Python container uses 500 MB of RAM

[nemanjam]

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Example Code

Here is my backend Dockerfile:

https://github.com/nemanjam/githubcities/blob/main/backend/Dockerfile

FROM python:3.12.10-alpine3.22

# Install dependencies (tree and bash)
RUN apk update
RUN apk add --no-cache tree bash

ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1

WORKDIR /backend/

# Install uv from Astral
COPY --from=ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:0.5.11 /uv /uvx /bin/

# Put executables in front of PATH
ENV PATH="/backend/.venv/bin:$PATH"

# Compile bytecode
ENV UV_COMPILE_BYTECODE=1

# uv cache mode
ENV UV_LINK_MODE=copy

# Install project dependencies
RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
    --mount=type=bind,source=uv.lock,target=uv.lock \
    --mount=type=bind,source=pyproject.toml,target=pyproject.toml \
    uv sync --frozen --no-install-project

ENV PYTHONPATH=/backend

COPY ./scripts /backend/scripts
COPY ./pyproject.toml ./uv.lock ./alembic.ini /backend/
COPY ./app /backend/app

# Sync the project
RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/uv \
    uv sync

# Set entrypoint
ENTRYPOINT ["scripts/entrypoint.sh"]

# 8000 uvicorn default port

Description

Run the backend container, too high RAM usage.

Operating System

Linux

Operating System Details

Alpine, Debian Linux in Docker.

Python Version

python:3.12.10-alpine3.22

Additional Context

I am using the original Dockerfile, just changed to Alpine image and it takes 500 MB, and the original Debian container also uses 400 MB, why this happens?

For comparison frontend Next.js container takes 50 MB, so 10x less.

What is the explanation for this, can this be optimized?

[nemanjam]

Ok this reduces it to 100 MB.

exec fastapi run --workers 1 app/main.py