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Live. This area is documented as current, user-reliable behavior.

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Goal

Know when to use a stack instead of a project or template.

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Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with Docker Compose

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Workflow

1
Choose stacks when the workload is multi-container or service-like.
2
Expect stack deployment to preserve service topology, volume configuration, and template provenance when relevant.
3
Use templates when you want the stack shape pre-curated for you.

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Good fits for stacks

  • Service bundles like MinIO, Grafana, and internal tooling
  • Multi-container applications with support services
  • Stateful workloads that rely on named volumes

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How stacks differ from projects

Projects are the app-deployment surface. Stacks are the service-system surface. That difference matters because stacks carry Compose topology, named volumes, node placement decisions, and template provenance in ways projects do not.

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Expected result

You can pick stacks intentionally instead of treating them as “projects but bigger”.

Deploy a Compose stack

Bring a Compose-defined workload to StackShift with domains, placement, and persistent volumes.

What templates are

Templates are versioned service blueprints that render into stacks with saved inputs and provenance.