From 4aff9c557dea70ce5be8cc869ae819b0acb2fef8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bryan Van Deusen <bryan.vandeusen@fabledsword.com>
Date: Thu, 14 May 2026 18:27:25 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?chore:=20docker=20compose=20ergonomics=20?=
 =?UTF-8?q?=E2=80=94=20rename=20dev=20override,=20bake=20dev=20defaults?=
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- Renamed docker-compose.dev.yml → docker-compose.override.yml so Docker
  Compose auto-merges it. `docker compose up` (no -f) now Just Works for
  local development.

- Removed the `env_file: .env` requirement from every service in the base
  file. Operators no longer need to create a .env to bring the stack up.

- Baked sane dev defaults directly into docker-compose.yml via
  ${VAR:-default} interpolation:
    DB_USER=fabledcurator
    DB_PASSWORD=fabledcurator_dev
    DB_NAME=fabledcurator
    SECRET_KEY=dev_secret_key_not_for_production_change_me
    LOG_LEVEL=INFO (overridden to DEBUG by the dev override)

  Defaults are insecure but explicitly named so. For production, override
  via shell env vars or a .env file at the project root.

- README quick-start simplified to a single `docker compose up -d`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 README.md                                     | 16 ++++++++++++--
 ...ose.dev.yml => docker-compose.override.yml |  0
 docker-compose.yml                            | 22 ++++++++++++++-----
 3 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
 rename docker-compose.dev.yml => docker-compose.override.yml (100%)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 371a801..225f318 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,13 +10,25 @@ Pre-v1. Not yet functional.
 
 ## Quick start
 
+For local development and testing, just:
+
 ```bash
-cp .env.example .env
-# edit .env: set DB_PASSWORD and SECRET_KEY
 docker compose up -d
 # UI: http://localhost:8080
 ```
 
+That uses sane dev defaults baked into `docker-compose.yml` and the dev
+override (`docker-compose.override.yml`, auto-merged) — local builds, DEBUG
+logging, exposed Postgres + Redis ports on the host. No `.env` required.
+
+For a production-like deployment, override the dev defaults via shell env
+or a `.env` file (see `.env.example` for the variable names) and use:
+
+```bash
+docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d
+# (skips the override so containers pull registry images)
+```
+
 ## Deployment posture
 
 FabledCurator is designed to run inside a self-hosted homelab environment over plain HTTP. If you want TLS, terminate it at your reverse proxy. The app does not generate certificates, redirect to HTTPS, or set HSTS.
diff --git a/docker-compose.dev.yml b/docker-compose.override.yml
similarity index 100%
rename from docker-compose.dev.yml
rename to docker-compose.override.yml
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7b5c7ca..78b650a 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# Base compose stack. Uses ${VAR:-default} interpolation throughout so the
+# stack boots with zero config — sane dev defaults baked in. For production
+# deployments, override the defaults via shell env vars or a .env file:
+#
+#     DB_PASSWORD=...real... SECRET_KEY=...real... docker compose up
+#
+# The dev override (docker-compose.override.yml) is auto-merged when you
+# run `docker compose up` from this directory and switches images to
+# local builds + DEBUG logging.
+
 services:
   redis:
     image: redis:7-alpine
@@ -13,7 +23,7 @@ services:
     image: pgvector/pgvector:pg16
     environment:
       POSTGRES_USER: ${DB_USER:-fabledcurator}
-      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-fabledcurator_dev}
       POSTGRES_DB: ${DB_NAME:-fabledcurator}
     volumes:
       - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
@@ -28,12 +38,17 @@ services:
     command: ["web"]
     ports:
       - "${PORT:-8080}:8080"
-    env_file: .env
     environment: &app_env
+      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-fabledcurator}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-fabledcurator_dev}
       DB_HOST: postgres
       DB_PORT: "5432"
+      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-fabledcurator}
       CELERY_BROKER_URL: redis://redis:6379/0
       CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND: redis://redis:6379/0
+      SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY:-dev_secret_key_not_for_production_change_me}
+      EXTENSION_API_KEY: ${EXTENSION_API_KEY:-}
+      LOG_LEVEL: ${LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}
     volumes:
       - ./images:/images
       - ./import:/import
@@ -49,7 +64,6 @@ services:
       <<: *app_env
       CELERY_QUEUES: default,import,thumbnail,download
       CELERY_CONCURRENCY: "2"
-    env_file: .env
     volumes:
       - ./images:/images
       - ./import:/import
@@ -64,7 +78,6 @@ services:
     environment:
       <<: *app_env
       CELERY_QUEUES: maintenance,scan
-    env_file: .env
     volumes:
       - ./images:/images
       - ./import:/import
@@ -78,7 +91,6 @@ services:
     command: ["ml-worker"]
     environment:
       <<: *app_env
-    env_file: .env
     volumes:
       - ./images:/images:ro
       - ./models:/models