# containers/podman-compose

a script to run docker-compose.yml using podman

Repository: https://github.com/containers/podman-compose
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/podman-compose
Language: Python
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: podman, docker-compose, linux-containers, rootless-containers
Last push: 2026-08-11T17:58:05+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 75, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2739, "days_push": 22, "days_rel": 91, "gap_med": 76.5, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6204, forks 619 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:39.934820+00:00)

## What it is
A single-file Python CLI that implements the Compose Spec, running docker-compose.yml files with Podman as the backend. It emphasizes a rootless, daemon-less process model by directly executing podman commands.

## Use cases
- run docker-compose.yml with podman
- replace docker-compose with a rootless alternative
- orchestrate multi-container apps without a daemon
- develop containerized apps locally without Docker
- use compose files on rootless podman setups

## When to choose
- you use Podman instead of Docker and want compose compatibility
- you want rootless, daemon-less container orchestration on a single machine
- you want a lightweight pip-installable compose tool

## When to avoid
- you need multi-node clustering - use Kubernetes, OKD, or k3s instead
- you rely on advanced docker-compose features not covered by the Compose Spec
- you run legacy podman (<3.1) without using the 0.1.x branch

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, deployment, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: cli, python, cross-platform
- tags: podman, docker-compose, compose-spec, rootless-containers, daemonless, containers, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- containers/podman-compose (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:39.934820+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:47:19.005713+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/containers/podman-compose (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:39.934820+00:00, sha 4e2e32c30ebe)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/podman-compose/json (fetched 2026-08-29T08:43:42.092014+00:00, sha bad80eb5fd29)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.