How to run one server docker container before client container - node.js

Question

I have a fairly complex application where I have next js on the client and on the backend I have graphql and I have nginx as a reverse proxy.
I am using next JS incremental static site regeneration functionality on the index page so that's why I want my server up and running before my client container start building because when I run npm run build it is going to fetch some data from the graphql server here is my docker compose file
version: "3"
services:
mynginx:
container_name: mynginx
build:
context: ./nginx
dockerfile: Dockerfile
ports:
- 80:80
graphql:
container_name: graphql_server
depends_on:
- mynginx
build:
context: ./server
dockerfile: Dockerfile
mynextjs:
container_name: nextjs_server
depends_on:
- graphql
build:
context: ./client
dockerfile: Dockerfile

Answer 1

depends_on with healthcheck, to start container when another already works
https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/compose-file-v2/#healthcheck
something like this
services:
mynginx:
container_name: mynginx
build:
context: ./nginx
dockerfile: Dockerfile
ports:
- 80:80
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -O /dev/null http://localhost || exit 1"]
timeout: 10s
graphql:
...
depends_on:
depends_on:
mynginx:
condition: service_healthy

Answer 2

In simple terms, what you need is to wait until graphql service is properly finished starting before you run mynextjs service.
I'm afraid that depends_on (or links) might not work out of the box in this case. The reason is, although Compose does start graphql service before it starts mynextjs service, it doesn't wait until graphql service is in READY state to start the dependant services.
Basically, what you need is to find a way to tell Compose to wait until graphql service is in READY state.
The solution is described in Control startup and shutdown order in Compose documentation
I hope this helps you. Cheers 🍻 !!!

Answer 3

If I understand your problem correctly, you need to delay beginning the build of the image for the frontend container, until the backend containers are running and ready.
The easiest way that comes to mind would be to use profiles to allow starting these independently.
Eg:
version: "3"
services:
mynginx:
container_name: mynginx
build:
context: ./nginx
dockerfile: Dockerfile
ports:
- 80:80
profiles: ["backend"]
graphql:
container_name: graphql_server
depends_on:
- mynginx
build:
context: ./server
dockerfile: Dockerfile
profiles: ["backend"]
mynextjs:
container_name: nextjs_server
depends_on:
- graphql
build:
context: ./client
dockerfile: Dockerfile
profiles: ["frontend"]
Then chain the starting something like:
docker-compose --profile backend -d up && docker-compose --profile frontend -d up
Another option might be splitting into two separate compose files, with a shared docker network between them.
ref: https://docs.docker.com/compose/profiles/