When running n8n with Docker Compose, it keeps restarting and reporting errors

[yolo]

When running n8n with Docker Compose, it keeps restarting and reporting errors.
This is logs

Error: Command “start” not found
However, in my YML file, there is no “start” keyword; only “n8n” is present.
help me look
thanks

[Muhammad_Daniyal]

Hey

I also ran into this when I first tried n8n with Docker Compose. The error Command "start" not found usually doesn’t mean your YAML has start — it comes from how the container is launched.

Couple of things to check:

1. Docker Compose command section
   In your docker-compose.yml, the command: line should simply be n8n
   Example:

   services:
     n8n:
       image: n8nio/n8n
       restart: always
       ports:
         - "5678:5678"
       volumes:
         - ./n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
       command: n8n
   
   

   If it accidentally says start (or if Docker is picking it up from an old config), you’ll see that error.

2. Image version
   Make sure you are pulling the latest stable image:

   docker pull n8nio/n8n:latest
   
   

   Then docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d to restart clean.

3. Clear old containers
   Sometimes an old container keeps trying to run the wrong entrypoint. Run:

   docker ps -a
   docker rm -f <container_id>
   
   

   Then bring it back up fresh.

---

In short:
Keep command: n8n (not start)
Use the latest image
Recreate the container

That usually fixes this issue.