Symfony Docker is a Docker-based installer and runtime for the Symfony web framework that bundles FrankenPHP and Caddy to provide a complete development and production environment.
The tool solves the problem of setting up a consistent, containerized development environment for Symfony projects. It works by providing a Docker Compose configuration that spins up a minimal single-service setup by default, with FrankenPHP handling PHP execution in worker mode for performance and Caddy managing the web server and automatic HTTPS. The setup is designed to be straightforward: developers download the repository and run docker compose up to get a fresh Symfony project running locally with TLS certificates already configured.
Symfony Docker suits teams and individual developers who want to avoid manual environment configuration and prefer containerized workflows from the start. It works well for both new Symfony projects and existing ones, with documentation covering integration with established codebases. The tool is production-ready and includes support for optional services like PostgreSQL, MySQL, and a Mercure hub for real-time messaging, installable through Symfony Flex. It also includes Dev Container support for use with coding agents and IDEs that support the specification. The project includes native XDebug integration, hot reloading during development, HTTP/3 support, and Vulcain support for optimized client-side caching.
The project maintains active CI workflows and receives regular updates to keep dependencies current. Development activity shows consistent attention to both core functionality and emerging features like AI coding agent integration with network sandboxing. The tool is actively maintained with documentation covering deployment, debugging, and various configuration options for different database systems and Linux distributions.
