Running with Docker

This guide walks through getting Docker on macOS and running the portfolio in a container. If you already have Docker installed, skip to Build and run.

Install Docker on macOS

Option A — Docker Desktop (recommended)

1. Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop
2. Click Download for Mac — choose Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) or Intel depending on your Mac
3. Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Docker to your Applications folder
4. Launch Docker from Applications — it will ask for your password to install helper components
5. Wait for the Docker icon in your menu bar to show "Docker Desktop is running"

Verify it works:

docker --version
# Docker version 27.x.x, build ...

Option B — Homebrew (one command)

If you use Homebrew:

brew install --cask docker

Then open Docker from Applications and wait for it to finish starting.

tip

Docker Desktop includes both docker and docker compose. No extra installs needed.

Build and run

From the project root:

# Build the image
docker build -t greenlight .

# Run the container
docker run -p 3000:3000 greenlight

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. That's it.

What happens under the hood

The included Dockerfile is a two-stage build:

# Stage 1 — build the app
FROM node:22-alpine AS build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Stage 2 — production server (small image)
FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY server.js .
COPY --from=build /app/dist ./dist
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

• Stage 1 installs all dependencies, compiles TypeScript, and bundles with Vite
• Stage 2 copies only production dependencies and the built dist/ folder — keeping the final image small

Useful commands

Command	What it does
docker build -t greenlight .	Build the image
docker run -p 3000:3000 greenlight	Start a container on port 3000
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 greenlight	Start in the background (detached)
docker ps	List running containers
docker stop <container-id>	Stop a container
docker compose up	Build + run with compose

Using Docker Compose

A compose.yaml is included in the project root. To build and run:

docker compose up

To run in the background:

docker compose up -d

To stop:

docker compose down

Troubleshooting

"Cannot connect to the Docker daemon"

Docker Desktop isn't running. Open it from Applications and wait for the menu bar icon to show a steady state.

Port 3000 already in use

Either stop whatever's using the port, or map to a different one:

docker run -p 8080:3000 greenlight

Then visit http://localhost:8080 instead.