Docker CLI

Docker CLI

Container runtime and management tool. Build images, run containers, manage networks, volumes, and orchestrate with Compose.

• Official repo: https://github.com/docker/cli
• Docs: https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/

Common Commands

Images

docker build -t my-app:latest .
docker build -t my-app:latest -f Dockerfile.prod .
docker images
docker image prune -f                    # Remove dangling images
docker pull nginx:latest
docker push registry.example.com/my-app:latest
docker tag my-app:latest registry.example.com/my-app:v1

Containers

docker run -d --name my-app -p 3000:3000 my-app:latest
docker run -it --rm ubuntu:latest bash    # Interactive, auto-remove
docker run -d -v $(pwd):/app -w /app node:20 npm start
docker ps                                 # Running containers
docker ps -a                              # All containers
docker logs my-app --follow --tail 50
docker exec -it my-app bash               # Shell into container
docker stop my-app
docker rm my-app
docker inspect my-app

Docker Compose

docker compose up -d                      # Start all services
docker compose up -d --build              # Rebuild and start
docker compose down                       # Stop and remove
docker compose logs -f service-name       # Follow service logs
docker compose ps                         # List services
docker compose exec service-name bash     # Shell into service
docker compose pull                       # Pull latest images

Volumes and Networks

docker volume ls
docker volume create my-data
docker network ls
docker network create my-network

System

docker system df                          # Disk usage
docker system prune -f                    # Clean up everything unused
docker stats                              # Live resource usage

Agent Best Practices

• Use -d (detach) for background containers, --rm for temporary ones
• Use docker compose over individual docker run for multi-service apps
• Always tag images with specific versions, not just latest
• Use docker logs --tail 50 to limit log output
• Use docker inspect --format '{{.State.Status}}' for specific fields
• Use docker compose --profile test up for conditional services
• Pipe docker ps --format json for structured output

Example Workflows

Build and run a dev container

docker build -t my-app:dev .
docker run -d --name my-app -p 3000:3000 -v $(pwd)/src:/app/src my-app:dev
docker logs my-app --follow

Clean up all stopped containers and unused images

docker system prune -af --volumes