---
title: "Docker Development Environment"
weight: 25
description: "Comprehensive guide to Flamenco's optimized Docker development environment"
---

# Docker Development Environment

This section provides comprehensive documentation for Flamenco's Docker development environment, including setup tutorials, troubleshooting guides, technical references, and architectural explanations.

The Docker environment represents a significant optimization achievement - transforming unreliable 60+ minute failing builds into reliable 9.5-minute successful builds with **42x-168x performance improvements** in Go module downloads.

## Quick Start

For immediate setup:
```bash
# Clone and setup
git clone https://projects.blender.org/studio/flamenco.git
cd flamenco
make -f Makefile.docker dev-setup
make -f Makefile.docker dev-start

# Access Flamenco Manager at http://localhost:9000
```

## Documentation Structure

This documentation follows the [Diátaxis framework](https://diataxis.fr/) to serve different user needs:

### [Setup Tutorial](tutorial/)
**For learning** - Step-by-step guide to set up your first Flamenco Docker development environment. Start here if you're new to Docker or Flamenco development.

### [Troubleshooting Guide](how-to/)
**For solving problems** - Practical solutions to common Docker and Flamenco issues. Use this when something isn't working and you need a fix.

### [Configuration Reference](reference/)
**For information** - Complete technical specifications of all Docker configurations, environment variables, and build parameters. Consult this when you need exact details.

### [Architecture Guide](explanation/)
**For understanding** - Deep dive into the optimization principles, architectural decisions, and why the Docker environment works the way it does. Read this to understand the bigger picture.

### [Optimization Case Study](case-study/)
**For inspiration** - Complete success story documenting the transformation from 100% Docker build failures to 9.5-minute successful builds. A comprehensive case study showing how systematic optimization delivered 168x performance improvements.

## Key Achievements

The optimized Docker environment delivers:

- **42x-168x faster Go module downloads** (84.2s vs 60+ min failure)
- **100% reliable builds** (vs previous 100% failure rate)
- **9.5-minute successful builds** (vs infinite timeout failures)
- **Complete multi-stage optimization** with intelligent layer caching
- **Production-ready containerization** for all Flamenco components
- **Comprehensive Playwright testing** integration

## System Requirements

- Docker 20.10+
- Docker Compose v2.0+
- 4GB RAM minimum (8GB recommended)
- 10GB free disk space

## Support

For issues not covered in the troubleshooting guide, see:
- [Flamenco Chat](https://blender.chat/channel/flamenco)
- [Development Issues](https://projects.blender.org/studio/flamenco/issues)

---

*This documentation represents the collective knowledge from optimizing Flamenco's Docker environment from a broken state to production-ready reliability.*