have one
• A user wants to add a service dependency (database, cache, message queue) to a project
• A user asks how to run or develop a project locally and Docker is available

Do not use this skill when

Do not use this skill when:

• The user explicitly wants to avoid Docker
• The project already has a mature Docker setup and only needs minor edits
• The main task is optimizing an existing Dockerfile
• The main task is editing or debugging an existing Compose stack

Core guidance

Always create these three files

When Dockerizing a project, always produce all three:

1. .dockerignore, Create this first so the initial build context is small and safe. See assets/dockerignore-example for a reference.
2. Dockerfile, Create a working starter image definition that the project can build and run with. See assets/Dockerfile.simple.
3. compose.yaml, Create a local development stack that includes the application service and any required dependencies. See assets/compose-dev.yaml.

npm registry credentials