For a while, my starter kits didn't include any Docker configuration. The foundation was solid with auth, roles, MFA, Horizon, Logs Viewer, but the deployment side was left to whoever cloned the project. That was a deliberate choice at first. Docker setups vary a lot depending on the infrastructure: some people use a reverse proxy, others have Cloudflare in front, some run on bare metal, others on managed platforms. I didn't want to ship something that would need to be ripped out immediately. But over time I changed my mind. Here's why and what the process taught me. The problem with "just configure it yourself" Leaving deployment out of a starter kit sounds reasonable. In practice, it means every project starts with the same 4-6 hours of Docker work that never really changes. Multi-stage Dockerfile. PHP-FPM config. Nginx with HTTPS. PostgreSQL and Redis wired up. Horizon and the scheduler running as proper services. Healthchecks everywhere so Docker knows when things are actually ready.…