Mise + Docker Cookbook

Here are some tips on using Docker with mise.

Docker image with mise

Here is an example Dockerfile showing how to install mise in a Docker image.

Dockerfile

FROM debian:13-slim

RUN apt-get update  \
    && apt-get -y --no-install-recommends install  \
        # install any other dependencies you might need
        sudo curl git ca-certificates build-essential \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-o", "pipefail", "-c"]
ENV MISE_DATA_DIR="/mise"
ENV MISE_CONFIG_DIR="/mise"
ENV MISE_CACHE_DIR="/mise/cache"
ENV MISE_INSTALL_PATH="/usr/local/bin/mise"
ENV PATH="/mise/shims:$PATH"
# ENV MISE_VERSION="..."

RUN curl https://mise.run | sh

Build and run the Docker image:

docker build -t debian-mise .
docker run -it --rm debian-mise

Shared tools in multi-user containers

For toolbox containers or bastion hosts where tools should be pre-installed for all users, use mise install --system to install tools into /usr/local/share/mise/installs. Each user's mise will automatically find these system-level tools without any configuration.

Dockerfile

FROM debian:13-slim

RUN apt-get update  \
    && apt-get -y --no-install-recommends install  \
        sudo curl git ca-certificates build-essential \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-o", "pipefail", "-c"]
ENV MISE_INSTALL_PATH="/usr/local/bin/mise"

# Install mise
RUN curl https://mise.run | sh

# Pre-install tools to the system-wide shared directory
RUN mise install --system node@22 python@3.13

Users in the container will see these tools automatically:

$ mise ls
node    22.0.0 (system)
python  3.13.0 (system)

Users can install additional versions in their own directory — those take priority over system versions. To customize the system directory, set MISE_SYSTEM_DATA_DIR.

You can also configure additional shared directories with MISE_SHARED_INSTALL_DIRS (colon-separated paths) or the shared_install_dirs setting.

Devcontainers with home directory mounts

Devcontainers often mount the user's home directory, which means ~/.local/share/mise/installs comes from the mount rather than the Docker image. Tools pre-installed during docker build into ~/.local/share/mise/installs would be hidden by the mount.

Use mise install --system to install tools to /usr/local/share/mise/installs instead — this path is outside ~ and survives home directory mounts:

Dockerfile

FROM debian:13-slim
# ... install mise ...
RUN mise install --system node@22 python@3.13

When the container starts with ~ mounted, users still see the system tools automatically. Any tools they install normally go to ~/.local/share/mise/installs (on the mount) and take priority over system versions.

Task to run mise in a Docker container

This can be useful if you need to reproduce an issue you're having with mise in a clean environment.

mise.toml

[tasks.docker]
run = "docker run -it --rm debian-mise"

Build the image first (see above), then:

❯ mise docker
[docker] $ docker run -it --rm debian-mise
root@75f179a190a1:/# eval "$(mise activate bash)"
# overwrite configuration and prune to give us a clean state
root@75f179a190a1:/# echo "" > /mise/config.toml
root@75f179a190a1:/# mise prune --yes
# ...