The Minimal Docker Setup for Fullstack Development

You don't need a Dockerfile for local development. You need docker-compose.yml with three services and a volume mount.

The Setup

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  db:
    image: postgres:17
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
      POSTGRES_USER: dev
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: dev
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"

  app:
    image: node:22-alpine
    working_dir: /app
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - node_modules:/app/node_modules
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://dev:dev@db:5432/myapp
      REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379
    command: sh -c "npm install && npm run dev"
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis

volumes:
  pgdata:
  node_modules:

That's it. Run docker compose up and you have:

• PostgreSQL 17 with persistent data
• Redis for caching/sessions
• Your app with hot reload (Vite, nodemon, whatever your dev script uses)

Why This Works

No Dockerfile for dev. You don't need one. The node:22-alpine image + volume mount gives you hot reload. Your code changes are reflected instantly because the current directory is mounted as /app.

Named volume for node_modules. This is the key trick. Without node_modules:/app/node_modules, the volume mount from your host would overwrite the container's node_modules. The named volume keeps them separate — container installs its own deps, your host keeps its own.

Persistent database. The pgdata volume survives docker compose down. Your seed data, migrations, test records — all preserved. Only docker compose down -v wipes it.

Adding Prisma Migrations

  migrate:
    image: node:22-alpine
    working_dir: /app
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - node_modules:/app/node_modules
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://dev:dev@db:5432/myapp
    command: sh -c "npm install && npx prisma migrate dev"
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_started
    profiles:
      - migrate

Run migrations: docker compose --profile migrate run migrate

The profiles key means this service only runs when explicitly called. It won't start with a regular docker compose up.

Production Is Different

For production, you DO need a Dockerfile. Multi-stage build:

# Stage 1: Build
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Stage 2: Run
FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY package*.json ./
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]

Dev image: ~900MB (full Node + all deps + source). Production image: ~150MB (only build output + production deps).

Common Mistakes

1. Forgetting the node_modules volume

Without it:

volumes:
  - .:/app  # Host's empty node_modules overwrites container's

With it:

volumes:
  - .:/app
  - node_modules:/app/node_modules  # Container keeps its own

2. Using build: . in development

If you use build: . instead of image: node:22-alpine, Docker rebuilds on every docker compose up. Volume mount + pre-built image is faster.

3. Not setting depends_on

Your app will crash on first start if it tries to connect to PostgreSQL before the database is ready. depends_on ensures startup order (though for production, use healthchecks).

The .env.example

Always ship one:

# .env.example
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://dev:dev@localhost:5432/myapp
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
JWT_SECRET=dev-secret-change-in-production
PORT=3000

Note: localhost for running outside Docker, db/redis for inside Docker. Use the Docker service names in docker-compose.yml and localhost in .env for when you run the app natively.

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This setup runs across 12 production templates. Clone, docker compose up, start coding. No 45-minute setup guides.