Improving the Docker Deployment Experience

[edlee123]

Summary

The current Docker deployment documentation provides instructions for running the UI container individually, but doesn't address the container networking requirements needed for the UI to communicate with a AIQ Toolkit server e.g. simple calculator.

When the UI container runs in Docker's default bridge network, it cannot access a calculator server running on the host's localhost, and this results in connection failure. For dev purposes adding --network=host to docker run may work, however we should add security warnings if we were to suggest this practice.

Enhancement Opportunity

• Reduce time-to-first-success for new users that want to use containers
• Phoenix telemetry and UI settings out of the box.
• A docker compose example that can be referred to if devs want to use containers for UI + other NeMo-Agent-Toolkit examples.

Proposed Solution

Add a Docker Compose Option for UI + Backend

• Create compose_calculator.yaml with both UI with AIQ calculator server, networking, and Phoenix pre-configured.
• Add relevant docker start/stop/status commands in README.md

Testing Scenarios

• Fresh Docker Compose deployment works end-to-end
• UI container can connect to calculator server
• Health checks pass correctly
• Documentation examples are copy-pasteable

Priority: Med/High - This addresses a core user experience issue for new adopters
Complexity: Medium - Requires Docker networking knowledge and documentation skills
Impact: Med/High - improves first-time user success rate

[github-actions]

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[github-actions]

This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 7 days with no activity.