Docker for Next.js: Production-Ready Dockerfile, Compose, and CI/CD Pipeline

Docker lets you run your Next.js app in any environment identically. No "works on my machine." No "the server is missing Node 20." Here's the setup that actually works in production.

The Dockerfile

Next.js requires a multi-stage build to keep the image small:

# Dockerfile

# Stage 1: Install dependencies
FROM node:20-alpine AS deps
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

# Stage 2: Build
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .

# Build args for public env vars (baked into client bundle)
ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL
ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY
ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL
ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=$NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY

RUN npx prisma generate
RUN npm run build

# Stage 3: Production runner
FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app

ENV NODE_ENV=production

# Non-root user for security
RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs

# Copy only what's needed
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules/.prisma ./node_modules/.prisma

USER nextjs

EXPOSE 3000
ENV PORT=3000
ENV HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0"

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Required next.config.js Setting

// next.config.js
/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  output: "standalone",  // Required for Docker
}

module.exports = nextConfig

The standalone output mode copies only the files needed to run the app, dramatically reducing image size.

docker-compose for Local Development

# docker-compose.yml
version: "3.8"

services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
      args:
        NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL: http://localhost:3000
        NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY: pk_test_placeholder
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/myapp
      NEXTAUTH_URL: http://localhost:3000
      NEXTAUTH_SECRET: local-dev-secret-32-chars-minimum
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  # Run migrations on startup
  migrate:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    command: npx prisma migrate deploy
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/myapp
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  postgres_data:

# Start everything
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f app

# Stop
docker-compose down

.dockerignore

Exclude files that don't belong in the image:

node_modules
.next
.git
.gitignore
*.md
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
Dockerfile
docker-compose.yml
.dockerignore
coverage
__tests__

Without .dockerignore, node_modules gets copied into the build context (slow and bloated).

Building and Pushing to a Registry

# Build for production
docker build   --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://myapp.com   --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...   -t myapp:latest .

# Tag for registry
docker tag myapp:latest ghcr.io/yourusername/myapp:latest

# Push to GitHub Container Registry
echo $GITHUB_TOKEN | docker login ghcr.io -u USERNAME --password-stdin
docker push ghcr.io/yourusername/myapp:latest

GitHub Actions: Build and Push on Deploy

# .github/workflows/docker.yml
name: Build and Push Docker Image

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Log in to GitHub Container Registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:latest
          build-args: |
            NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=${{ vars.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL }}
            NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=${{ vars.NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

The cache-from/cache-to: type=gha uses GitHub Actions cache for Docker layers. Subsequent builds are dramatically faster.

Deploying to a VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode)

Once you have a Docker image, deploy to any server:

# On your server
docker pull ghcr.io/yourusername/myapp:latest

docker run -d   --name myapp   --restart unless-stopped   -p 3000:3000   -e DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."   -e NEXTAUTH_SECRET="..."   -e STRIPE_SECRET_KEY="sk_live_..."   ghcr.io/yourusername/myapp:latest

With nginx as a reverse proxy in front for SSL termination.

Image Size Optimization

The multi-stage build should produce an image around 150-250MB. If yours is larger:

# Check image layers
docker history myapp:latest

# Analyze with dive
brew install dive
dive myapp:latest

Common culprits: not using --only=production for the deps stage, not using .dockerignore, copying node_modules before RUN npm ci.

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The /deploy skill in the Ship Fast Skill Pack generates this Dockerfile, docker-compose, and GitHub Actions workflow configured for your specific Next.js setup.

Ship Fast Skill Pack ($49) ->

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