docker/build-push-action: Build & Push Images in CI

build-push-action builds your image with BuildKit and pushes it to a registry in one step.

It wraps docker buildx build with workflow-friendly inputs: tags, labels, build args, caching, and multi-platform output. Pair it with setup-buildx-action and login-action.

Key inputs (with:)

• context: build context path (default .).
• file: Dockerfile path.
• push: true to push after build.
• tags: one or more image tags.
• platforms: e.g. linux/amd64,linux/arm64.
• cache-from / cache-to: BuildKit layer cache sources.
• build-args / secrets: pass build-time values.

Example workflow

jobs:
  image:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USER }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: myorg/myapp:latest
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

On any runner

build-push-action runs on any runner with Docker. Latchkey managed runners run it unchanged and offer a fast ECR-backed layer cache as an alternative to type=gha.

Key takeaways

• Combine with setup-buildx-action and login-action.
• cache-from/cache-to with type=gha speeds repeat builds.
• platforms builds multi-arch images in one step.

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