docker manifest: Inspect & Build Multi-Arch Lists

Inspect and assemble multi-architecture manifest lists.

docker manifest inspects and builds manifest lists (multi-arch image indexes). This page covers inspect/create/push and the experimental-feature requirement.

What it does

A manifest list maps platforms (linux/amd64, linux/arm64, ...) to per-arch image digests so one tag serves multiple architectures. docker manifest inspect reads one; create/annotate/push assemble and publish one from existing per-arch images.

Common usage

Terminal

docker manifest inspect nginx:1.27
docker manifest create owner/app:1.0 owner/app:1.0-amd64 owner/app:1.0-arm64
docker manifest push owner/app:1.0

Common errors in CI

"docker manifest is only supported on a Docker cli with experimental cli features enabled" - set DOCKER_CLI_EXPERIMENTAL=enabled or enable experimental in ~/.docker/config.json. In modern CI, docker buildx build --platform ... --push produces a multi-arch manifest in one step and is preferred over hand-assembling with docker manifest.

Related guides

docker buildx build: BuildKit, Multi-Arch & CacheHow docker buildx build works: BuildKit builds, multi-platform images, --push, and the GitHub Actions cache b… docker pull: Usage, Options & Rate-Limit ErrorsHow docker pull works: fetching images from a registry, digests and platforms, and fixing Docker Hub rate-lim… docker push: Usage, Options & Auth Errors in CIHow docker push works: uploading a tagged image to a registry, naming requirements, and the denied/unauthoriz… docker inspect: Low-Level Container & Image DetailHow docker inspect works: dumping JSON metadata for containers, images, volumes, and networks, with --format…