YAML Compose Sorter
A Visual Studio Code extension that automatically sorts and formats Docker Compose YAML files in a consistent way across projects.
Preview
Features
- Automatic sorting on save: Sorts Docker Compose files automatically when you save them
- Manual sorting command: Sort files on demand using the command palette
- Configurable key order: Customize the order of top-level and service-level keys
- Smart file detection: Processes Docker Compose files with various naming patterns
- Document separator: Optionally adds
--- at the beginning of YAML files
- Improved readability: Adds blank lines between top-level keys for better visual separation
- Version key removal: Optionally removes the deprecated
version key from Docker Compose files
Supported File Patterns
The extension automatically detects and processes the following Docker Compose file patterns:
docker-compose.yamldocker-compose.ymlcompose.yamlcompose.ymldocker-compose.*.yamldocker-compose.*.ymlcompose.*.yamlcompose.*.yml
Usage
Automatic Sorting
The extension automatically sorts Docker Compose files when you save them (if sortOnSave is enabled in settings).
Manual Sorting
- Open a Docker Compose file (
docker-compose.yaml, docker-compose.yml, compose.yaml, compose.yml, etc.)
- Open the Command Palette (
Cmd+Shift+P on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux)
- Type "Sort Docker Compose YAML" and press Enter
Configuration
You can customize the extension behavior in VS Code settings:
| Setting |
Description |
Default Value |
yaml-compose-sorter.sortOnSave |
Enable or disable automatic sorting on save |
true |
yaml-compose-sorter.topLevelKeyOrder |
Array of top-level key names in the desired order |
[version, name, services, volumes, networks, configs, secrets] |
yaml-compose-sorter.serviceKeyOrder |
Array of service-level key names in the desired order |
[container_name, image, build, restart, depends_on, ports, expose, volumes, environment, env_file, networks, labels, healthcheck] |
yaml-compose-sorter.addDocumentSeparator |
Add --- document separator at the beginning of YAML files |
false |
yaml-compose-sorter.addBlankLinesBetweenTopLevelKeys |
Add blank lines between top-level keys for improved readability |
true |
yaml-compose-sorter.removeVersionKey |
Automatically remove the deprecated version key from Docker Compose files |
false |
yaml-compose-sorter.transformKeyValueLists |
Transform arrays of key=value strings into standard YAML key-value maps |
false |
When transformKeyValueLists is enabled, the extension will automatically convert arrays of key=value strings into proper YAML key-value maps:
# Before transformation
labels:
- traefik.enable=true
- traefik.http.routers.web.rule=Host(`example.org`)
# After transformation
labels:
traefik.enable: "true"
traefik.http.routers.web.rule: "Host(`example.org`)"
This transformation applies to any part of the document, not just specific sections like labels or environment variables.
Example Configuration
You can see an example configuration in the file example-settings.json included in the project.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code 1.101.0 or higher
- Docker Compose YAML files must be valid YAML format
Known Issues
- Comments in YAML files may be lost during sorting (this is a limitation of the YAML parser)
- Complex YAML features like anchors and aliases are not preserved
