diff --git a/docs/docs/20-usage/60-services.md b/docs/docs/20-usage/60-services.md
index 3697fef4861..f68936f393d 100644
--- a/docs/docs/20-usage/60-services.md
+++ b/docs/docs/20-usage/60-services.md
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ steps:
       - go test
 
 services:
-  - name: database
+  database:
     image: mysql
 
-  - name: cache
+  cache:
     image: redis
 ```
 
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ You can define a port and a protocol explicitly:
 
 ```yaml
 services:
-  - name: database
+  database:
     image: mysql
     ports:
       - 3306
 
-  - name: wireguard
+  wireguard:
     image: wg
     ports:
       - 51820/udp
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Service containers generally expose environment variables to customize service s
 
 ```diff
  services:
-   - name: database
+   database:
      image: mysql
 +    environment:
 +      MYSQL_DATABASE: test
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ Service containers require time to initialize and begin to accept connections. I
        - go test
 
  services:
-   - name: database
+   database:
      image: mysql
 ```
 
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/compiler/compiler.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/compiler/compiler.go
index 612ac540985..329404992e3 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/compiler/compiler.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/compiler/compiler.go
@@ -198,10 +198,10 @@ func (c *Compiler) Compile(conf *yaml_types.Workflow) (*backend_types.Config, er
 	}
 
 	// add services steps
-	if len(conf.Services.ContainerList) != 0 {
+	if len(conf.Services.ContainerMap) != 0 {
 		stage := new(backend_types.Stage)
 
-		for _, container := range conf.Services.ContainerList {
+		for _, container := range conf.Services.ContainerMap {
 			if match, err := container.When.Match(c.metadata, false, c.env); !match && err == nil {
 				continue
 			} else if err != nil {
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
index 4b991dc41b4..865c6391e43 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
@@ -146,7 +146,21 @@ func (l *Linter) lintContainers(config *WorkflowConfig, area string) error {
 	case "steps":
 		containers = config.Workflow.Steps.ContainerList
 	case "services":
-		containers = config.Workflow.Services.ContainerList
+		if len(config.Workflow.Services.Duplicated) != 0 {
+			linterErr = multierr.Append(linterErr, &errorTypes.PipelineError{
+				Type:    errorTypes.PipelineErrorTypeBadHabit,
+				Message: "Services have duplicated names declaired, second ones are ignored and should be removed",
+				Data: errors.BadHabitErrorData{
+					File:  config.File,
+					Field: "services",
+					Docs:  "https://woodpecker-ci.org/docs/usage/services",
+				},
+				IsWarning: true,
+			})
+		}
+		for _, v := range config.Workflow.Services.ContainerMap {
+			containers = append(containers, v)
+		}
 	}
 
 	for _, container := range containers {
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/parse_test.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/parse_test.go
index 2c2b2325b24..b8be17abdcd 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/parse_test.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/parse_test.go
@@ -34,8 +34,11 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 
 		assert.Equal(t, "/go", out.Workspace.Base)
 		assert.Equal(t, "src/github.com/octocat/hello-world", out.Workspace.Path)
-		assert.Equal(t, "database", out.Services.ContainerList[0].Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "mysql", out.Services.ContainerList[0].Image)
+		for k := range out.Services.ContainerMap {
+			assert.Equal(t, k, out.Services.ContainerMap[k].Name)
+		}
+		assert.Len(t, out.Services.ContainerMap, 1)
+		assert.Equal(t, "mysql", out.Services.ContainerMap["database"].Image)
 		assert.Equal(t, "test", out.Steps.ContainerList[0].Name)
 		assert.Equal(t, "golang", out.Steps.ContainerList[0].Image)
 		assert.Equal(t, yaml_base_types.StringOrSlice{"go install", "go test"}, out.Steps.ContainerList[0].Commands)
@@ -309,8 +312,8 @@ steps:
       when:
         event: failure
 services:
-    - name: database
-      image: mysql
+    database:
+        image: mysql
 labels:
     com.example.team: frontend
     com.example.type: build
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/container_map.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/container_map.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..99f18a71455
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/container_map.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Woodpecker Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package types
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+// ContainerMap contains collection of containers.
+type ContainerMap struct {
+	ContainerMap map[string]*Container
+	Duplicated   []string
+}
+
+// UnmarshalYAML implements the Unmarshaler interface.
+func (c *ContainerMap) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
+	c.ContainerMap = make(map[string]*Container, len(value.Content)/2+1)
+	switch value.Kind {
+	// We support maps ...
+	case yaml.MappingNode:
+		for i, n := range value.Content {
+			if i%2 == 1 {
+				container := &Container{}
+				if err := n.Decode(container); err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+
+				// service name is host name so we set it as name
+				container.Name = fmt.Sprintf("%v", value.Content[i-1].Value)
+				if container.Name == "" {
+					return fmt.Errorf("container map does not allow empty key item")
+				}
+
+				c.ContainerMap[container.Name] = container
+			}
+		}
+
+	// ... and lists
+	case yaml.SequenceNode:
+		for i, n := range value.Content {
+			container := &Container{}
+			if err := n.Decode(container); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			if container.Name == "" {
+				container.Name = fmt.Sprintf("step-%d", i)
+			}
+
+			if _, exist := c.ContainerMap[container.Name]; exist {
+				c.Duplicated = append(c.Duplicated, container.Name)
+			} else {
+				c.ContainerMap[container.Name] = container
+			}
+		}
+
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("yaml node type[%d]: '%s' not supported", value.Kind, value.Tag)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// MarshalYAML implements custom Yaml marshaling.
+func (c ContainerMap) MarshalYAML() (any, error) {
+	// we just relay on the map key for names
+	for _, v := range c.ContainerMap {
+		v.Name = ""
+	}
+	return c.ContainerMap, nil
+}
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/workflow.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/workflow.go
index 134aa47c6eb..85a58ac39fb 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/workflow.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/types/workflow.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ type (
 		Workspace Workspace         `yaml:"workspace,omitempty"`
 		Clone     ContainerList     `yaml:"clone,omitempty"`
 		Steps     ContainerList     `yaml:"steps,omitempty"`
-		Services  ContainerList     `yaml:"services,omitempty"`
+		Services  ContainerMap      `yaml:"services,omitempty"`
 		Labels    map[string]string `yaml:"labels,omitempty"`
 		DependsOn []string          `yaml:"depends_on,omitempty"`
 		RunsOn    []string          `yaml:"runs_on,omitempty"`