Bug Report: Environment Variables Not Loaded in Docker Compose (Raw Mode)

[lefolalan]

To Reproduce

1. Create a compose application with GitHub provider

   • Go to Projects → Create Compose Service
   • Select GitHub as the source provider
   • Configure repository, branch, and compose path (e.g., ./)
   • Save the configuration

2. Switch to Raw mode

   • Go to the compose service's General tab
   • Click on the "Raw" tab
   • Paste your docker-compose.yml content with environment variables:

     services:
       backend:
         image: ghcr.io/example/app:latest
         environment:
           APP_PORT: ${APP_PORT}
           DB_HOST: ${DB_HOST}
           DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}

   • Save the compose file (Click Save or press Ctrl+S)

3. Configure environment variables

   • Go to Environment tab
   • Add environment variables:

     APP_PORT=3000
     DB_HOST=postgres
     DB_PASSWORD=secret123
     

   • Save

4. Deploy the application

   • Click Deploy button
   • Wait for deployment to complete

5. Check deployment logs

   • You will see warnings like:

     time="2025-10-05T17:11:18Z" level=warning msg="The \"APP_PORT\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
     time="2025-10-05T17:11:18Z" level=warning msg="The \"DB_HOST\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
     time="2025-10-05T17:11:18Z" level=warning msg="The \"DB_PASSWORD\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
     

6. Verify the bug on the server

   # Check where .env file is created (WRONG location)
   ls -la /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/.env
   
   # Check where it SHOULD be (correct location - empty)
   ls -la /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/.env
   
   # Check database composePath value
   docker exec -it $(docker ps -q -f name=dokploy-postgres) psql -U dokploy -d dokploy -c \
     "SELECT \"composePath\", \"sourceType\" FROM compose WHERE \"appName\" = '<app-name>';"

Current vs. Expected behavior

What Happens:

1. When saving compose file in Raw tab:

   • composeFile is updated ✅
   • sourceType is set to "raw" ✅
   • composePath is NOT updated - keeps old GitHub provider value (e.g., ./ or ./docker-compose.yml) ❌

2. During deployment:

   • Compose file is created at: /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/docker-compose.yml ✅
   • .env file is created at: /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/.env ❌ (WRONG - parent directory)
   • Docker Compose runs with cwd=/etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/ ✅

3. Result:

   • Docker Compose looks for .env in /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/.env
   • But .env is at /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/.env
   • Environment variables are not found ❌
   • Application starts with blank/default values ❌

Database State:

-- After switching from GitHub to Raw
composePath = "./"  -- ❌ Old GitHub value retained
sourceType = "raw"  -- ✅ Correctly updated

File System State:

/etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/
├── .env                          # ❌ WRONG location (created here)
├── code/
│   ├── docker-compose.yml        # ✅ Correct
│   └── .env                      # ❌ MISSING (should be here)

Deployment Logs:

Creating File 'docker-compose.yml' to /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code: ✅
File 'docker-compose.yml' created: ✅

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ App Name: <app-name>                                                         ║
║ Build Compose 🐳                                                             ║
║ Command: docker compose -p <app-name> -f docker-compose.yml up -d           ║
║ Source Type: docker raw ✅                                                   ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

time="..." level=warning msg="The \"APP_PORT\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="..." level=warning msg="The \"DB_HOST\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."
time="..." level=warning msg="The \"DB_PASSWORD\" variable is not set. Defaulting to a blank string."

Container <app-name>-backend-1  Started
Docker Compose Deployed: ✅

Expected Behavior

What Should Happen:

1. When saving compose file in Raw tab:

   • composeFile is updated ✅
   • sourceType is set to "raw" ✅
   • composePath is reset to "docker-compose.yml" ✅ (FIX NEEDED)

2. During deployment:

   • Compose file is created at: /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/docker-compose.yml ✅
   • .env file is created at: /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/.env ✅ (CORRECT)
   • Docker Compose runs with cwd=/etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/ ✅

3. Result:

   • Docker Compose finds .env in the same directory ✅
   • Environment variables are loaded correctly ✅
   • Application starts with correct values ✅

Database State (Expected):

-- After switching from GitHub to Raw
composePath = "docker-compose.yml"  -- ✅ Reset to default
sourceType = "raw"                  -- ✅ Correctly updated

File System State (Expected):

/etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/
├── code/
│   ├── docker-compose.yml        # ✅ Correct
│   └── .env                      # ✅ CORRECT location

Deployment Logs (Expected):

Creating File 'docker-compose.yml' to /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code: ✅
File 'docker-compose.yml' created: ✅

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ App Name: <app-name>                                                         ║
║ Build Compose 🐳                                                             ║
║ Command: docker compose -p <app-name> -f docker-compose.yml up -d           ║
║ Source Type: docker raw ✅                                                   ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Container <app-name>-backend-1  Starting
Container <app-name>-backend-1  Started
Docker Compose Deployed: ✅

No warnings - all environment variables loaded successfully!

Root Cause

The ComposeFileEditor component (apps/dokploy/components/dashboard/compose/general/compose-file-editor.tsx) only updates composeFile and sourceType when saving in Raw mode, but does not reset composePath.

File: apps/dokploy/components/dashboard/compose/general/compose-file-editor.tsx
Line: 74-78

await mutateAsync({
    composeId,
    composeFile: data.composeFile,
    sourceType: "raw",
    // ❌ Missing: composePath is not reset!
})

This causes composePath to retain its old value from the GitHub provider (e.g., ./), which then causes the .env file to be created in the wrong directory due to the dirname() logic in createEnvFile().

Impact

• Severity: High
• Affected Users: Anyone who switches from a Git provider (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/Gitea) to Raw mode
• Workaround: Manually copy .env file to correct location after each deployment:

  cp /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/.env /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/.env
  docker compose -p <app-name> -f /etc/dokploy/compose/<app-name>/code/docker-compose.yml up -d --force-recreate

Provide environment information

- **OS:** Debian 12
- **Dokploy Version:** v0.25.4
- **VPS Provider:** OVH Cloud
- **Docker Compose Type:** docker-compose (not stack)

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

Docker Compose

Are you deploying the applications where Dokploy is installed or on a remote server?

Same server where Dokploy is installed

Additional context

No response

Will you send a PR to fix it?

Maybe, need help

[thecodebreeze]

This bug still persists, was there a regression?