# docker compose exec **Description:** Execute a command in a running container **Usage:** `docker compose exec [OPTIONS] SERVICE COMMAND [ARGS...]` ## Description This is the equivalent of `docker exec` targeting a Compose service. With this subcommand, you can run arbitrary commands in your services. Commands allocate a TTY by default, so you can use a command such as `docker compose exec web sh` to get an interactive prompt. By default, Compose will enter container in interactive mode and allocate a TTY, while the equivalent `docker exec` command requires passing `--interactive --tty` flags to get the same behavior. Compose also supports those two flags to offer a smooth migration between commands, whenever they are no-op by default. Still, `interactive` can be used to force disabling interactive mode (`--interactive=false`), typically when `docker compose exec` command is used inside a script. ## Options | Option | Default | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | `-d`, `--detach` | | Detached mode: Run command in the background | | `-e`, `--env` | | Set environment variables | | `--index` | | Index of the container if service has multiple replicas | | `-T`, `--no-tty` | `true` | Disable pseudo-TTY allocation. By default 'docker compose exec' allocates a TTY.
| | `--privileged` | | Give extended privileges to the process | | `-u`, `--user` | | Run the command as this user | | `-w`, `--workdir` | | Path to workdir directory for this command |