Conflict error when running multiple Jest tests using DockerComposeEnvironment in testcontainers-node

[electriquo]

I'm currently using testcontainers in a Node.js project with Jest to spin up services via DockerComposeEnvironment.

I'm calling DockerComposeEnvironment inside a beforeAll() in a jest.setup.js file, which is configured through Jest's setupFilesAfterEnv option.

I initially assumed this setup would run once globally for the entire test suite. However, since setupFilesAfterEnv runs in the context of each test file, this beforeAll() block is actually executed once per test file — leading to multiple attempts to spin up the same Docker Compose environment.

As a result, when running multiple test files concurrently (e.g., via jest with no specific file passed), I encounter this Docker error:

Error response from daemon: Conflict. The container name "/foo" is already in use by container "b2b098c1157e2990ff57c7241f8f04ed1c57c9b018fda2404e68580dd484e805". You have to remove (or rename) that container to be able to reuse that name.

It seems like multiple tests try to spin up the same container (with the same name), leading to a conflict.

I've looked at this part of the docs:

• https://node.testcontainers.org/features/compose/#with-custom-project-name

I suspect the issue is due to docker-compose using a fixed container name or project name unless overridden.

I'm wondering:

1. Is this a bug in testcontainers-node?
2. Or is it expected behavior, and I'm just missing a setup step?
3. Is there a recommended pattern for running multiple Jest tests that each use DockerComposeEnvironment?

Has anyone run into this or found a best practice for test isolation in this context?
Thanks.

[electriquo]

The solution is to use globalSetup and globalTeardown configuration in Jest.