dockerExec (dex)

A dead-simple, quality-of-life CLI booster for quick Docker (Compose) container access.

Save time by running commands in containers dynamically resolved from your local directory configuration.

• Context-Aware — Remembers configuration per-directory via a local .dex file.
• Docker Compose Mode — Resolves container IDs dynamically from a service name (e.g. app) and compose file, avoiding stale IDs.
• Direct Container Mode — Executes directly against a fixed container name if Docker Compose isn't used.
• Compose Shortcuts — Built-in support for --up, --down, --restart, and --recreate directly inside your target project.
• Interactive Shells — Running dex without commands automatically spins up an interactive shell inside the container (defaults to sh, configurable in .dex).

Usage

dex -a, --assign [container_name]                  Assign a single container name
dex -a, --assign [compose_file] [service_name]     Assign a service in a docker-compose file
dex -c, --clear                                    Clear the local dex assignment
dex --up [params]                                  Run docker compose up (compose mode only)
dex --down [params]                                Run docker compose down (compose mode only)
dex --restart [params]                             Restart the assigned container/service
dex --recreate [params]                            Recreate the assigned Compose service with current env
dex [COMMANDS]                                     Run commands as host user by default
dex                                                Start an interactive shell in the assigned container

1. Assigning a Container

Compose Mode

To assign a Docker Compose service in the current directory:

dex -a docker-compose.dev.yml app

Direct Container Mode

To assign a single running container by it's name:

dex -a cool-container-7

2. Running Commands

Execute any command inside the container:

dex php artisan migrate

Commands run as your host uid:gid by default, so files created in bind mounts belong to you. Override this per command when needed:

DEX_USER=0:0 dex php artisan ...

3. Interactive Shell

Run dex with no arguments to open an interactive terminal:

dex

4. Compose Commands (Compose Mode Only)

Manage your Compose stack from the assigned directory:

dex --up -d
dex --down --remove-orphans
dex --restart
dex --recreate

--restart keeps the container's existing environment.

Use --recreate after changing Compose or .env values: it runs docker compose up -d --no-build --no-deps --force-recreate for the assigned service.

5. Cleaning Up

Remove the local directory configuration:

dex -c
# or
dex --clear

Configuration

The configuration is saved in the current directory inside a .dex file:

Compose file assignment

MODE="compose"
COMPOSE_FILE="docker-compose.dev.yml"
SERVICE_NAME="app"
SHELL="sh"

Container assignment

MODE="container"
CONTAINER_NAME="cool-container-7"
SHELL="sh"

Install / Update script

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/madLinux7/dex/main/install.sh | sh

This installs the latest published GitHub Release to ~/.local/bin/dex. To choose another directory, pass INSTALL_DIR to the installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/madLinux7/dex/main/install.sh | INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/bin" sh

Build/Install from Source

Clone the repository and copy the script to your local bin directory:

git clone https://github.com/madLinux7/dex.git
cd dex
chmod +x dex
cp dex ~/.local/bin/dex