Better documentation for `docker compose start/stop/restart` for named projects

[aaronshenhao]

Is this a docs issue?

• My issue is about the documentation content or website

Type of issue

I can't find what I'm looking for

Description

I am unable to restart or stop my compose project unless I add the -p tag. This happens when a name is assigned to a project (doc).

For example, docker compose start/stop/restart SERVICE simply runs without doing anything (no errors).

The only way to restart/stop my project is by using:

docker compose -p PROJECT_NAME start/stop/restart.

This behavior is not explained in the documentation. I only figured it out after reading a StackExchange question (link).

This behavior might affect other commands too.

Location

https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/compose/start/
https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/compose/stop/
https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/compose/restart/

Suggestion

It would be great if the docs could mention this, as it is quite unintuitive and pertains to very common operations.

[aevesdocker]

Hi @aaronshenhao I'm struggling to reproduce this. Using just docker compose start/stop/restart SERVICE with an assigned project name works fine for me. Can I check what version of Docker Compose you are using?