---
title: Use provider services
description: Learn how to use provider services in Docker Compose to integrate external capabilities into your applications
keywords: compose, docker compose, provider, services, platform capabilities, integration, model runner, ai
weight: 112
params:
  sidebar:
    badge:
      color: green
      text: New
---

{{< summary-bar feature_name="Compose provider services" >}}

Docker Compose supports provider services, which allow integration with services whose lifecycles are managed by third-party components rather than by Compose itself.  
This feature enables you to define and utilize platform-specific services without the need for manual setup or direct lifecycle management.


## What are provider services?

Provider services are a special type of service in Compose that represents platform capabilities rather than containers.
They allow you to declare dependencies on specific platform features that your application needs.

When you define a provider service in your Compose file, Compose works with the platform to provision and configure
the requested capability, making it available to your application services.

## Using provider services

To use a provider service in your Compose file, you need to:

1. Define a service with the `provider` attribute
2. Specify the `type` of provider you want to use
3. Configure any provider-specific options
4. Declare dependencies from your application services to the provider service

Here's a basic example:

```yaml
services:
  database:
    provider:
      type: awesomecloud
      options:
        type: mysql
        foo: bar  
  app:
    image: myapp 
    depends_on:
       - database
```

Notice the dedicated `provider` attribute in the `database` service.
This attribute specifies that the service is managed by a provider and lets you define options specific to that provider type.

The `depends_on` attribute in the `app` service specifies that it depends on the `database` service.
This means that the `database` service will be started before the `app` service, allowing the provider information
to be injected into the `app` service.

## How it works

During the `docker compose up` command execution, Compose identifies services relying on providers and works with them to provision
the requested capabilities. The provider then populates Compose model with information about how to access the provisioned resource.

This information is passed to services that declare a dependency on the provider service, typically through environment