PEST.js
3

Docker

Multi-stage builds and docker-compose.

When you enable Docker support, PEST.js generates a Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml, and .dockerignore. The Dockerfile uses multi-stage builds for small production images, and the install commands match your chosen package manager.

Dockerfile

Dockerfile
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]
Dockerfile
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
RUN corepack enable
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
COPY . .
RUN pnpm run build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
RUN corepack enable
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --prod
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]
Dockerfile
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile
COPY . .
RUN yarn build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile --production
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]

Prisma projects get an extra prisma generate step in the build stage. The generated client, the prisma/ directory, and prisma.config.ts are all copied into the production image.

docker-compose.yml

The compose file always includes an app service. When you select PostgreSQL or MySQL, a db service is added with health checks. The app waits for the database to be healthy before starting.

docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@db:5432/mydb
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

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

volumes:
  db_data:
docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@db:3306/mydb
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

  db:
    image: mysql:8
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
      MYSQL_USER: user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: mydb
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  db_data:

SQLite is file-based, so no database service is needed. A volume mount persists the database file across container restarts:

docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: "/app/data/dev.db"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data

The DATABASE_URL in the compose file uses db as the hostname instead of localhost because containers communicate over Docker's internal network.

.dockerignore

.dockerignore
node_modules
dist
.env
.git
coverage
*.log
.DS_Store

Running

Terminal
docker compose up --build

Your API will be available at http://localhost:3000.