diff --git a/cypress/plugins/docker/index.ts b/cypress/plugins/docker/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f3c646408
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cypress/plugins/docker/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2022 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+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.
+*/
+
+/// <reference types="cypress" />
+
+import * as os from "os";
+import * as childProcess from "child_process";
+import * as fse from "fs-extra";
+
+import PluginEvents = Cypress.PluginEvents;
+import PluginConfigOptions = Cypress.PluginConfigOptions;
+
+// A cypress plugin to run docker commands
+
+export function dockerRun(args: {
+    image: string;
+    containerName: string;
+    params?: string[];
+}): Promise<string> {
+    const userInfo = os.userInfo();
+    const params = args.params ?? [];
+
+    if (userInfo.uid >= 0) {
+        // On *nix we run the docker container as our uid:gid otherwise cleaning it up its media_store can be difficult
+        params.push("-u", `${userInfo.uid}:${userInfo.gid}`);
+    }
+
+    return new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
+        childProcess.execFile('docker', [
+            "run",
+            "--name", args.containerName,
+            "-d",
+            ...params,
+            args.image,
+            "run",
+        ], (err, stdout) => {
+            if (err) reject(err);
+            resolve(stdout.trim());
+        });
+    });
+}
+
+export function dockerExec(args: {
+    containerId: string;
+    params: string[];
+}): Promise<void> {
+    return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+        childProcess.execFile("docker", [
+            "exec", args.containerId,
+            ...args.params,
+        ], { encoding: 'utf8' }, err => {
+            if (err) reject(err);
+            else resolve();
+        });
+    });
+}
+
+export async function dockerLogs(args: {
+    containerId: string;
+    stdoutFile?: string;
+    stderrFile?: string;
+}): Promise<void> {
+    const stdoutFile = args.stdoutFile ? await fse.open(args.stdoutFile, "w") : "ignore";
+    const stderrFile = args.stderrFile ? await fse.open(args.stderrFile, "w") : "ignore";
+
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+        childProcess.spawn("docker", [
+            "logs",
+            args.containerId,
+        ], {
+            stdio: ["ignore", stdoutFile, stderrFile],
+        }).once('close', resolve);
+    });
+
+    if (args.stdoutFile) await fse.close(<number>stdoutFile);
+    if (args.stderrFile) await fse.close(<number>stderrFile);
+}
+
+export function dockerStop(args: {
+    containerId: string;
+}): Promise<void> {
+    return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+        childProcess.execFile('docker', [
+            "stop",
+            args.containerId,
+        ], err => {
+            if (err) reject(err);
+            resolve();
+        });
+    });
+}
+
+export function dockerRm(args: {
+    containerId: string;
+}): Promise<void> {
+    return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+        childProcess.execFile('docker', [
+            "rm",
+            args.containerId,
+        ], err => {
+            if (err) reject(err);
+            resolve();
+        });
+    });
+}
+
+/**
+ * @type {Cypress.PluginConfig}
+ */
+export function docker(on: PluginEvents, config: PluginConfigOptions) {
+    on("task", {
+        dockerRun,
+        dockerExec,
+        dockerLogs,
+        dockerStop,
+        dockerRm,
+    });
+}
diff --git a/cypress/plugins/index.ts b/cypress/plugins/index.ts
index bc62efb03f..8a22b5cb55 100644
--- a/cypress/plugins/index.ts
+++ b/cypress/plugins/index.ts
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@ import PluginConfigOptions = Cypress.PluginConfigOptions;
 import { performance } from "./performance";
 import { synapseDocker } from "./synapsedocker";
 import { webserver } from "./webserver";
+import { docker } from "./docker";
 
 /**
  * @type {Cypress.PluginConfig}
  */
 export default function(on: PluginEvents, config: PluginConfigOptions) {
+    docker(on, config);
     performance(on, config);
     synapseDocker(on, config);
     webserver(on, config);
diff --git a/cypress/plugins/synapsedocker/index.ts b/cypress/plugins/synapsedocker/index.ts
index 42241ecc7d..5227b5e4ac 100644
--- a/cypress/plugins/synapsedocker/index.ts
+++ b/cypress/plugins/synapsedocker/index.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ limitations under the License.
 import * as path from "path";
 import * as os from "os";
 import * as crypto from "crypto";
-import * as childProcess from "child_process";
 import * as fse from "fs-extra";
-import * as net from "net";
 
 import PluginEvents = Cypress.PluginEvents;
 import PluginConfigOptions = Cypress.PluginConfigOptions;
+import { getFreePort } from "../utils/port";
+import { dockerExec, dockerLogs, dockerRun, dockerStop } from "../docker";
 
 // A cypress plugins to add command to start & stop synapses in
 // docker with preset templates.
@@ -47,16 +47,6 @@ function randB64Bytes(numBytes: number): string {
     return crypto.randomBytes(numBytes).toString("base64").replace(/=*$/, "");
 }
 
-async function getFreePort(): Promise<number> {
-    return new Promise<number>(resolve => {
-        const srv = net.createServer();
-        srv.listen(0, () => {
-            const port = (<net.AddressInfo>srv.address()).port;
-            srv.close(() => resolve(port));
-        });
-    });
-}
-
 async function cfgDirFromTemplate(template: string): Promise<SynapseConfig> {
     const templateDir = path.join(__dirname, "templates", template);
 
@@ -109,37 +99,22 @@ async function synapseStart(template: string): Promise<SynapseInstance> {
 
     console.log(`Starting synapse with config dir ${synCfg.configDir}...`);
 
-    const containerName = `react-sdk-cypress-synapse-${crypto.randomBytes(4).toString("hex")}`;
-    const userInfo = os.userInfo();
-
-    let userParams: string[] = [];
-    if (userInfo.uid >= 0) {
-        // On *nix we run the docker container as our uid:gid otherwise cleaning it up its media_store can be difficult
-        userParams = ["-u", `${userInfo.uid}:${userInfo.gid}`];
-    }
-
-    const synapseId = await new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
-        childProcess.execFile('docker', [
-            "run",
-            "--name", containerName,
-            "-d",
+    const synapseId = await dockerRun({
+        image: "matrixdotorg/synapse:develop",
+        containerName: `react-sdk-cypress-synapse-${crypto.randomBytes(4).toString("hex")}`,
+        params: [
+            "--rm",
             "-v", `${synCfg.configDir}:/data`,
             "-p", `${synCfg.port}:8008/tcp`,
-            ...userParams,
-            "matrixdotorg/synapse:develop",
-            "run",
-        ], (err, stdout) => {
-            if (err) reject(err);
-            resolve(stdout.trim());
-        });
+        ],
     });
 
     console.log(`Started synapse with id ${synapseId} on port ${synCfg.port}.`);
 
     // Await Synapse healthcheck
-    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-        childProcess.execFile("docker", [
-            "exec", synapseId,
+    await dockerExec({
+        containerId: synapseId,
+        params: [
             "curl",
             "--connect-timeout", "30",
             "--retry", "30",
@@ -147,10 +122,7 @@ async function synapseStart(template: string): Promise<SynapseInstance> {
             "--retry-all-errors",
             "--silent",
             "http://localhost:8008/health",
-        ], { encoding: 'utf8' }, (err, stdout) => {
-            if (err) reject(err);
-            else resolve();
-        });
+        ],
     });
 
     const synapse: SynapseInstance = { synapseId, ...synCfg };
@@ -163,43 +135,18 @@ async function synapseStop(id: string): Promise<void> {
 
     if (!synCfg) throw new Error("Unknown synapse ID");
 
-    try {
-        const synapseLogsPath = path.join("cypress", "synapselogs", id);
-        await fse.ensureDir(synapseLogsPath);
+    const synapseLogsPath = path.join("cypress", "synapselogs", id);
+    await fse.ensureDir(synapseLogsPath);
 
-        const stdoutFile = await fse.open(path.join(synapseLogsPath, "stdout.log"), "w");
-        const stderrFile = await fse.open(path.join(synapseLogsPath, "stderr.log"), "w");
-        await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-            childProcess.spawn('docker', [
-                "logs",
-                id,
-            ], {
-                stdio: ["ignore", stdoutFile, stderrFile],
-            }).once('close', resolve);
-        });
-        await fse.close(stdoutFile);
-        await fse.close(stderrFile);
+    await dockerLogs({
+        containerId: id,
+        stdoutFile: path.join(synapseLogsPath, "stdout.log"),
+        stderrFile: path.join(synapseLogsPath, "stderr.log"),
+    });
 
-        await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-            childProcess.execFile('docker', [
-                "stop",
-                id,
-            ], err => {
-                if (err) reject(err);
-                resolve();
-            });
-        });
-    } finally {
-        await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-            childProcess.execFile('docker', [
-                "rm",
-                id,
-            ], err => {
-                if (err) reject(err);
-                resolve();
-            });
-        });
-    }
+    await dockerStop({
+        containerId: id,
+    });
 
     await fse.remove(synCfg.configDir);
 
@@ -207,7 +154,7 @@ async function synapseStop(id: string): Promise<void> {
 
     console.log(`Stopped synapse id ${id}.`);
     // cypress deliberately fails if you return 'undefined', so
-    // return null to signal all is well and we've handled the task.
+    // return null to signal all is well, and we've handled the task.
     return null;
 }
 
diff --git a/cypress/plugins/utils/port.ts b/cypress/plugins/utils/port.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..064ccc7cf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cypress/plugins/utils/port.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2022 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+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.
+*/
+
+import * as net from "net";
+
+export async function getFreePort(): Promise<number> {
+    return new Promise<number>(resolve => {
+        const srv = net.createServer();
+        srv.listen(0, () => {
+            const port = (<net.AddressInfo>srv.address()).port;
+            srv.close(() => resolve(port));
+        });
+    });
+}