Core Workflow

Define services — each service gets its own named block with image, ports, volumes, environment
Add healthchecks — on any service that others depend on being ready (databases, caches, search)
Set depends_on conditions — use service_healthy for services with healthchecks, service_completed_successfully for migration jobs
Configure networking — use custom networks to isolate internal services from public-facing ones
Separate environments — use override files to keep base config clean and environment differences explicit

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Healthchecks	`references/healthchecks.md`	Configuring healthcheck commands, timing, depends_on conditions
Networking	`references/networking.md`	Custom networks, service DNS, port exposure vs publishing
Volumes	`references/volumes.md`	Named volumes, bind mounts, tmpfs, sharing between services
Environment	`references/environment.md`	.env files, variable substitution, secrets, env_file
Profiles	`references/profiles.md`	Optional services (Mailpit, Adminer) toggled with --profile
Override Files	`references/override.md`	Per-environment compose files for dev, CI, and production