How do I install the Working With Colima skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add majiayu000/working-with-colima in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Working With Colima safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Working With Colima?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Working With Colima free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Working With Colima?

majiayu000 (@majiayu000) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Working With Colima by majiayu000 — Agent Skill

Name: Working With Colima
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: majiayu000

Working With Colima

Use when Docker commands fail with "Cannot connect to Docker daemon", when starting/stopping container environments, or when managing multiple Docker contexts on macOS - provides Colima lifecycle management, profile handling, and troubleshooting

majiayu000 Updated Sep 9, 2026 567 repo stars

File contents

Working with Colima

Overview

Colima provides container runtimes (Docker, Containerd) on macOS with minimal setup. It runs a Linux VM and exposes Docker via contexts.

Use this skill when:

Docker commands fail ("Cannot connect to Docker daemon")
Starting/stopping container runtime on macOS
Managing multiple Docker profiles/contexts
Troubleshooting container environment issues
Need SSH agent forwarding for Docker builds

Not for: Docker Compose, Kubernetes clusters, or Linux environments.

Quick Reference

Operation	Command
Start	`colima start` or `colima start <profile>`
Start with SSH agent	`colima start <profile> -s`
Stop	`colima stop` or `colima stop --force`
Status	`colima status -p <profile>`
List profiles	`colima list`
SSH into VM	`colima ssh` or `colima ssh -- <cmd>`
Get socket path	`colima status -p <profile> --json \| jq -r .docker_socket`

Docker Context Basics

Colima creates Docker contexts per profile:

Profile default → context colima
Profile work → context colima-work

# Switch context (global - affects all terminals)
docker context use colima-work

# Override per-session
export DOCKER_CONTEXT=colima-work

# Override per-command
docker --context colima-work ps

For details, see references/docker-contexts.md.

Common Issues

Docker daemon not connecting?

colima status - is it running?
docker context list - right context selected?
See references/troubleshooting.md for more

Need more VM resources?

colima stop && colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8

"Broken" status after restart?

colima stop --force && colima start

References

references/docker-contexts.md - Context switching, DOCKER_HOST, socket paths
references/profile-management.md - Creating, configuring, deleting profiles
references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues and solutions
references/common-options.md - Flags, VM types, resource configuration

Upstream Documentation

Local copies of official Colima docs (from github.com/abiosoft/colima):

references/colima-upstream/README.md - Official README with features and usage
references/colima-upstream/FAQ.md - Official FAQ and troubleshooting
references/colima-upstream/INSTALL.md - Installation options

---name: working-with-colimadescription: Use when Docker commands fail with "Cannot connect to Docker daemon", when starting/stopping container environments, or when managing multiple Docker contexts on macOS - provides Colima lifecycle management, profile handling, and troubleshooting--- # Working with Colima ## Overview Colima provides container runtimes (Docker, Containerd) on macOS with minimal setup. It runs a Linux VM and exposes Docker via contexts. **Use this skill when:** - Docker commands fail ("Cannot connect to Docker daemon") - Starting/stopping container runtime on macOS - Managing multiple Docker profiles/contexts - Troubleshooting container environment issues - Need SSH agent forwarding for Docker builds **Not for:** Docker Compose, Kubernetes clusters, or Linux environments. ## Quick Reference | Operation | Command | |-----------|---------| | Start | `colima start` or `colima start <profile>` | | Start with SSH agent | `colima start <profile> -s` | | Stop | `colima stop` or `colima stop --force` | | Status | `colima status -p <profile>` | | List profiles | `colima list` | | SSH into VM | `colima ssh` or `colima ssh -- <cmd>` | | Get socket path | `colima status -p <profile> --json \| jq -r .docker_socket` | ## Docker Context Basics Colima creates Docker contexts per profile: - Profile `default` → context `colima` - Profile `work` → context `colima-work` ```bash # Switch context (global - affects all terminals) docker context use colima-work # Override per-session export DOCKER_CONTEXT=colima-work # Override per-command docker --context colima-work ps ``` For details, see `references/docker-contexts.md`. ## Common Issues **Docker daemon not connecting?** 1. `colima status` - is it running? 2. `docker context list` - right context selected? 3. See `references/troubleshooting.md` for more **Need more VM resources?** ```bash colima stop && colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8 ``` **"Broken" status after restart?** ```bash colima stop --force && colima start ``` ## References - `references/docker-contexts.md` - Context switching, DOCKER_HOST, socket paths - `references/profile-management.md` - Creating, configuring, deleting profiles - `references/troubleshooting.md` - Common issues and solutions - `references/common-options.md` - Flags, VM types, resource configuration ## Upstream Documentation Local copies of official Colima docs (from [github.com/abiosoft/colima](https://github.com/abiosoft/colima)): - `references/colima-upstream/README.md` - Official README with features and usage - `references/colima-upstream/FAQ.md` - Official FAQ and troubleshooting - `references/colima-upstream/INSTALL.md` - Installation options

Frequently asked questions