What causes "compose command failed with {status}" in jdx/mise?

Run the same compose command manually to see the real error output

compose command failed with

Error message

compose command failed with {status}

What it means

Thrown by `run_command` (used by `run_action`) when a compose/docker engine subprocess exits with a non-zero status. The error carries the raw exit status; the underlying compose output (already logged via info!) explains the actual failure.

Solutions

Run the same compose command manually to see the real error output
Start the container engine daemon (`systemctl start docker` or start Docker Desktop)
Fix the underlying compose issue (port conflict, missing image, bad YAML) and retry

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

# preflight the compose command manually
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml config -q

Try / catch

match run_action(...) {
    Err(e) if e.contains("compose command failed") => {
        eprintln!("compose failed; run the command manually for details");
    }
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Ensure the docker daemon is running before mise tasks
Validate compose files with `docker compose config`
Check for port conflicts and image availability up front

When it happens

Trigger: Any compose action (up, down, etc.) whose underlying `docker compose` command fails: invalid compose file, port conflicts, image pull failures, engine daemon not running, insufficient resources.

Common situations: Docker daemon stopped; compose file syntax errors; ports already bound; image not found/pull denied; out-of-disk or permission problems.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0ba7fa81a6e29ab8. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/system/compose.rs:698

        args.extend(self.action_args());
        let mut commands = vec![(program, args)];
        if let Some(command) = orphan_removal {
            commands.push(command);
        }
        commands
    }

    fn run_command(&self, program: &str, args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
        if self.sudo {
            crate::system::sudo::run(program, args, &compose_env())
        } else {
            info!("$ {} {}", program, shell_words::join(args));
            let status = Command::new(program)
                .args(args)
                .envs(compose_env())
                .status()?;
            if !status.success() {
                bail!("compose command failed with {status}");
            }
            Ok(())
        }
    }

    fn stopped_orphan_removal_command(&self) -> Result<Option<(String, Vec<String>)>> {
        let Some(args) = self.stopped_orphan_removal_args() else {
            return Ok(None);
        };
        let command = self.resolved_engine_command()?;
        command_with_args(command, args).map(Some)
    }

    fn dry_run_stopped_orphan_removal_command(&self) -> Result<Option<(String, Vec<String>)>> {
        let Some(args) = self.stopped_orphan_removal_args() else {
            return Ok(None);
        };
        command_with_args(self.configured_engine_command(), args).map(Some)

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)