diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4a0ec5560c..e39776b842 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1242,6 +1242,112 @@
                         ]
                     }
                 }
+            },
+            {
+                "type": "docker-compose",
+                "properties": {
+                    "dockerCompose": {
+                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.description%",
+                        "properties": {
+                            "up": {
+                                "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.description%",
+                                "properties": {
+                                    "detached": {
+                                        "type": "boolean",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.detached%",
+                                        "default": true
+                                    },
+                                    "build": {
+                                        "type": "boolean",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.build%",
+                                        "default": true
+                                    },
+                                    "scale": {
+                                        "type": "object",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.scale%",
+                                        "additionalProperties": {
+                                            "type": "number"
+                                        }
+                                    },
+                                    "services": {
+                                        "type": "array",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.services%",
+                                        "items": {
+                                            "type": "string"
+                                        }
+                                    },
+                                    "customOptions": {
+                                        "type": "string",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.customOptions%"
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            },
+                            "down": {
+                                "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.description%",
+                                "properties": {
+                                    "removeImages": {
+                                        "type": "string",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.removeImages%",
+                                        "enum": [
+                                            "all",
+                                            "local"
+                                        ]
+                                    },
+                                    "removeVolumes": {
+                                        "type": "boolean",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.removeVolumes%",
+                                        "default": false
+                                    },
+                                    "customOptions": {
+                                        "type": "string",
+                                        "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.customOptions%"
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            },
+                            "files": {
+                                "type": "array",
+                                "description": "%vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.files.description%",
+                                "items": {
+                                    "type": "string"
+                                }
+                            }
+                        },
+                        "oneOf": [
+                            {
+                                "required": [
+                                    "up"
+                                ],
+                                "not": {
+                                    "enum": [
+                                        "down"
+                                    ]
+                                }
+                            },
+                            {
+                                "required": [
+                                    "down"
+                                ],
+                                "not": {
+                                    "enum": [
+                                        "up"
+                                    ]
+                                }
+                            }
+                        ],
+                        "default": {
+                            "up": {
+                                "detached": true,
+                                "build": true
+                            },
+                            "files": [
+                                "${workspaceFolder}/docker-compose.yml"
+                            ]
+                        }
+                    }
+                },
+                "required": [
+                    "dockerCompose"
+                ]
             }
         ],
         "languages": [
diff --git a/package.nls.json b/package.nls.json
index ef828824a4..610a30c436 100644
--- a/package.nls.json
+++ b/package.nls.json
@@ -98,6 +98,18 @@
     "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-run.python.args": "Arguments passed to the Python app.",
     "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-run.python.wait": "Whether to wait for debugger to attach.",
     "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-run.python.debugPort": "The port that the debugger will listen on.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.description": "Options for the `docker-compose` command.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.description": "Options for the `docker-compose up` command.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.detached": "Whether or not to run detached.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.build": "Whether or not to build.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.scale": "The scale for each service.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.services": "A subset of services to start.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.up.customOptions": "Any other options to add to the `docker-compose up` command.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.description": "Options for the `docker-compose down` command.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.removeImages": "Images to remove.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.removeVolumes": "Whether or not to remove named and anonymous volumes.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.down.customOptions": "Any other options to add to the `docker-compose down` command.",
+    "vscode-docker.tasks.docker-compose.dockerCompose.files.description": "The docker-compose files to include, in order.",
     "vscode-docker.config.docker.promptForRegistryWhenPushingImages": "Prompt for registry selection if the image is not explicitly tagged.",
     "vscode-docker.config.template.build.template": "The command template.",
     "vscode-docker.config.template.build.label": "The label displayed to the user.",
diff --git a/src/commands/compose.ts b/src/commands/compose/compose.ts
similarity index 67%
rename from src/commands/compose.ts
rename to src/commands/compose/compose.ts
index d5dad32f3f..9f63e8de60 100644
--- a/src/commands/compose.ts
+++ b/src/commands/compose/compose.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
 
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import { IActionContext } from 'vscode-azureextensionui';
-import { isNewContextType } from '../docker/Contexts';
-import { ext } from '../extensionVariables';
-import { localize } from "../localize";
-import { executeAsTask } from '../utils/executeAsTask';
-import { createFileItem, Item, quickPickDockerComposeFileItem } from '../utils/quickPickFile';
-import { quickPickWorkspaceFolder } from '../utils/quickPickWorkspaceFolder';
-import { selectComposeCommand } from './selectCommandTemplate';
+import { rewriteComposeCommandIfNeeded } from '../../docker/Contexts';
+import { localize } from "../../localize";
+import { executeAsTask } from '../../utils/executeAsTask';
+import { createFileItem, Item, quickPickDockerComposeFileItem } from '../../utils/quickPickFile';
+import { quickPickWorkspaceFolder } from '../../utils/quickPickWorkspaceFolder';
+import { selectComposeCommand } from '../selectCommandTemplate';
+import { getComposeServiceList } from './getComposeServiceList';
 
 async function compose(context: IActionContext, commands: ('up' | 'down')[], message: string, dockerComposeFileUri?: vscode.Uri, selectedComposeFileUris?: vscode.Uri[]): Promise<void> {
     const folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder = await quickPickWorkspaceFolder(localize('vscode-docker.commands.compose.workspaceFolder', 'To run Docker compose you must first open a folder or workspace in VS Code.'));
@@ -38,27 +38,27 @@ async function compose(context: IActionContext, commands: ('up' | 'down')[], mes
 
     for (const command of commands) {
         if (selectedItems.length === 0) {
-            const terminalCommand = await selectComposeCommand(
+            // Push a dummy item in so that we can use the looping logic below
+            selectedItems.push(undefined);
+        }
+
+        for (const item of selectedItems) {
+            let terminalCommand = await selectComposeCommand(
                 context,
                 folder,
                 command,
-                undefined,
+                item?.relativeFilePath,
                 detached,
                 build
             );
-            await executeAsTask(context, await rewriteCommandForNewCliIfNeeded(terminalCommand), 'Docker Compose', { addDockerEnv: true, workspaceFolder: folder });
-        } else {
-            for (const item of selectedItems) {
-                const terminalCommand = await selectComposeCommand(
-                    context,
-                    folder,
-                    command,
-                    item.relativeFilePath,
-                    detached,
-                    build
-                );
-                await executeAsTask(context, await rewriteCommandForNewCliIfNeeded(terminalCommand), 'Docker Compose', { addDockerEnv: true, workspaceFolder: folder });
-            }
+
+            // Add the service list if needed
+            terminalCommand = await addServicesListIfNeeded(context, folder, terminalCommand);
+
+            // Rewrite for the new CLI if needed
+            terminalCommand = await rewriteComposeCommandIfNeeded(terminalCommand);
+
+            await executeAsTask(context, terminalCommand, 'Docker Compose', { addDockerEnv: true, workspaceFolder: folder });
         }
     }
 }
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ export async function composeRestart(context: IActionContext, dockerComposeFileU
     return await compose(context, ['down', 'up'], localize('vscode-docker.commands.compose.chooseRestart', 'Choose Docker Compose file to restart'), dockerComposeFileUri, selectedComposeFileUris);
 }
 
-export async function rewriteCommandForNewCliIfNeeded(command: string): Promise<string> {
-    if (isNewContextType((await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContext()).ContextType)) {
-        // Replace 'docker-compose ' at the start of a string with 'docker compose ', and '--build' anywhere with ''
-        return command.replace(/^docker-compose /, 'docker compose ').replace(/--build/, '');
+const serviceListPlaceholder = /\${serviceList}/i;
+async function addServicesListIfNeeded(context: IActionContext, workspaceFolder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, command: string): Promise<string> {
+    if (serviceListPlaceholder.test(command)) {
+        return command.replace(serviceListPlaceholder, await getComposeServiceList(context, workspaceFolder, command));
     } else {
         return command;
     }
diff --git a/src/commands/compose/getComposeServiceList.ts b/src/commands/compose/getComposeServiceList.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..326a9bf931
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commands/compose/getComposeServiceList.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import * as vscode from 'vscode';
+import { IActionContext, IAzureQuickPickItem } from 'vscode-azureextensionui';
+import { ext } from '../../extensionVariables';
+import { localize } from '../../localize';
+import { execAsync } from '../../utils/spawnAsync';
+
+// Matches an `up` or `down` and everything after it--so that it can be replaced with `config --services`, to get a service list using all of the files originally part of the compose command
+const composeCommandReplaceRegex = /(\b(up|down)\b).*$/i;
+
+export async function getComposeServiceList(context: IActionContext, workspaceFolder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, composeCommand: string): Promise<string> {
+    const services = await getServices(workspaceFolder, composeCommand);
+
+    // Fetch the previously chosen services list. By default, all will be selected.
+    const workspaceServiceListKey = `vscode-docker.composeServices.${workspaceFolder.name}`;
+    const previousChoices = ext.context.workspaceState.get<string[]>(workspaceServiceListKey, services);
+
+    const pickChoices: IAzureQuickPickItem<string>[] = services.map(s => ({
+        label: s,
+        data: s,
+        picked: previousChoices.some(p => p === s),
+    }));
+
+    const subsetChoices =
+        await ext.ui.showQuickPick(
+            pickChoices,
+            {
+                canPickMany: true,
+                placeHolder: localize('vscode-docker.getComposeServiceList.choose', 'Choose services to start'),
+            }
+        );
+
+    context.telemetry.measurements.totalServices = pickChoices.length;
+    context.telemetry.measurements.chosenServices = subsetChoices.length;
+
+    // Update the cache
+    await ext.context.workspaceState.update(workspaceServiceListKey, subsetChoices.map(c => c.data));
+
+    return subsetChoices.map(c => c.data).join(' ');
+}
+
+async function getServices(workspaceFolder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder, composeCommand: string): Promise<string[]> {
+    // Start by getting a new command with the exact same files list (replaces the "up ..." or "down ..." with "config --services")
+    const configCommand = composeCommand.replace(composeCommandReplaceRegex, 'config --services');
+
+    const { stdout } = await execAsync(configCommand, { cwd: workspaceFolder.uri.fsPath });
+
+    // The output of the config command is a list of services, one per line
+    // Split them up and remove empty entries
+    return stdout.split(/\r?\n/im).filter(l => { return l; });
+}
diff --git a/src/commands/containers/composeGroup.ts b/src/commands/containers/composeGroup.ts
index 0acb45fa08..bf3bde9b8c 100644
--- a/src/commands/containers/composeGroup.ts
+++ b/src/commands/containers/composeGroup.ts
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 import { IActionContext } from 'vscode-azureextensionui';
+import { rewriteComposeCommandIfNeeded } from '../../docker/Contexts';
 import { localize } from '../../localize';
 import { ContainerGroupTreeItem } from '../../tree/containers/ContainerGroupTreeItem';
 import { ContainerTreeItem } from '../../tree/containers/ContainerTreeItem';
 import { executeAsTask } from '../../utils/executeAsTask';
 import { isWindows } from '../../utils/osUtils';
-import { rewriteCommandForNewCliIfNeeded } from '../compose';
 
 export async function composeGroupLogs(context: IActionContext, node: ContainerGroupTreeItem): Promise<void> {
     return composeGroup(context, 'logs', node, '-f --tail 1000');
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ async function composeGroup(context: IActionContext, composeCommand: 'logs' | 'r
 
     const terminalCommand = `docker-compose ${filesArgument} ${composeCommand} ${additionalArguments || ''}`;
 
-    await executeAsTask(context, await rewriteCommandForNewCliIfNeeded(terminalCommand), 'Docker Compose', { addDockerEnv: true, cwd: workingDirectory, });
+    await executeAsTask(context, await rewriteComposeCommandIfNeeded(terminalCommand), 'Docker Compose', { addDockerEnv: true, cwd: workingDirectory, });
 }
 
 function getComposeWorkingDirectory(node: ContainerGroupTreeItem): string | undefined {
diff --git a/src/commands/containers/confirmAllAffectedContainers.ts b/src/commands/containers/confirmAllAffectedContainers.ts
index ea31f3bd82..1cc59b7e3a 100644
--- a/src/commands/containers/confirmAllAffectedContainers.ts
+++ b/src/commands/containers/confirmAllAffectedContainers.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { getComposeProjectName, NonComposeGroupName } from '../../tree/container
 import { ContainerTreeItem } from '../../tree/containers/ContainerTreeItem';
 
 export async function confirmAllAffectedContainers(context: IActionContext, nodes: ContainerTreeItem[]): Promise<string[]> {
-    if ((await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContext()).ContextType !== 'aci' ||
+    if (await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContextType() !== 'aci' ||
         nodes.every(n => getComposeProjectName(n.containerItem) === NonComposeGroupName)) {
         // If we're not in an ACI context, or every node in the list is not part of any ACI container group, return unchanged
         return nodes.map(n => n.containerId);
diff --git a/src/commands/registerCommands.ts b/src/commands/registerCommands.ts
index 720d521b87..df4b80477a 100644
--- a/src/commands/registerCommands.ts
+++ b/src/commands/registerCommands.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { ext } from "../extensionVariables";
 import { scaffold } from "../scaffolding/scaffold";
 import { scaffoldCompose } from "../scaffolding/scaffoldCompose";
 import { scaffoldDebugConfig } from "../scaffolding/scaffoldDebugConfig";
-import { composeDown, composeRestart, composeUp } from "./compose";
+import { composeDown, composeRestart, composeUp } from "./compose/compose";
 import { attachShellContainer } from "./containers/attachShellContainer";
 import { browseContainer } from "./containers/browseContainer";
 import { composeGroupDown, composeGroupLogs, composeGroupRestart } from "./containers/composeGroup";
diff --git a/src/commands/selectCommandTemplate.ts b/src/commands/selectCommandTemplate.ts
index 5257e9dce1..e170311512 100644
--- a/src/commands/selectCommandTemplate.ts
+++ b/src/commands/selectCommandTemplate.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export async function selectComposeCommand(context: IActionContext, folder: vsco
 // Exported only for tests
 export async function selectCommandTemplate(context: IActionContext, command: TemplateCommand, matchContext: string[], folder: vscode.WorkspaceFolder | undefined, additionalVariables: { [key: string]: string }): Promise<string> {
     // Get the current context type
-    const currentContextType = (await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContext()).ContextType;
+    const currentContextType = await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContextType();
 
     // Get the configured settings values
     const config = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration('docker');
diff --git a/src/docker/ContextManager.ts b/src/docker/ContextManager.ts
index 399fe0ea18..abac6cbef1 100644
--- a/src/docker/ContextManager.ts
+++ b/src/docker/ContextManager.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { localize } from '../localize';
 import { AsyncLazy } from '../utils/lazy';
 import { isWindows } from '../utils/osUtils';
 import { execAsync, spawnAsync } from '../utils/spawnAsync';
-import { DockerContext, DockerContextInspection, isNewContextType } from './Contexts';
+import { ContextType, DockerContext, DockerContextInspection, isNewContextType } from './Contexts';
 
 // CONSIDER
 // Any of the commands related to Docker context can take a very long time to execute (a minute or longer)
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ export interface ContextManager {
     refresh(): Promise<void>;
     getContexts(): Promise<DockerContext[]>;
     getCurrentContext(): Promise<DockerContext>;
+    getCurrentContextType(): Promise<ContextType>;
 
     inspect(actionContext: IActionContext, contextName: string): Promise<DockerContextInspection>;
     use(actionContext: IActionContext, contextName: string): Promise<void>;
@@ -164,6 +165,10 @@ export class DockerContextManager implements ContextManager, Disposable {
         return contexts.find(c => c.Current);
     }
 
+    public async getCurrentContextType(): Promise<ContextType> {
+        return (await this.getCurrentContext()).ContextType;
+    }
+
     public async inspect(actionContext: IActionContext, contextName: string): Promise<DockerContextInspection> {
         const { stdout } = await execAsync(`docker context inspect ${contextName}`, { timeout: 10000 });
 
diff --git a/src/docker/Contexts.ts b/src/docker/Contexts.ts
index a8f3469fbf..bf51b1eb66 100644
--- a/src/docker/Contexts.ts
+++ b/src/docker/Contexts.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+import { ext } from '../extensionVariables';
 import { DockerObject } from './Common';
 
 export type ContextType = 'aci' | 'moby';
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ export interface DockerContextInspection {
     readonly [key: string]: unknown;
 }
 
+// This method cannot be async and use `ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContextType()` like the below, because it is used internally by `DockerContextManager.refresh()`
 export function isNewContextType(contextType: ContextType): boolean {
     switch (contextType) {
         case 'moby':
@@ -31,3 +33,21 @@ export function isNewContextType(contextType: ContextType): boolean {
             return true;
     }
 }
+
+export async function getComposeCliCommand(): Promise<string> {
+    return isNewContextType(await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContextType()) ? 'docker compose' : 'docker-compose';
+}
+
+// This method is needed because in certain scenarios--e.g. command customization--the compose command is defined by the user
+// In order to support backwards compatibility, we rewrite the command, rather than building it correctly from the beginning with `getComposeCliCommand()`
+export async function rewriteComposeCommandIfNeeded(command: string): Promise<string> {
+    // Replace 'docker-compose' or 'docker compose' at the start of a string with the correct compose CLI command
+    command = command.replace(/^docker(-|\s+)compose/i, await getComposeCliCommand());
+
+    if (isNewContextType(await ext.dockerContextManager.getCurrentContextType())) {
+        // For new contexts, replace '--build' anywhere with ''
+        command = command.replace(/--build/i, '');
+    }
+
+    return command;
+}
diff --git a/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase.ts b/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..acf54e6893
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import { TaskDefinitionBase } from './TaskDefinitionBase';
+
+export interface DockerComposeUpOptions {
+    up?: {
+        detached?: boolean;
+        build?: boolean;
+        scale?: { [service: string]: number };
+        services?: string[];
+        customOptions?: string;
+    };
+    down?: never;
+}
+
+export interface DockerComposeDownOptions {
+    up?: never;
+    down?: {
+        removeImages?: 'all' | 'local';
+        removeVolumes?: boolean;
+        customOptions?: string;
+    };
+}
+
+export type DockerComposeOptions = (DockerComposeUpOptions | DockerComposeDownOptions) & { files?: string[] };
+
+export interface DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase extends TaskDefinitionBase {
+    dockerCompose?: DockerComposeOptions;
+}
diff --git a/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskProvider.ts b/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskProvider.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3dfab4ca69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tasks/DockerComposeTaskProvider.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import * as fse from 'fs-extra';
+import * as path from 'path';
+import { Task } from 'vscode';
+import { getComposeCliCommand } from '../docker/Contexts';
+import { localize } from '../localize';
+import { cloneObject } from '../utils/cloneObject';
+import { CommandLineBuilder } from '../utils/commandLineBuilder';
+import { resolveVariables } from '../utils/resolveVariables';
+import { DockerComposeOptions, DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase } from './DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase';
+import { DockerTaskProvider } from './DockerTaskProvider';
+import { DockerComposeTaskContext, throwIfCancellationRequested } from './TaskHelper';
+
+// This doesn't need to be extended so redefining for parity is simplest
+export type DockerComposeTaskDefinition = DockerComposeTaskDefinitionBase;
+
+export interface DockerComposeTask extends Task {
+    definition: DockerComposeTaskDefinition;
+}
+
+export class DockerComposeTaskProvider extends DockerTaskProvider {
+    public constructor() { super('docker-build', undefined) }
+
+    protected async executeTaskInternal(context: DockerComposeTaskContext, task: DockerComposeTask): Promise<void> {
+        const definition = cloneObject(task.definition);
+        definition.dockerCompose = definition.dockerCompose || {};
+        definition.dockerCompose.files = definition.dockerCompose.files || [];
+
+        await this.validateResolvedDefinition(context, definition.dockerCompose);
+
+        const commandLine = await this.resolveCommandLine(definition.dockerCompose);
+
+        // Because BuildKit outputs everything to stderr, we will not treat output there as a failure
+        await context.terminal.executeCommandInTerminal(
+            commandLine,
+            context.folder,
+            false, // rejectOnStderr
+            undefined, // stdoutBuffer
+            Buffer.alloc(10 * 1024), // stderrBuffer
+            context.cancellationToken
+        );
+        throwIfCancellationRequested(context);
+    }
+
+    private async validateResolvedDefinition(context: DockerComposeTaskContext, dockerCompose: DockerComposeOptions): Promise<void> {
+        if (dockerCompose.up && dockerCompose.down) {
+            throw new Error(localize('vscode-docker.tasks.composeProvider.bothUpAndDown', 'Both "up" and "down" properties are present in the docker-compose task.'));
+        }
+
+        if (!dockerCompose.up && !dockerCompose.down) {
+            throw new Error(localize('vscode-docker.tasks.composeProvider.noUpOrDown', 'Neither "up" nor "down" properties are present in the docker-compose task.'));
+        }
+
+        for (const file of dockerCompose.files) {
+            if (!(await fse.pathExists(path.resolve(context.folder.uri.fsPath, resolveVariables(file, context.folder))))) {
+                throw new Error(localize('vscode-docker.tasks.composeProvider.invalidFile', 'One or more docker-compose files does not exist or could not be accessed.'));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private async resolveCommandLine(options: DockerComposeOptions): Promise<CommandLineBuilder> {
+        if (options.up) {
+            // CommandLineBuilder requires key-value objects to be string => string, but scale is string => number
+            // So, convert it to string => string
+            const scaleAsString: { [key: string]: string } = {};
+            if (options.up.scale) {
+                for (const key of Object.keys(options.up.scale)) {
+                    scaleAsString[key] = options.up.scale[key].toString();
+                }
+            }
+
+            return CommandLineBuilder
+                .create(await getComposeCliCommand())
+                .withArrayArgs('-f', options.files)
+                .withArg('up')
+                .withFlagArg('--detach', !!options.up.detached)
+                .withFlagArg('--build', !!options.up.build)
+                .withKeyValueArgs('--scale', scaleAsString)
+                .withArg(options.up.customOptions)
+                .withArg(options.up.services?.join(' '));
+        } else {
+            // Validation earlier guarantees that if up is not defined, down must be
+            return CommandLineBuilder
+                .create(await getComposeCliCommand())
+                .withArrayArgs('-f', options.files)
+                .withArg('down')
+                .withNamedArg('--rmi', options.down.removeImages)
+                .withFlagArg('--volumes', options.down.removeVolumes)
+                .withArg(options.down.customOptions);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tasks/TaskHelper.ts b/src/tasks/TaskHelper.ts
index 1322fc3737..e54ce7a479 100644
--- a/src/tasks/TaskHelper.ts
+++ b/src/tasks/TaskHelper.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { pathNormalize } from '../utils/pathNormalize';
 import { resolveVariables } from '../utils/resolveVariables';
 import { DockerBuildOptions } from './DockerBuildTaskDefinitionBase';
 import { DockerBuildTask, DockerBuildTaskDefinition, DockerBuildTaskProvider } from './DockerBuildTaskProvider';
+import { DockerComposeTaskProvider } from './DockerComposeTaskProvider';
 import { DockerPseudoterminal } from './DockerPseudoterminal';
 import { DockerContainerVolume, DockerRunOptions, DockerRunTaskDefinitionBase } from './DockerRunTaskDefinitionBase';
 import { DockerRunTask, DockerRunTaskDefinition, DockerRunTaskProvider } from './DockerRunTaskProvider';
@@ -49,7 +50,6 @@ export interface DockerTaskExecutionContext extends DockerTaskContext {
     terminal: DockerPseudoterminal;
 }
 
-// tslint:disable-next-line: no-empty-interface
 export interface DockerBuildTaskContext extends DockerTaskExecutionContext {
     imageName?: string;
     buildTaskResult?: string;
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ export interface DockerRunTaskContext extends DockerTaskExecutionContext {
     buildDefinition?: DockerBuildTaskDefinition;
 }
 
+// This doesn't need to be extended so redefining for parity is simplest
+export type DockerComposeTaskContext = DockerTaskExecutionContext;
+
 export interface TaskHelper {
     preBuild?(context: DockerBuildTaskContext, buildDefinition: DockerBuildTaskDefinition): Promise<void>;
     getDockerBuildOptions(context: DockerBuildTaskContext, buildDefinition: DockerBuildTaskDefinition): Promise<DockerBuildOptions>;
@@ -90,6 +93,13 @@ export function registerTaskProviders(ctx: ExtensionContext): void {
             new DockerRunTaskProvider(helpers)
         )
     );
+
+    ctx.subscriptions.push(
+        tasks.registerTaskProvider(
+            'docker-compose',
+            new DockerComposeTaskProvider()
+        )
+    );
 }
 
 export function hasTask(taskLabel: string, folder: WorkspaceFolder): boolean {
diff --git a/test/commands/selectCommandTemplate.test.ts b/test/commands/selectCommandTemplate.test.ts
index e629c11282..a85e306881 100644
--- a/test/commands/selectCommandTemplate.test.ts
+++ b/test/commands/selectCommandTemplate.test.ts
@@ -591,6 +591,10 @@ async function runWithCommandSetting(
                 ContextType: contextType,
             } as DockerContext;
         },
+
+        getCurrentContextType: async () => {
+            return Promise.resolve(<any>contextType);
+        }
     };
 
     try {